Maybe nothing, when i had my stroke back in July, as part of my symptoms i lost the use of my right arm, which came back after about 4 hours, since then i have suffered with pain in my shoulder and it is painful to lift my right arm up, and it us getting progressively worse, is this something that other people have had or is it just me getting old haha. I understand having a stroke makes you very paranoid about things like this.
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Shoulder pain is unfortunately quite common.
The SA have a section on pain which briefly mentions shoulder. Ideally for me, the pain section should be a bit more comprehensive as finding out about some types isn’t that easy
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There are multiple things that might account.
The first and most serious is the potential for a frozen shoulder. I am told that one of the signs of that is if you put your arm by your side with your elbow below your ribs hand in front so the elbow is bent at 90° and then try and rotate out so the hand is in line with your stomach if that is painful movement then it suggests frozen shoulder could be on the way. From experience I can say this is definitely worth avoiding and is perhaps best dealt with with the help of a PT . It’s comparatively common.
Clicking and pinging of the tendons in the shoulder is not unusual. maybe when your arm came back not all function came back as expected and now some muscles are not playing the right game at the right time? If that is painful then again exercises may help . Also alterations in your walking gate may be causing back hip shoulder etc misalignments generate pain. My GP practise surgery recommended bicept curls and arm raises to me for this.
Another cause of aches and pains maybe a reaction to your statins if you are taking any.
A chat with GP as a first port of call maybe a necessary diagnostic…
Ciao
Simon
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I’m with Simon, you should see your gp first or if you have surgery has a practice physio nurse.
Just because it can be common among stroke survivors doesn’t necessarily mean your shoulder is, at this point. One thing I’m pretty sure you’ve got is a lot of tension up around the neck, down into the shoulder, shoulder blade and armpit area that could be the cause of this.
I had similar myself, and yes it is painful to raise your arm, even to just get a cup out of the cupboard. I worked on my shoulder a lot with my massage hook and relevant exercise manipulations. It took a couple months but I did manage to cure it, so I now give it regular maintenance work so it doesn’t come back.
Just try walking your fingers all over your shoulder. Press down hard enough as you’re walking them and you’ll likely feel the spots that need working on because they’ll feel bruised in comparison. The massage hook is handy for finding those spots around the shoulder blade. I dig in and roll around on those spots and it can take half an hour or so working around that whole shoulder area. And afterwards I’ll give it a bit of heat therapy. I then wait a day or before doing it again as it’s usually a little sore then day after, but in the mean I do the exercises for it daily.
This is the hook I have and it’s handy because it splits into two, useful for when sitting down.
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hi there yes i have had the same issue with my right arm yes my arm hurts alot aches if i lift my arm up i also have over extended my arm doing pysio which also causes pain unfortuatley i dont have the answer however im glad to see someone who also has this
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@MIKEYD441 a painful shoulder is quite common after stroke but as others have said there could be many causes so you need a diagnosis from a medical professional.
I have a frozen shoulder & it can be extremely painful and the pain in my arm is often worse than my shoulder pain. I’m currently getting physio input & having a steroid injection in acouple of weeks.
Hope you manage to get to the cause of your pain & it resolves soon for you.
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Statins have serious side effects, as you describe: terrible aches and pains out of nowhere.
Gabapentin is commonly prescribed for stroke patients, and it is is highly addictive. I have several relatives hooked on this medicine. They all tell me it really does nothing at all. They cannot stop it, though, without tapering down.
I am not telling anyone what to do - it’s just that so many people are unaware of the long term side effects and addictive nature of many prescription drugs. Just be careful! But, I am not here to tell any single person what drugs to take or not to take.
Take good care!
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I have has exactly the same. It’s one year and one week since my stroke. I paid for an assessment (jan 2024)on my shoulder, including a scan. I am now having acupuncture and doing some exercises and I can’t believe the improvement
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@MIKEYD441 Another alternative is to see a sports physio if you can afford it. The initial price would be in the region of £40, £75 up to £150 depending on the region you live in. But they will have more time for you to work on that area, so can do more than an NHS one naturally. You may only need a couple of sessions, depending on what they find. It’s well worth the money, if you’ve got it, for the reward you will get out of it.
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Hi @Sianada
I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to welcome you to the forum since you’ve been here for a year but as this is your first post above and we don’t get notification of people till they post I’m going to say welcome anyway 
I guess you know the ropes and by now and have seen the common suggested places to look for help within the 400 plus posts you’ve read - the reach out if there’s anything else you have curious and keep on posting to share your experiences with the community.
Ciao
Simon
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Hi @Sianada & welcome. Hope you are progressing well since your stroke. Good to hear your shoulder is improving after some exercises & acupuncture.
Best wishes
Ann
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