Yep. Never sure if it's my neck or RA or both.
Loosing ROM. Hard to lift it up like when hanging clothes.
Very sore.
Your not alone there.,feel better.
Sammy

Yes, it started as sharp pain between my shoulder blades that the Dr said were spasms. Now the joint itself hurts to the touch & during movement on the sides and the front. Usually a deep ache but sometimes sharper. Things like washing & drying my hair have become difficult because I can't hold them up for long periods of time. Sleeping on my side usually wakes me when I roll over. The pain has been progressive. It started a year ago Nov and every couple of months has moved into the other areas.

I know I have arthritis in my back which is probably causing the spasms. Now I'm waiting on insurance approval for an MRI of both shoulders to see what's going on.

Hope you feel better soon!
Emerald

Hope you get the MRI soon and that it yields helpful info. I also have pain along the spine, particularly in one spot, but I thought it was the Fibromyalgia acting up. I'll mention it to the Rheumy when I see him next month.

I"'ve had shoulder pain for a few years but haven't thought to get Mri. I've had cortisone shots in neck but not shoulder area. Mine is painful all the time but especially in shoulder blade area and I use a compound cream from pain doc works well I know pain doc has dx me with bursitis a few times and did pt but if continues I guess it would.be good idea to.get mri

Melissa,

Yes, certainly I have experienced left shoulder pain to the point that it affected my ROM as well. About two months ago I saw my Rheumy who performed an ultrasound that showed fluid in my shoulder and damage.

He injected my shoulder with steroids and an anesthetic which brought immediate relief. Now, my right shoulder is acting up. I see my Rheumy in eight days so I'm going to see if he is willing to inject my right shoulder.

Hang in there!
TheWino

Yes, I have the same shoulder pain. ROM is a problem, especially if I try to raise my arm with my elbow bent. That makes me wonder if it is tendons, because lifting my arm straightened out is easier. I still sleep on my sides, and sometimes it is more painful than others. 'tis always something.

That's my most angry joint. Left shoulder. I too like sleeping on my side and now have a time of it

Many of you have mentioned the shoulder blade area. Mine seems to be located more in the ball and socket area in front towards the neck. I may also ask about a cortisone shot, both for relief and mobility.

In 2012 developed pain in my bicep by the end of the day my shoulder froze. Went to doctor was bursitis got a cortisone shot. It bothers me off and on. Mine is in the front part of my shoulder just below collarbone. I also get pain in my bicep a lot. I would get the shot and get some relief.

Shoulder socket pain was one of my first symptoms. Initial doctors said I had probably torn a rotator cuff..... finally saw a rhuemy, got some prednisone and, whadda ya know? All the shoulder pain went away. A couple of months ago, the pain came back. My chiro has me doing exercises with a band and they really help. At its worst, I could not pull up my own pants!

Icing seems to help.

Yes had shoulder issues in similar area to you and thought was never going to be sorted. Had steroid injection but only helped for a couple of weeks. Then course of steroids (already on but dose upped). Again it returned.

For some inexplicable reason after I had given up and resigned myself to pain, when another high dosage course of steroids was prescribed to get me through Christmas (warmer time here too) with carpel tunnel RA left hand, the shoulder just decided to be kind and is continuing to be relatively trouble free. Not that I would trust myself to lift down anything breakable from a high shelf however......

Think you should give in to steroids to try.

I went today for my checkup in order to get the monthly Oremcia infusion I missed 2 weeks ago due to an infection. Dr thought the pain/ mobility issues were due to the missed infusion. I asked about a steroid injection, but was advised to wait a week or two to see how things were.
Glad your shoulder pain/mobility issues subsided, Camba, even if the reason was a bit puzzling.

Two years ago i started having increasing shoulder pain in my right shoulder. could not sleep on it and could not lift or perform certain motions. i am right-handed but it got to the point that i tried to do just about everything left-handed. my rheumy sent me to a joint specialist after two rounds of steroid injections. the joint guy did an MRI and said i had a partial rotator cuff tear. insurance required me to go to physical therapy before attempting surgery.

of course PT didn't help so i had surgery about 18 months ago. when the doc got into the joint, he said he found one of the top 5 largest bone spurs he had seen in his practice. it had not shown up in the MRI at all! the tendons did not need repair, he just shaved down the bone spur and decompressed the joint space. after that back to PT and my shoulder is good as new.

if steroids and mobility exercises don't work, i would definitely ask for a referral to a joint specialist. Good luck to you Melissa!

Txtwinmom, thanks for sharing your experience and positive results. So did your joint specialist make any conclusions about whether your RA was involved with he bone spurs?