I am so sorry to hear you are struggling with shoulder and arm pain. I know what it's like to have shoulder pain. I was in a boating accident many years ago and hurt my right shoulder and have had two surgeries and it still continues to bother me. Sometimes, its because I favor it so much and tend to keep my shoulder raised up and don't allow it to relax. It also causes me to have radiating arm pain, because the muscles are so tight in the shoulder. I do have numbness in my hand and fingers at times...Not often, though.
I am drug sensitive and have a hard time taking aspirins as well as prescription drugs. I've used Advil to help alleviate pain and it's worked short term. Most drugs tend to cause stomach and bowel issues for me. I am highly sensitive to a lot of over the counter medication as well. One of the things I've discovered is my computer and chair were not at the right height and it became very clear to me, I needed to check how my computer and chair were positioned. I will tell you, my shoulder got 100 times better when I repositioned my chair height and computer height. There are rules of thumb when it comes to correcting positioning of computers and chair height.
I've also seen women who've come to our site who've received injections in their arm, mostly some type of vaccine and have had long term shoulder and arm pain. I've also heard of women who've had shoulder and arm pain after having surgery. Sometimes it can be how you were positioned on the operating table. Other times it can be you've had an impingement take place from having an operation...again, bad positioning of you on the table. This happened to my husband. He ended up having to have back surgery because they blew a disc when he was on the operating table because of positioning.
Have you tried stretching exercises which you can do at home? I have several I do all the time to relieve the pain. Also, ice. Ice should become your best friend. It will help greatly with inflammation.
I know you don't have insurance but you're going to have to go to see a doctor or go to a clinic to be checked. It's important that you know what you're dealing with. I'm glad the Activ On Joint and Muscle in the roll on tube has helped you. Thanks for sharing that information with our users. I'm going to try it for temporary relief. Especially, when I'm at my computer a lot during the day, answering questions. I want to caution you, it may be a band aid though. You need to get to the root of the pain and numbness. You can do more harm then good if you are not doing more then you should because you've numbed yourself up and don't feel the pain. You'll tend to overdue thinking your fine. When in fact, you're not.
I'm going to have our moderators find you some content on shoulder pain, numbness, arm pain, heart related arm pain, diabetes and numbness etc... We're also going to ask one of EmpowHer experts to see if he's familiar with women who have arm and shoulder pain after having open heart surgery.
And then there's diabetes. We've got a lot of content on type 2 diabetes as well. Maybe we can connect you with another women who has diabetes to see if she's experienced numbness and shoulder pain. I know diabetes can cause numbness and neuropathy.
I hope this has been helpful to you. May I ask you a couple of questions, please?
-Do you have any other joint pain, other than your shoulder?
-How long have you had Diabetes?
-When did you have your open heart surgery?
-Is the shoulder pain bad all the time?
-Do you notice it more when you've been on the computer of doing any form of physical activity?
-Would you mind telling me how old you are? Totally optional.
Thanks for coming to post your story on EmpowHer. I hope this information will be helpful to you. The moderators will be able to help you identify more content on our site and also resource you to where you need to get the best information and resources.
Please help me spread the word about EmpowHer by telling your friends and family. That's how we are going to make EmpowHer the most resourceful place for Women's Health.
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Dear rsawaya,
I am so sorry to hear you are struggling with shoulder and arm pain. I know what it's like to have shoulder pain. I was in a boating accident many years ago and hurt my right shoulder and have had two surgeries and it still continues to bother me. Sometimes, its because I favor it so much and tend to keep my shoulder raised up and don't allow it to relax. It also causes me to have radiating arm pain, because the muscles are so tight in the shoulder. I do have numbness in my hand and fingers at times...Not often, though.
I am drug sensitive and have a hard time taking aspirins as well as prescription drugs. I've used Advil to help alleviate pain and it's worked short term. Most drugs tend to cause stomach and bowel issues for me. I am highly sensitive to a lot of over the counter medication as well. One of the things I've discovered is my computer and chair were not at the right height and it became very clear to me, I needed to check how my computer and chair were positioned. I will tell you, my shoulder got 100 times better when I repositioned my chair height and computer height. There are rules of thumb when it comes to correcting positioning of computers and chair height.
I've also seen women who've come to our site who've received injections in their arm, mostly some type of vaccine and have had long term shoulder and arm pain. I've also heard of women who've had shoulder and arm pain after having surgery. Sometimes it can be how you were positioned on the operating table. Other times it can be you've had an impingement take place from having an operation...again, bad positioning of you on the table. This happened to my husband. He ended up having to have back surgery because they blew a disc when he was on the operating table because of positioning.
Have you tried stretching exercises which you can do at home? I have several I do all the time to relieve the pain. Also, ice. Ice should become your best friend. It will help greatly with inflammation.
I know you don't have insurance but you're going to have to go to see a doctor or go to a clinic to be checked. It's important that you know what you're dealing with. I'm glad the Activ On Joint and Muscle in the roll on tube has helped you. Thanks for sharing that information with our users. I'm going to try it for temporary relief. Especially, when I'm at my computer a lot during the day, answering questions. I want to caution you, it may be a band aid though. You need to get to the root of the pain and numbness. You can do more harm then good if you are not doing more then you should because you've numbed yourself up and don't feel the pain. You'll tend to overdue thinking your fine. When in fact, you're not.
I'm going to have our moderators find you some content on shoulder pain, numbness, arm pain, heart related arm pain, diabetes and numbness etc... We're also going to ask one of EmpowHer experts to see if he's familiar with women who have arm and shoulder pain after having open heart surgery.
And then there's diabetes. We've got a lot of content on type 2 diabetes as well. Maybe we can connect you with another women who has diabetes to see if she's experienced numbness and shoulder pain. I know diabetes can cause numbness and neuropathy.
I hope this has been helpful to you. May I ask you a couple of questions, please?
-Do you have any other joint pain, other than your shoulder?
-How long have you had Diabetes?
-When did you have your open heart surgery?
-Is the shoulder pain bad all the time?
-Do you notice it more when you've been on the computer of doing any form of physical activity?
-Would you mind telling me how old you are? Totally optional.
Thanks for coming to post your story on EmpowHer. I hope this information will be helpful to you. The moderators will be able to help you identify more content on our site and also resource you to where you need to get the best information and resources.
Please help me spread the word about EmpowHer by telling your friends and family. That's how we are going to make EmpowHer the most resourceful place for Women's Health.
Best in health,
April 20, 2009 - 2:23pmMichelle
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