Muscle Pulls

I am a 30 year old male in fair physical condition.  In April of this year, I was involved in a car accident where I injured my left hip very badly.  Upon examination, it was also discovered that I had a pinched L5 nerve root which was preventing full mobility in my left leg as well.  Ever since that injury, though it was treated and has pretty much healed, I have been suffering pain, sometimes sharp, sometimes dull aches just about every time I exert myself in any form.  For example, if I lift something heavy, even to just move it from one spot to another, my arm is sore for the rest of the day.  If I bend the wrong way my ribcage aches. If I have to lift my arms over my head for any reason, I feel a pinch in each bicep.

While this has not prevented me from performing my usual daily tasks or from exercising, it is becoming extremely annoying.  The physical therapist who treated me for the hip and pinched nerve suggested that the time I spent recuperating from that injury caused me to become out of shape and I am therefore straining muscles in trying to use them.  I do a lot of stretching and warmups before exercising but it does not seem to help that much.  I have no history of any chronic physical problems but I have at one point or another sprained my knees and injured my shoulders, mostly through sports.  With the recent run of damp weather in the Northeast I have been practically immobile as everything I ever injured is sore.  I would like to get checked out, but I am unsure if I am not wasting my doctor's time or what tests to ask for.  Could it be arthritis as a result of the previous injuries?  MS?  It's driving me nuts!  Sorry to be so long winded.  Thanks for your opinion.

[CCF neuro MD MM]

I cannot say for sure what exactly is your problem howevere, the symptoms you describe do not sound in way suggestive of MS.
MS tends to present with weakness, numbness or lack of co-ordination, as opposed to pain, which is a very rare presenting symptom. Arthritis would cause pain localized to the joints , rather than tothe musclews in between them so tis does not sound likely either. I would suggest that you be evaluated by an internist to determine the exact range of your symptoms by means of a detailed physical,examination. At that point he / she will be in a position to suggest apprpoopriate further investigation, guided by the results of the examination.