Sudden & random sharp shoulder pain

[Roninson]

Hi-

I've recently been experiencing sudden & random sharp pains in my left shoulder. It doesnt seem to happen for any particular reason (movement, posture, etc.). It started about a week ago, and quickly went away. I then had a few more a few days later and again they subsided. Today, I've had about 5 onsets in a row. They dissipate over time (roughly 15-25 seconds), and am concerned as to what they can be.

I've been having numerous anxiety attacks lately and also have a couple of ruptured discs (which I managed to aggravate a number of weeks ago when lifting something heavier than I should have).

Could it possibly be connected to the ruptured discs? Its just odd that its appearance is extremely random.

[bluespence]

This sounds very similar to how my pain started. It was very random, but when it happened I had sharp shooting pain down my left arm, my neck and shoulder hurt, etc. I also had numbness in my fingers. I dealt with it for about 4-6 months because it was so random. But it eventually began hurting everyday all day. I couldn't lay flat had to sleep sitting up, but many times the pain was throbing so I would wake up. In 2007 I had an MRI and found I have a left osteophytic protrusion at C5-C6 and a left paracentral disc extrusion at C6-C7 severly narrowing the left lateral recess and neural formina. Because I didn't have insurance for about a year, I could not do anything about it but take pain meds. Now I have seen a pain specialist and will being physical therapy, but if that doesn't bring any improvement I might have surgery. So anyway, I would suggest make an appt to get it checked out. I know that my GP couldn't do anything, but I was referred to aneurologist and they did the MRI, a regular x-ray won't show the details. Good Luck!

[Tuckamore]

I am sorry for your pain. Mollyrae has offered you a good suggestion. If your disc problem is cervical or upper mid to upper thoracic it could account for the pain you are experiencing.  However there are other things it could be that is not related to your disc's such as a pulled muscle, spams or other such aliments. It also could be cardiac related. At any rate I would certainly check with your PCP to determine the source of you pain.
Best of luck to you and please keep us posted. Take Care, Tuck

[Mollyrae]

Hello Roninson. I am sorry to hear of your shoulder problems. My question is, where is the ruptured disk located? If it is in the Cervical area then I would be concerned that the pain is coming from that. When you have disk problems in the cervical area often the arms and shoulder are involved as well. My advise to you is to be seen by your Physician so that he/she can make a diagnosis to your pain. I would request an x-ray, MRI or CT Scan to rule out any serious problems. Good luck in the future and I wish you the best.    Mollyrae