...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.
ReplyDeleteme, too!
DeleteUgh. 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.
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to wonder about the "help" these exercises provide...
DeleteI'm sorry about the sore shoulder. Hopefully your plan works and you can avoid any surgery.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to say I gave it the old college try.
DeletePooh on the shoulder pain. I've had it for years. Sorry you are going through it. I have finally learned a couple of positions for sleeping with help of pills. When I had knee and hip pain I learned after taking Dr and PT advice to work the joint that keeping it moving only kept it aggravated. Resting the joint with little use worked the best. I wonder if Doctors are trying to hurry and get us back for surgery so the PT person has more to do?
ReplyDeleteGoing to sleep is no trouble - its the waking up and trying to move that gets me!
DeleteI just had my knee injected for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Helped a lot. I have bone on bone in both knees and my left shoulder. I get by, but the overuse injury of right knee in August about did me in. Sending good wishes for less pain!
ReplyDeleteI get shoulder pain and it's not horrible but I notice it limits my mobility in yoga. I've been going to the chiropractor for a variety of things and just trying to not get worse. I hope you can get a solution and resting is probably the best thing along with some pain and anti inflammatory meds.
ReplyDelete