"n November I was being treated by a
physical therapist (massage & ultrasound)
for a repetitive stress injury in my
shoulder/neck. During my last week of
physical therapy, I was at home in bed, &
I reached for something with my right arm
across my body toward the left and down
towards the floor, & felt a snap or
popping sensation, followed by a different
sort of pain than I had been feeling. I
commented to my husband that I thought
that I might have torn a muscle, because
it hurt so bad. The next day it wasn’t
as painful, and I went to physical
therapy, where the therapist did her usual
massage and ultrasound routine with no
problems. But when I went back to work
afterwards, my shoulder really started
hurting, and the pain continued to
escalate all afternoon and into the night
to the point that I couldn’t take my
shirt off or on by myself, or move my body
once I was in a laying position. This lead
me to have to sleep sitting up for ! about
2 months. The pain starts to the right of
where my shoulder meets my neck (in my
trapezius, I think), and sometimes goes up
in to my neck, down into the back of my
shoulder blade, down the outside of my
arm, and into my chest (my collarbone). I
went back to the doctor and she sent me
for an MRI of my neck, which came back
fine. I then went to see a Physiatrist,
who thought that I tore my rotator cuff. I
had MRI of my shoulder, which showed
inflammation, swelling, fluid and an
inflamed bursa, but no tear in my rotator
cuff. He prescribed hydrocodone twice a
day, a TENS unit and physical therapy
twice a week. I am unable to lift my arm
from the side even to 90 degrees, let
alone above that. I am unable to shrug my
shoulder at all. Any kind of upward
movement of my shoulder causes muscle
spasms. They tried exercises, ultrasound,
phono, laser treatments, manual
stretching, etc. but none of these things
were able to get my trapezius to relax for
any length of time. This whole time, they
have never been able to tell me exactly
what is wrong with my shoulder. I am
wondering how they can effectively treat
something when they don’t know exactly
what they are treating. A few weeks ago,
the physical therapist noticed that I was
complaining about one side of my back
hurting down low, and, after measuring me,
realized that my pelvis on the left is
tilted/twisted. He thinks that this is why
my shoulder is not getting better, as it
puts pressure on the shoulder. Is this
possible? In the meantime, I don’t have
any physical therapy sessions left that
insurance will pay for, and I can’t
afford to pay for them myself. My ultimate
goal in all of this was to get off my pain
medications, but now they are the only
reason that I am able to function. I am
really starting to get frustrated with
this whole thing."
Current medical treatment:
hydrocodone/APAP 5/325 twice a day go to
physiatrist once a month for recheck/new
prescriptions.
Question: What is wrong with my shoulder,
and what can I do to make myself better?
Hydrocodone is an opiate analgesic drug.
Prolonged usage of more than 2 months of
hydrocodone can cause dependency.
Therefore, hydrocodone might not be the
best solution for you. I’m not sure what
the real problem with your shoulder is.
For example, the problem may originate in
the shoulder joint, or cervical spine
(neck). You can consult an orthopedist
immediately for an expert opinion.
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