No one knows why I'm still in so much pain

[quiz12]

I'm hoping maybe someone can help! Back in Aug 07 I had a shoulder injury, went to see an Orthopeadic and he took x-rays and said I was fine and sent me to PT. The pain only got worse, my fingers started to tingle and go numb, my Rt hand was always cold no matter what I did and my shoulder would lock up and wouldn't move for days. Went back to Dr and he ordered an MRI, an EMG, and sent me to a Vascular Dr, all of which came back neg. but I was still in pain. He finally decided to do surgery Jan 08 and put me back in PT. So here we are in April and I'm happy to report that my shoulder feels great, it's everything around it that is killing me. My hand is still going numb and is cold, my Rt shoulder blade feels like someone is continously stabbing me, I have this weird almost numb feeling on the Rt side of my back. I can't sleep, somedays I can't even sit up. My Dr ordered another MRI of my neck and back and another EMG and both neg, he did Trigger Point Inj in my back and that didn't help either. So now he is sending me to a neurologist and mentioned RSV??? I'm getting so frustrated, not to mention sick and tired of my Dr treating me like I am crazy and that the pain is in my head. If anyone has any ideas pls share.

[Misty800]

Stop messing around with your current doctor. Get a second opinion from a doctor who cares.

[quiz12]

I can't, trust me I've tried, it is a Workmans Comp case! They will NOT let me see another DR w/ out losing my benefits. If it wasn't for my Physical Therapist I would't have gotten this far.

[feelbad]

just one big question for you here. do you actually have your OWN copies of any and all actual testing results that were done on you? if not,get them,all of them and read thru them yourself or post the summarys in the back or spinal boards. i can tell you just from my own experience and many others that you DO NOT always get told about every single finding on any given rad report. specialists are really bad when it comes to this.

i personally just find it very hard to believe that everysingle test you had actually came up neg for any hard findings. espescially as we age,things just happen in the spinal areas from wear and tear. you just really NEED to gather up ALL of your own sets of medical records from every doc/surgeon that has layed hands on you for this and every single test result,then go thru them and see what they say. honestly,you would be really shocked at just what you actually get told about anything in an MRI report and what is actually listed there as actual hard findings. getting this stuff since this is actually a WC case would be even more crucial.

just exactly WHAT did he do this surgery 'on' and based upon what? there had to have been "something' solid in an MRI for any surgeon to just decide to do an actual surgery? you know what i mean? you REALLY do need to gather this info and just see whats up and what you have not yet been told. in most cases,when the fingers are involved,it usually stems from the actual c spine area and not the shoulder. found this one out myself when i just went thru rotator cuff repair. its just the way the nerves actually run. you would have had to have suffered a pretty major shoulder type injury to actually have your fingers do what they are doing and it stemming from the actual shoulder area.

what you have described sounds soo much like radiculopathy whcih are symptoms of spinal invlovement to some degree. does the entire hand go numb or is it more so just in certain fingers? this really sounds like low c spine or upper t spine related if this is actually stemming from the spine and not the area of the shoulder. you really need to take a good hard look at tyour own MRIs and see for yourself just what is or isn't there,trust me.

the one thing i was able to do while doing my WC crap becasue of blown ligaments that my first ortho mis dxed as tendons and really screwed me up worse than i was before,was get to see one other doc for that second opinion. i would really check into this. in most states,you ARE allowed to seee at least one other doc for any WC type of injury. i really would check into your rights here. this orhto really does sound kind of stupid? the one thingyou have to remember here is this man actually did surgery on you so him admitting he did anything wrong or screwed up,is not going to be coming out of HIS mouth,ya know? so obtaining your pre op MRI report and the post op ones really ARE crucial here. you just need that info,i cannot express that enough to you. believe me, i have had actual dx withheld from me because it took place(impinged c 7 nerve root) during the hardware placement my neurosurgeon so nicely did for me. his 'nurse' outright lied to me over the phone about this impingment only because her boss did it to me. if i had not actually had my very own copy of my MRI report siting right in front of me when she called to tell me everything was just "fine" and they could not find a reason on the MRI for my neck locking up and the very severe pain and numbness i was having,well i would have actually believed her and wondered why i was still living in hell when everything was just fine and dandy. "MY" report stated that i had an impinged c 7 nerve root right on the bottom of the first page. you could have heard a pin drop when i hit her with that one. she never expected a patient to actually obtain their own copy of an MRI report. but that one thing saved my butt and boy was she pissed,lol.

you just really need to obtain everything. ask your WC case worker aboutthat second opinion. i cannot imagine given your current situation that they wouldn't allow at least one other ortho to look at you. they usually are not THAT over the top ya know? you DO have certain rights to appropriate care while doing the WC thing. i would check really hard into this and get every piece of paper from every visit and every single test result. i can almost guarentee you,something is in there that you were just not ever told about. your symptoms would say otherwise than negative ya know?

just so you know,the only thing an EMG is really good for is showing actual nerve flow impairment not the millions of other things that can also create your types of symptoms.i had some pretty severe c 6-7 symptoms with intermittant numbness back in 01? and my EMGs all came out just great,despite the mess that was in my c spine. just start gathering up your own info on yourself and read thru things yourself. this will give you a much better idea of whats going on,really going on. let me know what you find? good luck, FB

[quiz12]

Wow, thank you so much for all of your advice. I will start collecting those MRI's. All I have is the actual written report. All he told me about my surgery was my ligaments at 4, 6, and 7 were laxed so he went in and "tighten" everything up. They did send me to get a 2nd opinion right before surgery. It's a little amusing because they sent me to the Orth I had been tryin to see for almost 3 months since I was so unhappy w/ the one I'm seeing. I was only there for like 10 mins and he said he recommended surgery, end of story. This whole thing is very weird because I ended up going to the ER twice since the accident, I was in so much pain I just couldn't stand it anymore, not to mention my hand was purple and ice cold . Both times they would do nothing for me, told me I would have to wait and see my Dr in the morning. I have contacted an attorney and he said I have no case because there's no proof of wrong doing. How do I get medical proof if they won't let me see anyone else? It's my whole hand that goes numb and I have, what my PT calls zings, that run down my arm to the hand if I move a certain way or if manipulated in certain areas around my shoulder blade and neck. It is so frustrating just wish they would figure it out and fix it. Last Tues the weirdest thing happened, I had been really sore from PT but was determined to push through it. Well, I got home and sat on the sofa for about an hour and my daughter started calling me, I went to get up and fell straight to the floor, had no feeling in the right side of my back. But yet was in so much pain everywhere. I called the emergency Dr on call and he said to come to the ER immediately. I couldn't since I was home alone w/ my 3 yr old and there was no way I could drive. I went back to my Orth. the next day and he told me that it just didn't make sense. I showed him where the pain was and he said that there was nothing behind my shoulder blade but muscle and set me on my way. Spoke w/ my therapist about it and he is doing some research for me. I'm so glad that I have at least one person on my side. He pretty much stays on my Dr. So anyway there it is in nut-shell. I Thank you again for all of the helpful advice, I'll keep you posted