Suggest Treatment For Severe Pain In The Right Shoulder

Posted on Sun, 12 Mar 2017

Question: Hello My mother is 58 yrs old. She woke up 2 days ago with pain in her right shoulder. She describes it as a continuous dull pain that radiates down the arm. Initially she thought it started from behind her shoulder, but now she feels its starts from the side of the shoulder/deltoid, while being more painful around the elbow. It can radiate all the way to her hand. There was no known preceding injury. The pain occurs mainly when she hangs her arm by her side, and she finds some relief using a home made sling. She is able to move her arms fully in all directions. She does not feel any weakness. She does not have any tenderness in the shoulder, arm or elbow. She has no neck pain either. She is normally well apart from being hypothyroid. I am a GP, and I tried the tests for all 4 rorator cuff, as well as hawkins for impingement and these were all negative. 2 days on pregabalin in case it was nerve root pain hasn't so far reduced the pain either.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Naveen Kumar Sharma (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
She is having cervical spondylitis

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
I have studied your case. You have diagnosed it correctly that she is having cervical spondylitis with nerve compression in the neck. This pain is radiating from shoulder to hand. This is not due to cuff tear as
1. Cuff tear pain is more with elevation and not with the hanging arm.
2.It is also associated with weakness of movements.
You have done the right thing to start her with Pregabalin But it is not going to make the effect in two days. We need to do following.
1. She needs cervical collar and intermittent cervical traction exercise for ten days.
2.She needs muscle relaxant like Myospaz or Etova MR to relax her neck muscles.
3.Avoid using the very high pillow.
4.If pain is very severe then she need to taken Medrol 8 mg three times daily for a week. Low dose steroid do wonders.
I hope this answer will be useful for you.Let me know if there is any other follow-up questions.
thanks

Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T