Post Op shoulder, arm and hand pain - Spinal Cord Disorders Message Board

Bobbyboo · 04-15-2009, 12:34 PM

Hi Everyone,

Now about 9 weeks post op and I have been doing very well up to now.

The problems is I have been back to work for about three weeks now and, whilst everyone is very good both at work and home at lifting anything heavy for me, I am feeling very tired most nights and need to take a couple of paracetomol every night for cramping in my (good) shoulder and pain and numbness down good arm and hand. My whole neck area and shoulders seem very tight and it is difficult to straighten out.

I sort of know from reading posts on this board that it can take up to a year to return to normal but this is a bit disappointing after having been relatively pain free for most of my post-op period.

Bobbyboo x

sammyo1 · 04-19-2009, 04:33 AM

Hi Bobby, sorry to hear that. I had felt better very early post op after while I started getting alot of upper back pain & some shoulder. Took almost the 3mnths for mine to calm down. I have other pains now. I am sorry cant remember if you wore a collar post op?
either way you may be accidently be aggravating you neck area due to you job. Have you tried ice or heat? My PT told me I may want to still ice the neck if I am having pain & try to lay flat & still at some point throughout the day to give the spine a rest in a good position. She warned me not to throw myself into alot of activity or work as this will cause only problems.
I think some times we are deceived by how good we feel & then overdo. It may be overdoing it in a way we dont realize such as keeping the neck in a certain postion for to long. The only thing that did help me was rest. Its to bad you could not have started back to work slowly but I know thats not how it goes. I hope this improves for you as I know how disappointing it is. My PM did say I needed to try something more to relax the muscles. This may be an option for you to try something mild to relax those muscles while your at work. good luck & I hope this passes. Sammy

want a good out · 04-19-2009, 11:01 AM

Yes. I too find this recovery very deceving. (sp) I feel good and think I can do something and pay for it for 3-4 days. I'm getting ired of the process but am playing a computer game on facebook called mafia wars. It too hurts my arm....