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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Have Pain In Shoulder And Neck. X-rays Taken. No Medication Till Now. What To Do?

I'm a 25 year old and been in pain for about 3 years, in my right shoulder and upper neck. I've had x-rays that show normal results, but haven't had an MRI scan yet. I don't do any sports and there is seemingly no cause for the injury. After feeling this way for so long I can't stand it anymore. The movement of my arm is 100% fine (after having test performed by a doctor) and moving my arm doesn't hurt my shoulder any more than it already does when not moving it around. If putting my right hand behind my back, my shoulder makes a loud "POP" noise. There is a spot right on top of my shoulder, near the very end of my clavicle, but instead directly sitting on top of the shoulder, right where there is still soft tissue in that triangular feeling shape, and about to turn into the hard rounded part of the shoulder, which feels out of place and almost like a bruise being constantly pressed. The pain can shift from that spot, or coexist with pain in between my scapula and spine on upper back, and I also should mention that the muscle underneath the armpit on the exterior side feels very weak, but never painful or sore. The spot in between my shoulder and neck can also feel like it is burning, the same sort of feeling when a muscle is about to give out from being overworked, but feels that way without any activity or movement.

I've pretty much had a doctor tell me they have no idea what is wrong, and then shuffled me off to physical therapy appointments which drained my wallet, with still no guess to what the cause could even be, no helpful information, nothing, it was surreal. I had to look up things myself to even hear words like "bursitis" or "tendonitis" or "torn rotator-cuff". My posture is good (enough), I use a standing desk and hardly ever sit, I have tried consistent exercises as provided by the physical therapist for months, and noticed that the pain was increasing, and decided to discontinue them.

I have used a computer and do write a lot, historically before my injury 8+ hours a day. Now being at the computer or holding a pen is so daunting I have to force myself to do it, and so it's probably only 2 hours a day or maybe three. Is it possible the injury could have been caused by excessive computer use or gripping a pen too hard and writing for too long? If so, what sort of injury could be caused by that?

I hope that I can find out what the cause of my problem is, and then be able to actually do something about it. I've been expecting this unexplainable pain to go away on it's own, seeing as I couldn't understand a reason for it to occur in the first place. After 3 years I think it's safe to conclude it's not going to be going away on it's own, and I should probably figure out what's causing it, instead of just having a doctor send my to a physical therapist which is inside of their own building and directly affiliated with them, and cost over a thousand dollars. That's like a money grabbing party without any real answers, and I feel a bit cheated.





Tue, 23 Apr 2013
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Orthopaedic Surgeon 's  Response
Hello, from your history and your past work type it seems you are having cervical disc disease which is radiating to your upper back, right shoulder and right upper limb weakness. You can have MRI done for cervical spine to find out the cause and far as popping is concerned it may be a incidental finding which I cannot comment without checking you. If you are too much worried about shoulder then go for MRI after you get cervical MRI done. Thank you.
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Have Pain In Shoulder And Neck. X-rays Taken. No Medication Till Now. What To Do?

Hello, from your history and your past work type it seems you are having cervical disc disease which is radiating to your upper back, right shoulder and right upper limb weakness. You can have MRI done for cervical spine to find out the cause and far as popping is concerned it may be a incidental finding which I cannot comment without checking you. If you are too much worried about shoulder then go for MRI after you get cervical MRI done. Thank you.