Fibromyalgia Support Group

Hello! Sorry to hear you are having so much trouble. I also started having trouble with my rotator cuffs. I go to a nuro Dr. and he gives me some kind of injections in my shoulders. I have to say I am doing alot better with that. He thinks it could be a add on to the fibro. Seems like alot goes with fibro! You can also find a pain managment dr. They can also help alot and give injections. I would rather have injections compare to more drugs!

Hi Rachel! My hubby just had rotator cuff surgery....he had fraying and impingement, not a total tear. The doc said that it was a result of the bone rubbing against the soft tissue and fraying it over time...just from use of the joint. Before surgery, he had an injection, and they also did some physical therapy....pretty simple exercises that kept it loose. Maybe your doc could send you for a couple of sessions to learn the moves....hubby did his at home after that. Now, two months after surgery, he is about 95%.

Good luck, and HUGS from down south :)

Hi !! I Too will have issues with my arms..from the shoulder just down towards my Elbow...this kept me from raising my arms, or using them to pull anything...Very painful !

I suffered that way for over a year..when I started PT I told them about it, they started working on that with me immediately, and within a few weeks it had completely backed Off..

The exercises they had me do were fairly Minimal.."Finger Walking" up the wall...where you stand just far enough from the wall to just where ur Fingers touch...I did that 3 minutes at a time, 3 times Everyday...after each workout they would have me cross the arm over my chest...use the Opposite arm to stretch it just a BIT further {NOT ALOT}...I would use my Fingers to lightly Massage the Tender area of my arm while Holding it in this Stretched Position...I was told it was Bursitis ? or tendonitis of the shoulder ? idk...but it was BAD. and it Comes back...so as Soon as I feel it starting up, I do those exercises and Stretches...backs it right off again..

Learning to Relax your Shoulders is Another important step...I tend to Squeeze them upwards when I am At ALL Stressed...I was Not even Aware I was doing this, they pointed it out to me...so let your arms hang down loose...even reach for your knee, while slightly tilting ur head in the opposite direction..hold a few moments..

mine has hit both arms...unable to turn my head...headaches very SEVERE...shoulder blades on Fire...yea, it can get REAL Bad...

I Hope you Find Serious Relief !!

My mom had a frozen shoulder for almost three years. They couldn't find anything "wrong" with it. Her hand and wrist were numb and cold, had sharp pains up her arm (she thought it was a heart attack) and she couldn't hold anything (dropped stuff). Our new doctor (the one I go to), gave her a cortisone or hydrocortisone? shot in her shoulder and before she left his office, she could raise her hand over her head and move about.

I have one shoulder rib that goes out of place. It caused all kinds of problems. I do osteopathic techniques to put it back into place and also bought a memory foam pillow. Both help.

When you look in the mirror, is one shoulder higher than the other? If so, your shoulder rib could be out. If it is, let me know and I'll find the shoulder exercise I do.

Here's some I found on the net:

http://physicaltherapy.about.com/o...

http://orthopedics.about.com/od/or...

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od...

I have had to have physical therapy on both of my shoulders (rotator cuffs)at different times, after breaking them during 2 separate falls. As soon as one shoulder healed, I fell again and broke the other one! What luck! I was in terrible pain, but the physical therapy was a Godsend!
Besides doing the finger walking exercise which Dakota Rose mentioned above, I also did simple arm lifts that were very non-stressful. Here's how it all worked:
A cotton rope was attached to a pulley on the ceiling and a loop was made at each end of the rope for my hands. My good arm would slowly pull up the bad arm as far as I could comfortably go and then very slowly let it down again. It hurt a lot, but the therapist said, "no pain no gain", so I worked hard at it. She promised me I would thank her later, which I did!
I did this three times a day for about 10 minutes each time. After one week I was reaching much higher and by the end of the month my arm was able to go almost straight up without much pain. What a difference physical therapy makes!
By the way, my husband was able to make this simple device at home for me to do my therapy. All it required was some cotton rope and a large eye screw. The top of a doorway is a good place to put the eye srew.
My advice to you is to see your doctor and ask if you can get a prescription for some physical therapy. An expert can teach you all the tricks to strengthen your shoulders.

But, I also think you should see a good orthopedic doctor who specializes in shoulder problems. They really know their stuff and can see things on an x-ray that other doctors may easily miss.

