Serious shoulder pain

[Stinky Diver]

I recently had a distal clavicle resection because of AC joint arthropathy. I'm young, 20, and the issue came around after I had gotten an early surgery for impingement which occured during a car accident I was in a year ago. Anyway, the pain had been getting steadily better (I'm a week out of surgery) until yesterday night, when it became unbearable. I was up an about all day, but I made sure to wear my sling because I want to be extra cautious. I haven't lifted in about a year because of my injuries, and I don't want to have to wait any longer. Anyway, I can't figure out why the pain is so bad right now. I'm ditching class today because the only position where it's bearable is when I'm laying down in bed. Does anyone have any experience with this surgery, and what might have gone wrong, if anything? Is it just because I was too active yesterday? Any insght would be a LOT of help. I'm really worried something is wrong.

Thanks.

[CoQ10]

Originally Posted by Stinky Diver

I recently had a distal clavicle resection because of AC joint arthropathy. I'm young, 20, and the issue came around after I had gotten an early surgery for impingement which occured during a car accident I was in a year ago. Anyway, the pain had been getting steadily better (I'm a week out of surgery) until yesterday night, when it became unbearable. I was up an about all day, but I made sure to wear my sling because I want to be extra cautious. I haven't lifted in about a year because of my injuries, and I don't want to have to wait any longer. Anyway, I can't figure out why the pain is so bad right now. I'm ditching class today because the only position where it's bearable is when I'm laying down in bed. Does anyone have any experience with this surgery, and what might have gone wrong, if anything? Is it just because I was too active yesterday? Any insght would be a LOT of help. I'm really worried something is wrong.

Thanks.

For the first few weeks post-surgery, pain can come and go.

That said, if it is truly severe/debilitating, you should contact your doctor immediately.

Good luck. Shoulder surgery is no fun, but you'll get through it.

-C10

[gnome]

Having recently had shoulder surgery (torn RC), I can tell you that the first day you're up and about can lead to some pretty good aching the next few days. This is especially true if you're tense and not relaxing into the sling the way you should be, because you're causing all those muscles that were cut, pulled and stretched to work in ways they really can't yet.

If it's any more than that, or if it's accompanied by any numbness or tingling or it's just really worrying you, call your doc ASAP. It might just be routine stuff, but it's better to be safe than sorry. You really don't want to go through it twice, right?

Good luck

[Stinky Diver]

Thanks guys. I'm probably going to call my doctors office as soon as they're open. It's really pretty bad. You also might be right about me not relaxing enough in my sling. The problem is when I relax it completely, it really hurts. My shoulder's slump forwards too much and it feels like the area under my incision is being stretched more than it wants too. My sling doesn't tighten enough to get as snug as it would need to be for it not to hurt. The only way I can fully relax and not have too much pain is if I lean over to one side and have it hang off of my body like that, and I can't really walk around crooked all day.

[UConnJulie]

If your pain was well-controlled and now is not, then a call to your surgeon is definitely warranted.