I fell again UPDATE ONE YEAR LATER

about 3 weeks ago, I tripped over something (thick air?) and landed hard.  I was walking and then I was flying, with my arms outstretched, and then I was face down on the sidewalk with extreme pain in my left shoulder.  I went to the doctor and they sent me for an xray, then promptly forgot about me.  Two weeks later, I found another doctor, who sent me for another xray, and then an MRI.  All those tests came back normal, but I still have a lot of pain on the top outer edge of my left shoulder.  I had no range of motion for a week or so, but now it's coming back.  There are still movements I can't make and the pain is making it hard to get comfortable at night.  During the day, I can be careful of it, but when I go to sleep I'll move it the wrong way and wake up.

When I fell, I felt something give in the top of my shoulder and I don't know why the tests are normal, unless it's the fact that the MRI was performed over two weeks after the injury. If it's healed though, why does it still hurt so much?  Is it possible that I messed up something they didn't find or am I just being a baby?

Post Edited (anstar) : 7/9/2009 12:01:56 PM (GMT-6)

I don't know what an MRI would see, but an Xray won't see if you have bursitis or injured a tendon. I'm sorry you are still in pain, and no you aren't a baby! I think the doctor should take you more seriously. I'm sorry, I hav no advice for you :(

You are not being a baby, Anstar.  Living with pain is not easy and is not for sissies!

 

I get gentle massages that help with muscle pain.  I can be pretty miserable but she works out the knots and the muscles relax.  I'm worse the evening I had the massage but the next day I'm 100% better.

 

I did try chiropractics and it wasn't for me.  It made me worse and, by the time I started feeling better, it was time for my next appointment!  That is my experience.

 

I hope you are feeling better.  You may have strained tendons and ligaments and they are taking longer to heal.  I do hope you get some relief soon.

 

Sherrine

I think that a lot of us get that attitude from doctors. Just because they can't see our pain doesn't mean it isn't there. Do you think that maybe you bruised a bone. I don't think that would show up on tests. Anyhow I hope that the pain subsides for you and that you feel better soon. It does take us longer to heal up after a fall or walking into something like I do.LOL...

Best wishes, keep us posted
hugs, Karen

I'm bringing this back to the top because of the dates involved. Just today (nearly a YEAR later) I was back in the doctor's office for some bloodwork and mentioned to the new doctor (the other one had since left to open her own practice) that my shoulder still bothered me. She looked in my chart and found the results of the MRI, that I had been told were normal. Right there, in black and white in my chart was the report the nurse had "interpreted" as normal... Nondisplaced FRACTURE!! I had actually broken a bone, and no one told me!! Now I have to have another MRI to make sure that not having the proper treatment hasn't done more damage to my shoulder. The new doctor (who was mortified!!) said she's sure the bone has healed by now, but is very worried about the tendons surrounding it. The nurse who gave me the results was fired from the group a while back because they'd had "problems" with her. I was shocked and quite frustrated at this information, but I appreciated my new doctor being honest with me and not trying to bury it, hoping I'd never be the wiser. I'm sure she's concerned about financial implications for their practice, but she seemed to be more concerned for my well-being.
Well, anyway...Now!! I have to go through "intense" physical therapy to hopefully save me from having to have surgery on my shoulder. <cry>

Post Edited (anstar) : 7/9/2009 12:03:47 PM (GMT-6)

The new doctor told me that when the results from this new MRI arrive she will be *personally* calling me.

Thanks Sherrine, for your prayers. I"m also hoping that everything healed properly, but I wonder because, one year after the fall, I still can't put my arm behind my back, or reach across my body. :( What a mess.

Anstar, could you have a pinched nerve? They can do nerve blocks for those and it helps. I don't think they can see the pinched nerve on an xray or mri. My doc says they give you a local anesthesia and then the nerve block. If it feels better right away, they know they got the right spot. It hurts a lot later because of the shot, then gets better. It might be worth discussing with your doctor.
Sue

Wow.  I really hope the PT can help your shoulder get better.  Keep us posted.

 

The medical community, while most of them are caring and conscientious, really do screw up as often as the rest of us.  My husband went to the dr with elbow pain (turns out he broke it as a child, didn't realize it, and it healed improperly).  He was sent for a CT scan, and the radiologist said it was "normal".  His orthopedist said, "That's crazy; I can feel the knot."  His orthopedist looked at the films and saw the old break.  He chose not to have surgery to correct the old break.  He has a good range of motion and only has pain if he moves it a certain way, or sometimes it is really stiff and "stuck" in the mornings, and he has to "pop" it, but then it feels better.  Hopefully, you will have the same success.

 

I have one more bit of advice for all of us, and that is to always get a written copy of any test results/ imaging reports. I've also had a nurse tell me that a CT was negative, but when I went and got the written report (from the radiologist), there actually was an abnormality.  It wasn't life threatening, but it did explain the problems I was having and helped put my mind at ease.

 

Hope you feel better soon.

 

Hugs - Austen

Thanks everyone. The doctor's office just called. My new MRI is scheduled for noon on Monday.
I expected to be in pain longer than 'normal' but I'm hanging up on the fact that a year later I still have limited range of motion. There are some movements my shoulder simply will not do. If I place my hand behind my back (gingerly) and try to say, grab my bra to unhook it, my arm will go there (sort of, it hurts) but when I try to turn my arm so that my palm is facing my back, it literally won't do it. It starts to hurt and if I try to push through the pain, it locks up and won't go. My rheumy gave me a list of rotator cuff exercises for my right arm after he gave me the injection in the nerve (OUCH!!!) and told me to do them for both arms. I'm doing alright with the right arm, but not with the left. I've wondered if my right shoulder is starting to give me problems because I'm making it do the lion's share. I've been compensating for the limited range of motion for so long, I'm not even aware when I do it anymore. In the doctor's office yesterday she asked me if I could lift my left arm straight out and up. I said, "yes" and showed her. She shook her head and said, "You don't even realize what you just did." I had lifted my arm out to my side, and then for the raise it over your head part, what I'd done was bend sideways at the waist...thus raising my left arm in the air. She was right. I didn't realize I'd been doing that. I thought I was getting better. I was just finding new ways around it.