Shoulder pain

[skigrl27]

In March sometime this season, I took a pretty bad high speed fall on some bumps. I was really doing great though...before I caught an edge.

Anyway - my shoulder & entire right side was sore afterwards. My shoulder never really got better. I have a hard time throwing the ball for my dog. If I pick my arm up while bent, the pain is right in the joint. It's gotten worse over the past few days - I kept thinking it would just slowly get better.

I'm scared to get it checked out. What could it be??!! I guess I'll make my appointment today. If surgery is involved, it's really going to suck. :(

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Time's a-wastin' - knowledge is power - GET IT CHECKED. They'll start with x-rays, then move on to MRI if necessary. If it's just now getting worse, this could be frozen shoulder/adhesive capsulitis, which is not a fun thing - have been there and done that, sad to say. It can result from a fall such as you described, or it can be totally idiopathic.

Are we talking about sideways extension of your arm while bent at elbow? How high can you raise it?

The good news, if it is frozen shoulder: this condition has a beginning, middle, end. Average time line is 1 year. I dumped mine in 10 months, with physical therapy.

You MUST rule out anything more serious. DON'T put it off, you're not doing yourself any favors.

Please keep us posted, good luck. Pain sucks.

 

[overthehilldiva]

It could be your rotator cuff too. It depends on how bad it is. I've had PT on both of mine for falls I've taken.
Jane

 

[skigrl27]

If my arm is bent at the elbow and I try to raise my elbow up laterally (out to the side) I can't get it up very far & I hear "squishy noises" inside my shoulder joint. Or if I try to move my shoulder at all while my arm is bent at the elbow...it generally hurts.

I already called for an appointment.

My mom had rotator cuff surgery & she said it took her forever to fully recover. :(

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Glad you called. What I'm honing on in symptomatically is the fact that yours has steadily gotten worse, and now it's big. How was it after the initial injury? Is it worse now?

I thought for sure mine was rotator cuff. Don't even remember any hard crash, but I'm sure I did. Didn't feel great but only gradually got worse. Was frozen shoulder. Which actually is better than tearing anything - no surgery required.

Okay, deep breath -- at least you're getting it looked at. First things first.
Good luck.
When's the appt?

 

[Jilly]

Rotator cuff problems here too. Finally last summer I got it X-ray'd. No damage to bones, just tendons and muscles needed to be built up. Funny thing was when the doctor asked me about a bad fall sometime. Yeah, I ski, I fall and usually hard. Somewhere along the way I'd cracked my collar bone. I've been doing PT and strenghtening exercises to build it up. Paddled last night and didn't seem to bother it, so good to go.
Skigirl27, look into anything that could have happened to that shoulder. Sounds like rotator cuff, but I'm not a medical person.

 

[overthehilldiva]

I had minor tears and PT was sufficient. It takes a while though, several months. I found the best exercise after I finished formal PT was the fly machine at the gym.
Good luck. Don't rush into surgery even if it is the rotator cuff. A lot of people are able to do fine without it and some don't get a good result with surgery. The ortho I had finally sent me for an MRI (this was a few years ago) but by the time it got scheduled and done, I was better and I never went back.
Jane

 

[skigrl27]

You know...I have pain in my clavicle too! I thought - "if it was broken, I would know, right?" LOL - I guess not! So you didn't even know your collar bone was cracked? They break very easily. If mine is, it must be pretty minor. Because in addition to my shoulder joint pain, my right clavicle is painful right at the end, near my shoulder. It especially hurts if I try to sleep on that side.

I am just assuming it was a bad fall. I was sore the next day - but nothing major. I have skied since then. I think it got further injured a few weeks back when a woman ran into me pretty hard on the right side.

I've also since picked up a 2nd job waitressing, so I'm thinking maybe the carrying & stuff is aggravating it. Who knows. I think the Ortho office is closed today & I left a message. I'll probably go in next week sometime.

 

[KatyPerrey]

Glad to hear your getting it checked! I spent 1 1/2 seasons off skis due to shoulder issues. 3 surgeries in 10 months- rotator cuff on both and a very severe AC separation on one. Recovery if you have surgery is long and no fun! 6 months for one shoulder and 9 months for the other. What ever the results are from the doctor do what they tell you to do! No exceptions!!!! Good luck!

 

[skigrl27]

I know. If they say to get surgery, then I want to get it done ASAP so I can be back on skis.

 

[KatyPerrey]

Hopefully it's nothing serious. I would say I'm 95% on the right shoulder after 3 years and 80% or so on the left after 2 years. I don't think I will ever have full range of motion in my left but if I could get to 90-95% I would be very happy. I'm now able to do all the activities (ski, golf, tennis) I did before all the surgeries. Once again GOOD LUCK!!

 

[skigrl27]

No surgery required!! It's just really inflamed and irritated in there. So Aleve every day for 2 weeks and PT. He said he thinks my bicep tendon was pulled - and the inflammation is causing things to rub up against each other in there, which is causing the pain.

No surgery!!! Yay!

 

[Daria]

That is very good news Go celebrate