Shoulder pain....how to tell if it should be looked at?

McClure77

Hello everyone,

So for the last 1.5 months or I've had issues with my left shoulder and my neck. I first noticed it because I had a huge knot in the connecting muscle between them. Over time, I noticed that my shoulder was really tender and bruised feeling and although the knot lessened, that muscle group has still been stiff/tense.

Now it's starting to hurt to rotate my arm, but I still can't really tell if the pain is soft tissue or bone

I haven't been active, or had any injuries. My cancer was on the right side, so this is not on my lymphedema affected side. I can't tell if the muscle knot/stiffness/soreness is making my shoulder hurt, or if the opposite is true, that a problem with my shoulder is causing the muscle issue.

So, to complicate things, I leave for Spain in less than two weeks. I will be away all summer. Do I push for a scan before I go? Do I just wait and hope it gets better and not worse while I am away?

It would be nice to put my mind at ease, but if it's not good news, it would ruin my summer and potentially force changes in plans. Ugh....

Thoughts?

Sabina1974

Hi McClure

Would you consider going to your GP and get your bloods done. If there is cancer in the bone you would probably have high calcium count. I am doing myself next week as I have pain under my rib cage, so getting bloods done first and see what they show. It could be a touch of arthritis as well. Enjoy your summer and I am sure everything will be fine.

Sabina

McClure77

Hi Sabina,

Thanks for your response. I had blood work done a couple of weeks ago, but I'm not sure what they checked. I guess I can start there!

GoldenGirls

Hi. My mother had bone mets and her blood work remained fine for almost 3 years of extensive bone mets until the cancer was so advanced in her bone marrow that it raised her calcium levels. A bone scan along with either a CT or MRI would be the best route for finding bone mets.

If you spend a lot of time at a computer that could be the cause of your neck/shoulder pain. I work at the computer a lot and have neck and shoulder problems just as you've described and also have trouble rotating my arm. My pain has lasted as long as 3 months at a time and was diagnosed as disc degeneration in the C5-C6. I have to remind myself to get up throughout the day to stretch and something as simple as sleeping funny or leaning when I watch TV can cause it to flare up for weeks.

Good luck. I hope you get the peace of mind you need so that you can enjoy Spain.

Romi17

hi everyone, can someone please help me to determine if my symptoms sound like bone mets to arm or just a muscle thing?

i started having a pulled muscle feeling that went from my arm, to my shoulder, to the back of my neck, after i tried to reach for something in the kitchen. That pain is almost gone, but now i have a pain in my forearm when i stretch my arm. i felt this pain 2 days ago, then yesterday nothing, and today i felt it again, its just when i stretch it or move my wrist side to side, i have no pain when the arm is resting.

I always have had discomfort in this arm (mastectomy arm). My question is, can bone mets present like this? feeling the pain just when stretching my arm, and no pain when resting it??? i know this sounds like a pulled muscle or something, but im still worried.

MinusTwo

So - looks like you've posted this questions on 4 different threads. Below is my answer copied from two of the other threads.

Romi - If you would go to My Profile and post your original diagnosis & treatment it would be easier to answer. How long ago was your surgery? How many nodes did they take? Have you seen a certified LE/PT? Are you on hormone treatments? Did you do rads?

I have off & on pain from both radiation & lymphadema.

That said, I've seen on these threads numerous times that if the pain is still there in 3 weeks you should see your doc.