Physio for Neck, Shoulder Blade and Shoulder/Arm pain

I am currently being treated (after a long wait) for a 10 week duration of varying symptoms/pain intensity which started in my neck and has radiated to my right shoulder blade, the tip of my shoulder and occasionally into my arm with occasional tingling in thumb and index finger on extending my neck.

I have had 2 sessions of physio and he thinks it is a problem with C6 which I believe he tried to "mobilize" (pressing up and down on that vertebrae and others). After he asked if this had improved the pain which it hadn't but later that day I got some real relief. However the next day and today I am in real pain in my shoulder blade and shoulder. A kind of sore deep cramping. As he asked me if it had improved the pain and now I am in worse pain, is this normal?

Also, although during the 10 week period I had a period where it appeared to be getting better (around 5 weeks), is still being in pain at 10 weeks normal? There doesn't seem to be any urgency or worry on the physios part but the internet is over run with ridiculous information so I hope someone here will at least give me some reassurance/advice.

Thanks
Prest

Hi there,
Sorry to hear that you're still getting pain in your shoulders. I'm not a physio but I have had a shoulder injury for a long time and what seems to work best is to try to settle down your nervous system. Usually when I get physio, my shoulder is already cranky so your nervous system is over working. My physio has asked me to take panadol osteo 3 times a day and anti inflammatories and this seems to be working a treat. I had to stop the anti inflams because of my sensitive stomach but truly noticed the difference.

I'd also try to find a physio who specialises in manipulative or manual therapy.
Hope this helps.

Hi there,
Sorry you're still in pain.
What was the initial onset of this what there an incident where you fell over or something 10 weeks ago or did the pain just creep in?
The reason you are feeling pain in your thumb and index finger is because the nerve that comes out from around the vertebra that's hurting you, C6 supplies this region.
Did the physio give you their theory behind the pain, talk to you about posture or give you anything to be doing yourself between now and the next appointment?
You should definitely let him know about the pain at your next session.

Hi,

To second sarahkelly's post^, sorry you're still in pain. Sounds likely that there is some neural (nerve) aspect to your problem as you're getting tingling and pain radiating in that particular distribution. Would definitely suggest letting the physio know - sometimes treatments we do can cause an increase in pain post-treatment but generally I warn patients when this will be the case and will tend to progress slow and gently in this situation.

If it is the nerve that's irritated or inflamed, they usually take a lot longer to settle down and people can have problems lasting weeks or longer. It may seem to get better initially and then stay around the same, as it has done. Although it's very difficult to assess and give advice without having the whole picture. Generally, I would say perhaps there is an underlying problem i.e. postural, as sarahkelly touched on, that may be causing the symptoms to persist.

Were you given any exercises or advice? Are you taking any pain relief? Have you tried using a wheat bag/hot water bottle around your neck as you've said hot baths do tend to ease the pain? When is your next physio appt? I would suggest ringing to see if you can get an earlier appointment or some advice from your physio if your pain levels are still very high and do not settle.

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