...otherwise known as me documenting this problem.
The starting point was scrubbing the back deck this summer. But I did plenty of other things in my burst of summer energy.
The pain progressed as I did more and more around the house. Mowing, painting, lifting heavy things...all did me no favors. I saw the ortho doc for a Kenalog shot and got referral for physical therapy in July, followed by PT for a month, then chiropractic and massage care. At this point, I think I will need to scale back on activities until my shoulder pain settles down. Maybe use my non-dominant arm more, as suggested by the masseuse. The pain from this is awful - feels like bone on bone. My entire arm and lower neck hurts - the aching going all the way down my arm, which I assume is referred pain. My neck muscles on the right side ache.
My plan:
*take it easy on home painting projects for awhile,
*use tylenol and motrin,
*use cold and heat packs,
*get back into home PT exercises
I'm going to drop the chiropractor because pain = inflammation.
I would love to avoid a surgical solution, but I'm not sure that's possible.
This getting old thing....its not for the weak.
All I can offer is a sympathetic ouch! Hope your strategy for healing works quickly and you can avoid surgery.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I'm so sorry, it really is a debilitating pain and it slows down progress. I get it. I fell and damaged my shoulder during home repairs about 5 years ago. They didn't recommend surgery, just PT and all the things you've tried. I do try to use my left hand as much as possible, but I'm not that talented. Sometimes the pain still wakes me up in the middle of the night it's so bad, but at this point I think it is what it is...bursitis, arthritis, tendonitis. They were all mentioned in the MRI report in addition to the fall damage...so like you said, getting old is no fun! I hope you feel better and the exercises help.
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