What the bl**dy hell have I done to my bl**dy shoulder?
Discussion
Relevant background information: I've got a relatively severe connective tissue disorder that means that general sprains and the like happen fairly easily, and heal more slowly than normal. It's not unheard of in people with what I've got for things (eg fractures) to just fail to heal in any useful way at all but my body doesn't seem to tend to do that. I had a very bad fall almost 6 years ago which dislocated my right shoulder and caused a huge decrease in function. I've recovered most of that gradually over the last few years.
Last Tuesday I attended a stage of the Tour of Britain (bike race) and did a lot of enthusiastic cheering and - er - cowbell ringing, in very cold and wet conditions for a good 3 hours. I've had pain just below my right shoulderblade ever since. It's not incredibly bad but is breaking through my normal painkillers reliably. It's a continuous ache that seems to settle overnight but has 'got going' within a couple of hours of waking up. It'll be a full week tomorrow and I'd normally expect anything short of traumatic damage to have stopped hurting by now, or at least to have sunk to a level maskable by a lowish dose of slow-release morphine. There's no obvious swelling or bruising on the outside and I can move it as much as I normally can, but moving my arm out away from my body feels marginally worse than keeping it still. I can drive normally (hand controls) but it feels pretty grim.
Seeing the GP tomorrow as I'm getting fed up/worried, but I suspect that the collective wisdom of PH has at least a good a chance of figuring out what I've done as a junior GP (my regular one is on leave).
Last Tuesday I attended a stage of the Tour of Britain (bike race) and did a lot of enthusiastic cheering and - er - cowbell ringing, in very cold and wet conditions for a good 3 hours. I've had pain just below my right shoulderblade ever since. It's not incredibly bad but is breaking through my normal painkillers reliably. It's a continuous ache that seems to settle overnight but has 'got going' within a couple of hours of waking up. It'll be a full week tomorrow and I'd normally expect anything short of traumatic damage to have stopped hurting by now, or at least to have sunk to a level maskable by a lowish dose of slow-release morphine. There's no obvious swelling or bruising on the outside and I can move it as much as I normally can, but moving my arm out away from my body feels marginally worse than keeping it still. I can drive normally (hand controls) but it feels pretty grim.
Seeing the GP tomorrow as I'm getting fed up/worried, but I suspect that the collective wisdom of PH has at least a good a chance of figuring out what I've done as a junior GP (my regular one is on leave).
Hoofy said:
RSI?
Can you cause that in 3 hours?! Cos if so I'm almost sure you're right - that's one of the other things this condition makes you vulnerable to, although I've managed to avoid it since I stopped playing the viola some years ago. Hadn't even thought of that.
b
ks. But cheers - suspect that's mystery solved.
goldblum said:
You've probably pulled a muscle in your back. Could be the rhomboid as this is the muscle that retracts the scapula. Could also be infraspinatus though (back of shoulder and just 'above' the rhomboid).
The extremely young GP I saw this afternoon agrees with you - he reckons rhomboid too but had to check what it was called in a textbook. 
He recommends NSAIDs, patience and rest. The first I have in plenty, the second I'm not great at but will attempt at least to only grumble quietly and the third is frankly impossible - I'm strongly right-handed, resting my right arm would leave me with a grand total of one only partially useful limb. I've got too much to do for that!
i would try some movolat (sp) cream then if it hurts that bad.
its a cream that you rub in like any other cream (actually works better when you rub in some then the rest you spread about then let soak in takes a few mins doing it like that)
its an anti-inflamitory with painkillers like a more powerful nsaid, people get it for whiplash. it does really work pretty damn good, only problem is, where your hurting, you will need someone to rub it into your back.
its a cream that you rub in like any other cream (actually works better when you rub in some then the rest you spread about then let soak in takes a few mins doing it like that)
its an anti-inflamitory with painkillers like a more powerful nsaid, people get it for whiplash. it does really work pretty damn good, only problem is, where your hurting, you will need someone to rub it into your back.
BlackVanDyke said:
The extremely young GP I saw this afternoon agrees with you - he reckons rhomboid too but had to check what it was called in a textbook.
He recommends NSAIDs, patience and rest. The first I have in plenty, the second I'm not great at but will attempt at least to only grumble quietly and the third is frankly impossible - I'm strongly right-handed, resting my right arm would leave me with a grand total of one only partially useful limb. I've got too much to do for that!
You don't really need to rest the arm, just try to keep the shoulder (blade) itself fully pulled back - as in shoulders back, chest out, good posture - and try not to 'reach' for too much, if possible. He recommends NSAIDs, patience and rest. The first I have in plenty, the second I'm not great at but will attempt at least to only grumble quietly and the third is frankly impossible - I'm strongly right-handed, resting my right arm would leave me with a grand total of one only partially useful limb. I've got too much to do for that!
goldblum said:
BlackVanDyke said:
The extremely young GP I saw this afternoon agrees with you - he reckons rhomboid too but had to check what it was called in a textbook.
He recommends NSAIDs, patience and rest. The first I have in plenty, the second I'm not great at but will attempt at least to only grumble quietly and the third is frankly impossible - I'm strongly right-handed, resting my right arm would leave me with a grand total of one only partially useful limb. I've got too much to do for that!
You don't really need to rest the arm, just try to keep the shoulder (blade) itself fully pulled back - as in shoulders back, chest out, good posture - and try not to 'reach' for too much, if possible. He recommends NSAIDs, patience and rest. The first I have in plenty, the second I'm not great at but will attempt at least to only grumble quietly and the third is frankly impossible - I'm strongly right-handed, resting my right arm would leave me with a grand total of one only partially useful limb. I've got too much to do for that!
(It goes on when I'm driving and off the second I turn the engine off normally.)GTDNB said:
sounds similar to something i had in which case go and get a sports massage. sorted me out in half an hour after two years of NHS fkeries
Careful with this though. I recently has a sports massage for a dodgy hamstring....I've never been subjected to such pain!!!keriesIn your condition i'd be making absolutely sure the person doing the massage a) Thinks to ask b) Knows what your condition is and c) doesn't pummle you to nearly crying.
dave_s13 said:
GTDNB said:
sounds similar to something i had in which case go and get a sports massage. sorted me out in half an hour after two years of NHS fkeries
Careful with this though. I recently has a sports massage for a dodgy hamstring....I've never been subjected to such pain!!!keriesIn your condition i'd be making absolutely sure the person doing the massage a) Thinks to ask b) Knows what your condition is and c) doesn't pummle you to nearly crying.
When you get the diagnosis I've got, they say a few things - a few 'what to do if' type things, and a few 'this isn't a good idea' type things. One of those is massage, or indeed allowing anybody with therapeutic intentions to touch you unless they are specifically trained in treating people with this condition. So no massage, but I might ring up the special rheumatology physios and beg for an appointment...
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