[sideblinded]

I am in pain so I went to an orthopedist and complained of right shoulder pain. I mean bad shoulder pain. Radiating pain, sharp, dull, achey, burning and throbbing pain. The orthopedic doctor looked at an X-ray and of course found no breaks.

He gave me a muscle relaxer and said it is spasm of my rhomboid muscle. Hah...I have had this before and it didn't feel anything like this.

He ordered a muscle relaxer and physical therapy.

He said it could be shingles as I look like a shingles patient. I did get a strange rash on my leg about two months ago. Took antibiotics and it cleared right up.

The rash didn't look like the photos that were supplied on the internet.

Could this be shingles? I know you cannot diagnose but has this happened to anyone else?

[kaliope]

i go to my chiropractor for all pain. he seems to fix it right up and always knows what is wrong. i hope you get to feeling better......

[sideblinded]

Originally Posted by kaliope

i go to my chiropractor for all pain. he seems to fix it right up and always knows what is wrong. i hope you get to feeling better......

I think I will have to follow up with a chiro as I need relief.

[gayleggg]

It doesn't really sound like shingles from what I've heard about them, but only a doctor should know for sure. I certainly hope that's not it because I've heard that it can be quite painful, not that you aren't already suffering. I hope you feel better soon.

I had to go through physical therapy once due to a sore rotators cup and it really helped to took a while. Good luck.

[SnakeCharmer]

I've had shingles. I've also had various kinds of shoulder pain, some of it severe. Each time the shoulder flares up it feels different because there's so little space within the shoulder area for soft tissue to swell even a little bit. A muscle spasm or bursitis can put pressure on nerves, on tendons and ligaments and on muscles. If it pressures a nerve, it can feel like your skin is on fire. And like I said, the same old injury can cause different pain each time it flares up depending on what's getting impinged by inflammation and swelling.

Whatever you had on your leg, it probably wasn't shingles. Shingles is caused by the chickenpox virus and antibiotics don't help it at all. Shingles can cause long-term nerve pain along neural pathways but it's highly unlikely shingles on your leg would cause post-shingles pain in the shoulder.

If there's any chance you could have shingles in the shoulder area, you might ask your doctor for an anti-viral like acyclovir or famvir. The sooner shingles is treated the less likely you are to have long-term pain. Do you have anything on your shoulder area, on the skin surface, that looks like a cold sore or reddish blotch? If you do, it would be good to go back to the doctor.

Hope this heals quickly!

Originally Posted by sideblinded

I am in pain so I went to an orthopedist and complained of right shoulder pain. I mean bad shoulder pain. Radiating pain, sharp, dull, achey, burning and throbbing pain. The orthopedic doctor looked at an X-ray and of course found no breaks.

He gave me a muscle relaxer and said it is spasm of my rhomboid muscle. Hah...I have had this before and it didn't feel anything like this.

He ordered a muscle relaxer and physical therapy.

He said it could be shingles as I look like a shingles patient. I did get a strange rash on my leg about two months ago. Took antibiotics and it cleared right up.

The rash didn't look like the photos that were supplied on the internet.

Could this be shingles? I know you cannot diagnose but has this happened to anyone else?

Hi, sorry to hear about your pain. Chiropractors, in my experience, are not worth it. Physical therapy is much more helpful.

One thing I would suggest: Try to notice patterns in your pain. Is it constant or sporadic ? Is it dull or acute ? What times of day ? When you're doing what ? What makes it worse/better ?

Your PT is going to ask you these Qs. Patterns always help. Good news is, and this is coming from someone who's always got something hurting (I lift weights) ... the body is generally pretty good at correcting small imbalances and wounds, to an extent.

Speaking of muscle relaxers, have you done any foam rolling ? Did your doc mention it ? It can do wonders. It's kind of like a massage.

I don't know anything about shingles, but anyway, PT is the way to go.

[ECHOES]

You look like a shingles patient? What in the world does that mean?!

I have had very painful inflammation in my shoulder that was bursitis. You might want to Google that and see if it sounds like what you are experiencing. A painless injection of cortisone made it better and I'm careful now with repetitive motion tasks because I suspect it was using the computer mouse for many hours and days may have started the inflammation.

I hope you feel better soon!

[bebop]

have you possibly had an mri for possible torn rotator cuff? I could hardly lift my arm from that along with a torn labrum in my right shoulder

[sideblinded]

Originally Posted by bebop

have you possibly had an mri for possible torn rotator cuff? I could hardly lift my arm from that along with a torn labrum in my right shoulder

My orthopedist checked my shoulder and range of joint motion. It was ok. He only did a shoulder x-ray. No help as it is not my actual shoulder itself. As others have mentioned it is from my neck says the physical therapists. They think I am having radiating referred pain coming from my neck region. I did take a spill about 2 months ago on the concrete floor and I am not that young so it may have started then. I really need an MRI done of my cervical and thoracic spine. I did something totally stupid yesterday....I made the same mistake and tripped over my computer cord again but this time...I didn't go all the way down as I caught myself hanging on to something.....I am now back to the original pain.......Geez louise....I have to tell PT in the morning.

[IrisBloom]

I have shoulder/neck pain too. If it isn't one thing it's another. I hope it gets better soon.

[sideblinded]

Originally Posted by IrisBloom

I have shoulder/neck pain too. If it isn't one thing it's another. I hope it gets better soon.

I agree, a nagging neck shoulder pain thing......geez...thanks IrisBloom and I hope you feel better too!