Shoulder pain

[KAllen]

I hate to sound like I'm a whiner, but I'm kickin' some strange shoulder/arm pain and was wondering if any of y'all had a clue what it might be.

About a week ago, I woke up w/ some muscle pain on the right side of my neck, not all that uncommon since I got whiplash in a mosh pit in '89. My department had to do a training shoot, and we popped off about 200 rounds. That week I didn't work out at all, and hadn't since the Friday before (it's Wed when this is happening). About Thur, I started having pain in my right arm. It started out feeling like an icepick constantly stuck under my armpit. It also hurts on the topside of my shoulder as well. This is an arm at rest pain, not like I move it around pain. I also have a tingling sensation running down the tricep area at times and my right trigger finger and middle finger. If I hold my arm at certain angles it hurts like hell. If I lay down and stretch to get something my kids threw under the couch, it hurts like superhell. As I'm typing this I can feel my whole hand start to tingle, and pain in my armpit. Also at times I can litterally have my arm at hanging rest and it hurts both in my armpit area and on the top part of my shoulder, like in the socket area.

However I did work out 3 times this week, and the only time I had any real pain was during clean & press and overhead press. Pullups/chinups didn't hurt, pushups didn't hurt, bence didn't. One arm rows kinda did, but not too bad. The pain after working out never got anyworse or better.

I'm thinking it might be a pinched nerve, but not sure. I really don't want to go to a doctor about it unless I have no other option. Mainly they just make a bunch of guesses and I don't want to be a painpill addict.

So any suggetions what it might be?

[Sloth the Enduring]

I'm not any sort of medic, but it does sound like a pinched nerve. If you don't want to go to doctor, how about a chiropractor? This seems like their area of expertise, although I'd be pretty nervous to have them crack my neck.

[Leimanu]

If you don't want to go to the dr, and it is a pinched nerve, go to a massage therapist It kinda sounds like it does, but the therapist can see you and ask you more questions and move it around. Really find out which muscle could be pinching the nerve and give you some self-care to help out. I'm a fan of contrasting ice/heat on the area. Pain is an indication to change your behavior. Massage and chiropractic are very complementary and self-care could be more helpful long-term, especially if you have an old whiplash injury that keeps flaring up. best to help it out now and do positive things sfor it instead of get some kind of frozen neck in the future. Then you can't drive because you can't look behind yourself. A dr. can help and their very knowledgeable, of course, but they do like to give pills.

Leimanu, licensed massage therapist.

[KAllen]

Thanks gang...I may have to try a chiro. I just had a not so positive experience the last time I went. The Chiro was cool, I just ended up w/ a week of constant headaches after being treated for like a month & half. Gonna have to do something, it's really starting to concern me.

[Leimanu]

Finding the right chiro is hard work. Some are really woo-woo, some are too clinical; some only do spinal adjustment, so adjust just about everything. But when you find one, it can make a huge difference. Ask around for recommendations.

[rtalencar]

In my unprofessional opinion, sounds like a pinched nerve.

[jdanger]

This sounds like a classic brachial plexus/radial nerve issue. There are various causes and types of nerve dysfunction so I would go see a physical therapist to get it sorted. I assure you even a mediocre PT can do better than "make a bunch of guesses" and prescribe pills. I mean we're already making wild guesses anyway right? A legit PT can't be any worse than random people on the internet.