Saturday during the day, I held my extremely needy cat. I was sitting in a rocker recliner, and I had a pillow under my arm bracing it, and I held my cat with my left arm for maybe 3 or 4 hours. My cat loves to be held and demands it- I used the pillow so my arm wouldn’t get tired.
Saturday night my left shoulder started hurting really bad. I took some ibuprofen and went to bed. I sleep on my left side and have continued to, because I can’t sleep any other way. Today, Monday, my shoulder continues to hurt horribly. I can barely move it or lift my arm, and when I do, ouch in a big way. Ibuprofen, it does nothing! Haven’t tried any other kind of pain meds and don’t have access to any. I don’t have a heating pad, so haven’t tried that.
I couldn’t go to work today and haven’t even showered yet. I’m going to have to shower here pretty soon and I am NOT looking forward to it- even getting dressed is a big problem.
What happened to my shoulder and should I see a doctor? I have no insurance or primary care doctor, so I’d have to go to the ER. Any insight or advice would be appreciated.
WAG, standard disclaimers…
Overuse injury -bursitis, tendinitis.
Usually relieved by ice and ibuprofen. And time. Ice it down good, start right away. If it doesn’t improve in a few days, get it checked out. If you had fallen, I’d say go right away, but there’s probably zero chance that you broke or tore anything. Bursitis in the shoulder hurts like holy hell (ask me how I know.) I’ve set it off by riding as a passenger in an uncomfortable car on a long trip.
How much ibuprofen are you taking? I’ve found that for achey muscley type pain, 3 to 4 200mg tablets are required; 2 (which is what I take for headaches) does absolutely nothing.
I’ve been taking one 600mg Rx’d for my sciatica, and often one 200mg otc with it, every 4-6 hours. I know that it can take a couple of weeks for it to truly act as an anti-inflammatory, but I sure hope it doesn’t hurt for that long. Today has been a tad better, maybe 10% better, but wouldn’t you know I’m left-handed so it still sucks.
Google ‘frozen shoulder’.
I never heard of it until it happened to me a few months ago.
I’m glad I tried physical therapy before the cortisone the Dr wanted to prescribe.
Here’s what I (and my insurance) got for $300 and 2 hours of my time;
Move the arm in any direction. With frozen shoulder, it will resist movement at a certain point. If you move the arm further (with the other arm) the shoulder will hurt considerably more. Hold the arm in the position of resistance for 30 seconds. Then gently try to move it just a bit more, for 15 seconds, to the point between sore and pain.
Repeat that 5-15 times a day.
Then move the arm in another angle or direction. Repeat per above.
Some angles are easier done with a door jamb. Others with a towel behind your back. I did some in bed.
The first day or 2 don’t seem to make any difference. But ever so gradually it does.
I still can’t put my right hand behind my back, but since I never really have to do that, I don’t worry about it.
I’m glad I didn’t go to the doctor. It’s at least 80% better and I expect it to be totally better within the next couple of days. I now hold my cat only for a few minutes at a time- I’m sure he understands.
This seems to work with a lot of commonplace sore muscles. Obviously, it won’t work if there are deeper troubles, but for the day-to-day “ow” it really does help.
Look into a cat sling. Then you can hold him hands-free. Although it’s not impossible to strain your neck or shoulders doing this, a good sling should distribute the weight pretty well.
If you have someone that can give you at least a 5 min neck and shoulder massage 2 or 3 times a day for a couple of days it might help. It clears mine up fast. Doctor says I need shoulder surgery but the massage thing seems to do the trick until the next bout.