I wish you luck and better days ahead!

Actually I too have been having problems with raising my left arm and pain between my shoulder and elbow. I went to my chiro and she put the shoulder especially in place. I also have a rib close to the scapula, shoulder blade, that goes out. I have a big big fear of losing cartridge in my shoulders. My grandmother lost hers and it was extremely painful.

I think PT excercises are a great idea as well as chiro help. Also heat and cold therapy. In fact, I would suggest heat therapy first to warm up the area prior to doing anything. Or doing it after, I cannot remember now. lol shoot...thats fibro for ya.

Hi all! Before I got into research I worked in a physical therapy clinic with my specialty in neck and shoulder areas. My thinking is that the shoulder pain is not caused (or a symptom) of fibro, more like a result.

Someone touched on the fact that muscles have weakened. The thing about the rotator cuff is that it is four muscles that work in conjuction with each other to produce movement. They also work with some stabilizing muscles in the back. The RC muscles cover the shoulder blade and attach on the upper arm bone and when they work they are the primary movers for rotation aspect of the arm. However they also work to pull the head of the upper arm bone down so that it doesnt hit the part of the collar bone that is the top of the joint. In between lies one of the RC muscles. If the RC is weak and cannot depress the upper arm bone then it will "pinch" that part of the group in between the bones. This is Impingement Syndrome. Very painful and can potentially lead to what Tiger was talking about with her husband....fraying and further weakening and increase in pain.

There are simple exercises that can be done to help alleviate this, but they have to be doe in a specific manner or you can increase the issue. I would definitely recommend ice for the area to help decrease the information. I would suggest you ask your doctor for a round of physical therapy to refresh what you may have learned after your frozen shoulder. If you did not go to therapy then, this could be a lasting result of not rehabbing it properly.

Just my two cents
Hugs and good luck
Toes

Wow I am so very blessed by all the resposes, I have been to see my Dr. and he did give me the finger walking exercises... they are tricky at the moment because I am having trouble with inflamed finger joints.. another problem... and another was to lean forward and do gentle circles with my arms as they are hanging down. earlier this summer I had been going to deep tissue massage.. wow it was wonderful and the therapyst gave me some exercises to help with all these areas... I admit I did try them but found my life was over run with appointments and lost track of time and neglected them. I did deal with a frozen shoulder years ago but treated it myself, after I saw what my mom did for hers from taking physio... and it took a long time but I was able to get most of the mobility... I did gentle stretches in the shower.. and hot cold and massaged the area, I think my worst problem is that I have been a chronic sleeper with my arms over my head, I cant seem to breath properly if my arms arent up... I really thing I need to see a rheumy to see if there is something more going on.... I used to have ribs pop out in my back and learned from my chiro how to relax then stretch to pop them back in... but sometimes I would have to repeat it so often that it would get really inflamed. I have read about connective tissue disease... and worry that with so many different areas affected for no apparent connected reason, that maybe it would bear looking into. I had cordisone shots in my hands for trigger finger... it was a nightmare.. I had a reaction, to either the freezing or the cordisone.. and I had horrendous nerve pain for over 12 hours. allt he way up to my shoulder, and I couldnt stand to have anything touch my skin. totally wierd even my dr and the hand surgeon who did the shots thought it strange to react that way., my brother had to have his shoulder tendins shortened when he was a young man, working in the bush falling trees, the work was too much for his small frame and wore out his shoulders at a very young age...
I would love for my husband to massage my body, he is very unskilled... hahaha.. but I love him and he is helpful in other areas.
I will try to stay on top of this... and if anything changes or something else comes up that helps I will repost to let you know....
God Bless you all... you have been a great encouragement to me. Thanks xoxoxo Rachel

My husband has rotator cuff issues and has found that he also has myofascial trigger points that impact them. Since I'm into trigger point massage for my fibro, he's learned where his trigger points are that relate to his shoulder, elbow and back problems. So long as he works them everyday, he has a lot less pain with them.

We use the trigger point manual featured at triggerpointbook.com. The author was a piano tuner who ended up with a frozen shoulder that the doctors couldn't help so he was forced to teach himself trigger point massage in order to unfreeze his shoulder. He went on to become a licensed massage therapist. I believe he also has a book on treating frozen shoulder.