My shoulder - General Health Message Board

lookinforanswer · 05-21-2009, 10:11 PM

Hi,

When I was a little girl I had broke my collar bone and once in a while my right shoulder aches from the arthritis setting in.

My question is??????

I had used a leaf blower today on my parents yard, I used it for about an hour, anyway from the vibration and the little bit of weight that it leaned on my shoulder really has made my shoulder hurt like the devil.

It is feeling better now but still has a deep burning feeling.

Should this go away soon, or is there something else that can be wrong?

Thanks

feelbad · 05-22-2009, 07:45 AM

it wouldn't hurt to just see your doc for an overall eval of your shoulder. it may or may not actually even be related to your previous injury. while you 'could' have some level of actual arthritis going on in there, that does not mean that other things can also happen in there too, ya know what i mean?

the one thing about shoulders is they suffer ALOT of wear and tear over time and can show it in many ways. there is whats called the rotator cuff which makes up the entire shoulder area including the major joint itself along with tendon and ligaments that just give that shoulder the very wide range of motion it has. if any particular terndon gets torn(happens very commonly trust me) it will show itself with either loss of ROM or alot of pain/burning type of ick for us to deal with.

i was having burning in the shoulder and the top muscle there in mine for many years. i di do something to it many years ago while lifting wieghts one day. well it came back to haunt me on nov 6 07 when i went to lift my purse up off the top of my fridge like i do every single morning and i felt this pull in the area from the base of my neck and on over to the top of my arm? i immediately had to drop the purse since i just totally lost the ability to continue to pull up? found out after MRI that i had a TON of wear and tear damage along with a completely snapped top tendon(the one that actually runs from the base of the neck to the top of that shoulder area) along with another right under it that was just partially torn too. did not have a clue things were just that bad in there til the MRI was done. but when my primary even tried to just do that eval on me the day i saw him and run my arm/shoulder thru all the many different ROMS? no go with some of them, it just would not either move that way anymore or the pain made him have to stop.

i seriously would just see your primary for that eval and see about at least obtaining that needed MRI on the shoulder itself. plain old x ray would only show the joint and other bone there and NOT the very important tendons and ligaments that you just really to need to see right now considering your symptoms. i was told by my ortho that rotator injuries are one of the most common they see in their practice, next to knee injuries that run a close second. there is just alot of different structures up in that shoulder/rotator cuff that get damaged over the years or with a sudden pull type injury too. it just needs a thorough eval just so you know what it is you are actually dealing with. never ever just assume anything when it comes to our bodies. you just do not always know til a scan gets done as to what IS an underlying reason for problems. that much i found out many times the hard way. please let me know what you find out. good luck, FB

jennybyc · 05-22-2009, 10:08 AM

Hi!. The most common site for arthritis in the shoulder is not the shoulder joint itself but the acromioclavicular joint(AC Joint) which is where the collar bone comes in contact with the shoulder blade....right where the strap of that leaf blower would rest. Since you broke your collar bone on that side, it could be slightly out of alignment and making it become arthritic earlier.

There is a surgery to literally "cure" the problem. A shoulder surgeon goes in with a scope(so no big scar) and takes off about the last 1/2 inch of the collar bone to open up the joint. I've had it done in both shoulders and it is HEAVEN!. No more pain!

And right under that joint is a huge bursa that cushions and lubricates the joint and the rotator cuff tendons that go through the area. So your pain could be that as well and that can be treated with a cortisone shot. That will really ache when you lay on that shoulder whereas the AC joint arthritis really hurts when you press down on the joint.

A torn rotator cuff tendon tends to be felt when you lay on it as well or when you try to lift something upwards.

Chances are with your history, it's AC joint arthritis. I have a dislocated collar bone(which can't be put back into place) and it made the arthritis speed up. It also caused me to tear a rotator cuff tendon so I've had one of those fixed too.

See your doc for an evaluation to figure out what is what. A good exam of range of motion and where you hurt should tell you. Your pain will probably go away shortly but will probably come back if you leaf blow again and you put the strap on the same shoulder. Avoiding pressure on that part of your shoulder should be the biggest thing you can do to stop the pain.

good luck.............Jenny