My mom had a flu shot 6 weeks ago.

Anon,

Did you and your mom read the links we gave you above?

Has she called her doctor for help?

She may need treatment at the doctor's office -- they need to try to get to the bottom of the pain and to figure out whether she needs pain medicine or something like a cortisone injection to help immediately, and/or physical therapy to help in the long term. Since it has been four months, she definitely needs to see somone.

Will you insist that she make an appointment? And then come back and update us?

Anon, your mother needs to go back to her doctor. It doesn't matter if the doctor disagrees with how the pain in her arm has occurred; what matters is that she needs some help for it. This help can come in the form of a cortisone shot, anti-inflammatory medicines and/or physical therapy, but she definitely needs to see her doctor about the pains.

Do you think she'll do that?

Were you able to read any of the links that Diane provided above, as this has been a hot topic of conversation, with many resources and helpful advice posted in the other threads.

If it helps, I had the same experience, and my sharp pain lasted for 6 months, and is completely gone. I was very frustrated, wondering if something was permanently damaged, and you can read my story...as well as hundreds of others...in the discussion threads above. The best advice is to call the clinic and let them know of the adverse event, and also have her medically evaluated. The pain most people have felt is ONLY at the site of the injection, and not down to the hand...I would have this checked by a doctor.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with your flu shot; I had the exact same thing happen to me last year (and I've had the flu shot annually for YEARS!), and the pain does go away. My shoulder/arm took 3-4 months to start feeling OK to sleep on, and then another 3-4 months before there was no pain.

I'm happy to hear that you tried to advocate for yourself, and call the clinic. Are you able to physically go in-person to the clinic, and ask how to file an "adverse event" report?

I spoke with one of my nurses whom I dearly trust, and told her of my incident last year. She said that is unfortunately common: an injection is given too far into the shoulder/arm, and causes lingering pain. I am still trying to figure out if there is a bulletin of some sort that can be sent to all of the Nursing Schools, or the FDA, or both, to let them know of this occurrence, as it is definitely causing people to shy away from the shot.

Please know that you can advocate for yourself AGAIN, and next time you choose to have a flu shot (or any injection), is to let the nurse know about your previous experience, and to double-check the exact site and angle of the needle, so that you do not have unnecessary pain.

I did get another flu shot this year (seasonal and H1N1) since I am high-risk (pregnancy), and I am really glad I did...no pain, I advocated for myself and the nurse took extra care with me. I probably will no longer go to any clinic, but to my regular doctor's office where they would need to respond to my situation. I hope you make your future choices to have/or not to have a flu shot based on knowing that you can choose a different nurse, know the benefits of the flu shot, and not choose based on a one-time bad experience that may not happen again.

Just my two cents! I do understand where you're coming from, though, as last year I completely swore off injections also, but then I realized it was scary to live in that fear, because if I ever NEEDED an injection, I wanted to make sure that I could talk with the nurse about HOW to give the injection to me.