Well okay, it wasn’t a surprise that I was getting one but every since I bailed on my shoulder MRI last April (lasted approx 7 seconds in the COFFIN DEATH MACHINE) and got to see another traumatologist in June I’ve been waiting for this appointment. Which also wasn’t a surprise because it seems like all I do these days is wait for appointments. But after having to cancel my cardiology revision on Tuesday DUE TO TRACTORS I was actually expecting yesterday’s way too early phone call to be from them… instead it was from the Hospital Virgen del Rocío saying I had an ultrasound appointment the following morning at 10.00 am. So… surprise!
In the grand scheme of things the chronic shoulder pain I’ve had for… seemingly ever?… doesn’t begin to compete with the FUCKING KNEE PAIN which now seems to be extending to my left knee, possibly due to original fucking knee pain putting lower back out (hello sciatica, my old nemesis) so all movement now is fraught with potentially fucking up… basically everything else? I don’t know. All I know is that everything hurts all the time these days.
Anyhow, back to today’s hospital visit. It actually went very smoothly. Easily found taxis to get me there and back again (not always the case). And since I pretty much know Virgen del Rocío inside out by now I got to my ecografía waiting area just on time (seriously, you try it, they don’t make it easy) and was called in almost immediately. And the doctors were great. I almost felt like I was in a THE PITT episode when a young man came over and introduced himself, telling me his name and saying he was a resident intern (hey we all gotta learn sometime). Happily he was soon accompanied by the actual doctor in charge but she let him search away on my shoulder with the magic wand and there was plenty of back and forthing between them about what they were actually seeing on the screen.
Then the head doc took over and first thing she said was… how do you pronounce your name? I told her and after that she used it every time she had something to tell me. I thought that was a nice touch. Anyhoodle… apparently my shoulder is fucked, as if I didn’t know. It wasn’t possible to see whether the tendon is torn or just (just!) damaged and inflamed. But head doc told me that either outcome wouldn’t change the treatment or the pain involved. When I told her about the MRI debacle she said that for this particular issue an ultrasound is more useful than an MRI. Okey dokey.
So on to treatment. And the here we go again cycle… she said aside from anti-inflammatories and painkillers there might be some physiotherapy that could help but I needed to see the traumatologist again. And so now I wait. Again.
casa azahar 
Sigh. They really don’t have anything except drugs to throw at it, do they?
My own shoulder is singing (from whacking ice) and it’s been a whole refresher anatomy lesson. Even I forget how fucked-up little structures can get and how over time it all just multiplies like one of those fractal designs on screen savers etc. Mine’s talking to me from the collarbone attachments of the trapezius (the upper posterior part of the ccollarbone) and the dinky muscles tucked right in below the collarbone that connect to the upper ribs, and the muscles overlying the front of the front lateral processes of the neck vertevrae because when those are jacked, everything downstream gets jacked. You could poke at those spots.
Does the formulary in Spain include Diclofenac which is topical Voltaren, essentially rub-on ibuprofen? I’m getting mileage out of that. Doesn’t banish the soreness entirely but takes off the edge enough to let the muscles in the area relax, which is all good. When I was dealing with my hips I found I coudl get that from a doctor if I ASKED, and now it’s over the counter here.
Oh, yeah, the coracoidal process. That knobby extension of the shoulderblade that appears just below the outer end of the clavicle in the picture. Your deep pectoral muscle attaches there and IT can really fuck things up too (by locking the shoulderblade in a forward position), and the triggers are along the diagonal path of the muscle down to the midsection of the breastbone. Kind of where the team logo would be on your sweatshirt. Always seems to help frictioning that spot, for awhile anyway.
And try the spot just behind and inside the angle of the jaw bone. Seriously, it refers to the shoulder. Have a hanky ready in case your eyes water.
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The problem with those creams is that they are toxic to cats, and since I can’t take Ibuprofen because of blood pressure, not sure if I can even take it topically. But yeah, easy to buy that shit over the counter here.
I’d really like to be sent to physio for this, if only to have someone explain what’s going on WHILE it’s going on, you know? Yes, I know you know. Most pain is down the arm and in the shoulder blade.
I half suspect this could be a repetitive strain issue from scrolling on the phone in bed…
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Those phones can feck you up.
I have the cat issue to consider, but I just apply the stuff in the bathroom and immediately wash my hands; in my case it isn’t going on anyplace that Aggie’s going to lick. You know you cats though and the odds of their getting into things. With my bodywork practice in the house and a little collection of essential oils, etc., I’ve just had to go with “catproofing.”
Your own sensitivity is another question but I gather that the topical stuff was developed in part to help people who can’t afford to bomb their whole system with the oral NSAIDs. The dose is much smaller and doesn’t percolate through the body as readily. Kind of the way people who shouldn’t take HRT can still use weak estrogen cream in the critical, er, location.
Shoulder blade and down the arm…. adding the posterior rotator (lower region of the shoulderblade) to the list of triggers. If it’s there, you know when you hit it.
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