Shoulder - Upper Arm Unexplained Pain (?)

[greg30127]

A few days ago, I started feeling an odd pain in my upper-left arm.   If you imagine where you normally get a flu shot - around that area.   Deep inside the arm.  Now, when I'm awake and walking around there really is rarely any discomfort and I have full mobility of that arm, but when I lay down to go to sleep and attempt to roll over onto my left side, it is far too uncomfortable to do so - it even hurts a bit on that left side when I roll over on my RIGHT side (I guess due to pressure, angle, etc).

This discomfort seems to *sometimes* spread to my rear-left shoulder blade area, and my left neck/back area, too.   It's worst of course when I try to lay on that side, but also for a while after I wake up in the mornings.  Once I get up and around a bit, it goes away either completely or close to completely.

Tylenol offers little help.  Ibuprofine helps more, though not completely.

So between me and my coworkers, we're pretty much ruled out an unexplained broken collar bone, or a dislocation since I have full moveability when standing.  What else could this be?   Could I have somehow torn or ripped a muscle in my upper-left arm?  A pinched nerve?   I'm not used to this kind of pain, so I have no idea.  With no insurance, I just can't hop into ERs for Xrays at a whim, so any insight by others would be appreciated.

[Zak_Han]

It sounds like what you're describing is neck degenerative disk disease, which can become worse over time. Given the severity of your pain and the functional limitations it's now placing on you, it probably is time to consult with a physician. You can start with your primary care physician, who can help you determine your next step or who you need to see.

[greg30127]

Ok, but the pain isn't really in my back or neck/spine areas (??)

The center of the pain is in my upper-arm where you receive shots, and if I study it more, perhaps more on the back of my arm from the shoulder area to the elbow.  If I have a pain that's bad enough, THEN I might feel a bit in the shoulder and back shoulder areas, but that's not at all where this is centered.

More info - most of the time I have full movement of my arm with NO pain.  Every once in a while it will act up during the evening for a bit, but generally it's not restricting movement.  It's when I lay down that it kicks in, if I try to roll over on my left side, or, if I roll over on my right side and my left shoulder/arm falls forward, the pressure causes discomfort, and I then might have to sleep on my back to make it go away.  But again - the neck/spine area is not where the pain is originating from.

[toolmaker]

I had a 2 level cervical fusion and never had any neck pain.Only my left arm and shoulder hurt.I went to my Dr. because I thought I was having a heart attack.

[Zak_Han]

Of course,neck degenerative disk problem is a diagnosis which requires meticulous history-taking and examination technique so unfortunately, I am unable to offer you any definitive answers on this forum,But I still think it  linked to neck injuries. Take care!