Pain In Arm And Shoulder, Hurts When Rubbed. Worried

Posted on Sun, 17 Mar 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 Answered on

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi, my arm and shoulder have a weird pain going on just with the skin. It only hurts when something rubs, but even then, it's not a crazy pain, more of an annoying/weird one. I'm only starting to worry because I've had it before and now it's been constant for 2 weeks...

Answered by Dr. Kalpana Pathak (1 hour later)

Hi XXXXXXX,
Thanks for writing to us.
This heightened sensation of pain on touching or rubbing the skin is known as tactile allodynia. There could be many causes for the same like herpes zoster, nerve impingement, nerve injury or any fibromyalgia etc.
I would advise you to consult an orthopedician to help you out with the underlying cause.
Such kind of pain is usually treated with application of lidocaine gel or capsaicin gel and intake of medicines like gabapentin or tramadol or naproxen. As all these are prescription drugs, a consultation with a doctor near by is mandatory.
Hope this helps.
Should there be any other query, feel free to write back.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar