Shoulder and Upper Arm Pain

[podapimpz]

Hi.  For the past few years, I have had shoulder and upper arm pain.  The main issue is my hand hurts and the grip is shot, but now I'm starting to suspect it's from my shoulder.  Here are some things that I notice that are weird or different on my right side than my left.

1.  When I went for massage last year, the therapist has me put my arms behind my back like I'm being arrested (no sick jokes, haha), and then massages the back of my shoulders with her elbows.  My left arm goes back fine.  My right arm feels like it's being twisted very unnaturally and has lots of tightness in my upper arm, I guess tricep area, but not sure.

2.  I have this weird thing I can do where I sort of life my shoulder up and back and can make this crackling or almost crunching sound in my scapula area.  Once I do it once or twice, I can't do it again for a while.

3.  In general, my shoulder will feel bruised, but it's like my upper arm on the side mainly is very tight and feels bruised and almost like twisted, like my arm is twisted.

I don't have these issues on the left side.  Does this sound like a shoulder problem or some other type of problem?

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

This does sound like a shoulder issues though it would be difficult to comment specifically without a clinical evaluation. Possibilities that may need to be considered include capsulitis, bursitis, tendonitis, injuries/ tears, joint subluxation/ dislocation, arthritis, periostitis, muscle/ ligament/ tendon tears/ injuries, fractures, growths/ masses, ischemia etc. The hand symptoms could be associated or could also occur due to local causes. I would suggest consulting an orthopedician for a detailed evaluation and appropriate management.
Hope this helps.

Take care!

[podapimpz]

Some info on my hand.  The right side of my wrist and fingers hurt a lot when I use the mouse.  But, all my fingers seem to be affected now.  My hand often gets cold and clammy feeling . It has this weird feel to it when I'm not doing anything, but I wouldn't quite call it tingling.  The best way to describe it is it seems like my hand texture has changed like it doesn't have any grippyness to the skin.