Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; cortisone terror

Oh my, all this is very terrifying. I am PRAYING that the damage is not as described in the article. I am holding out hope, as the shot was a good 4-5 inches away from the actual shoulder joint and the joint has never bothered me in the past. The entire shoulder, including the joint, is on fire now.

Sue, I know that you followed the nsd for a short time in the past.... did you get any improvement related to the diet with your shoulder region? Or do you see it as completely separate? I am so sorry that you are going through this, also.

Once when I had both shoulders shot up with cortisone (pre-diagnosis, pre-Molly's knowledge) the doc said it "might" make them worse, very much worse. Mine did OK, but I wonder if you go back to the person who gave you the shot and ask/tell them what they would recommend. Obviously Doc's know these things can go south, maybe they are trained in treating adverse reactions.

Prior to the shot when you said your pain was coming from a pea sized area is EXACTLY what the "trigger point therapy workbook" talks about. Those trigger points can cause an unbelievable amount of pain. pressure while rubbing with short strokes (1-2 inch) 12 strokes at a time, several times a day is what is recommended for releases the trigger point/knot.

I agree with the relaxation/ice/heat/thinking positive thoughts. Sending hugs and light your way. Good luck and enjoy the art.

-Donette

I m sorry to hear that Stacey. I read all your post and find them really useful.

If I am in pain (and my NSD has helped but I have plateaued for the last 3 months) I see my friend who is a chiropractor. If your chiropractor is good they will be able to assist in managing ANY injury.

I strained my ankle ligaments 2 year ago. Usual prognosis 3 months no running. He had me up and running in 3 weeks. A good chiro is worth their weight in gold. Only go on recommendation of family and friends though.

Good luck.

Keith

No point in getting frighted! At least he was 'away' from the shoulder joint and therefore should be NO damage to ligaments s and tendons. Just don't let him near those shoulders of yours again - and, only EVER permit an orthopod near em, and then, ONLY with ultrasound guidance and ALSO, only with the Hyaluronans.

Now you are more up-to-date than the Dr 75%s out there (incl the rheumies.)

Relax. Ice and rest. Then find thee a 'good' orthopod. Few and far between, but are out there.

As for cheiros, hmmmmmm. Will hold me peace/piece...!!

just back from an amazing chiro (no spinal manipulation, all soft tissue) - lots to discuss, later.

no, for me, diet doesn't seem to make any difference i am aware of.

i wouldn't be surprised if we are dealing with the same thing, so lots to share.

Hi, Stacey:

I had adhesive capsulitis...not as much fun as it sounds.

A PAIN MANAGEMENT physician might be able to help--but they usually put cortisone in those injections. I was thinking just something to numb it but those things wear off too quickly.

During the daytime, I would massage peanut oil into the flare area but at night I would use castor oil packs and especially vigorously rub the area with the oil.

Yes, fasting is good. NSAIDs always made me much worse but the cortisone injections never did anything--good or bad until I developed "Metabolic X Syndrome."

Good Luck with defeating this,
John

I found that BioFreeze really works well to rub onto those painful spots. I was having trouble with my shoulder hurting a lot. I put on the BioFreeze and the pain would be gone for several hours. At least, it gave me some time to relax those hurting muscles and get some sleep.
Donna

light,

i do think what you are dealing with are triggerpoints. their pain can be exquisite. i injured my rhomboids by pulling my skirt down quickly to go to the bathroom in 1998 after sitting in a bad chair so my muscles were tight. but it took a long time before i could find someone who knew how to treat it. for me pressing the triggerpoints out only made them infinitely worse because things were so bad. by the time i found a good manual PT, a rope of triggerpoint material had formed (i would have sworn an alien surgically implanted something inside me it was so huge). took over a year of biweekly then weekly ultrasound and soft tissue work at the PTs office, followed by a year of montly triggerpoint injections at a physiatrists office. but this is because mine had become so involved and was not treated promptly. the physiatrist also prescribed my zanaflex that i still take to help prevent things from reforming. i had a lot of muscle spasm as all the muscles tried to "protect" the area. this was all back between 1998 and 2003. while the ultrasound slowly resolved the triggerpoints, the triggerpoint injections were immediate and miraculous! a few seconds of exquisite pain and then better. you must have someone good if they need to be injected as mine were, they must inject just lidocaine (no cortisone) right into the belly of the triggerpoint to break up the scar tissue, there will be a jump response of the muscle as it goes from being all bound up to freely moving again if they are successful. dry needling is ok too, but lidocaine helps it not be as irritated and then ice helps too.

you may not need as much help as i did. yours may be able to be pressed out. ultrasound could work. massage could work. but the shots, from someone good, at immediate and cause the least amount of trauma to the tissue. its a very thin needle, the needle doesn't hurt at all, only the puncturing of the triggerpoint hurts, but that's how you know you got it.

from 2003-2009, i'd occasionally have residual triggerpoints go from latent to active. most i could get under control by alternating heat and ice (20 minutes of one, 20 of the other, back and forth, until it felt better). if i couldn't do it on my own, i'd go to PT or the chiro's office for ultrasound or if it was really stubborn, go for a triggerpoint injection.

fast forward to today. this was different. turns out, i'm 99% sure that the exquisite pain i've been feeling for the last few weeks was a rib that was out and stuck. as soon as the chiro popped it back in, my body started to calm down.

and i'm with the person above who mentioned a good chiro. good PTs, good chiros do a lot of the same sorts of things. the chiro i saw today did things similar to the PT i had back in virginia in the early 2000s who was so good. to me doesn't matter too much which discipline if they do a variety of techniques that work. i'm just thrilled to have some relief, even if its temporary. if he could do this today, i have faith he can do it again. i will be going back to have him help all the latent problems.

as for your cortisone injection. i'd call the doctor who did it and ask him or her for advice. i'd use ice and heat and rest it as much as possible. i've had cortisone into my left wrist, both sides, about 8 years apart, and to my SI twice now. each time it feels a lot worse for maybe a week or so until it gets better and better. but i had to really rest the joints until the healing started to take place. i've only had cortisone when things were so far downhill that any movement was setting off more scar tissue in my wrists (bad tendonitis the first time and a torn ligament the second time) or when my piriformis couldn't settle down because the SI was so inflamed and the piriformis was working hard. i also had cortisone injected into a bursa in the rhomboid area in case that was the problem, but that did nothing for me good or bad except rule out the bursa.

good luck to you, i know how painful it must be!

Hi Stacey,

I'm sorry to hear you're going through this!

I suspect that the last cortisone shot I had in my SI joint actually triggered my first major flare. Since that time, and a lot of the literature I've read, I've sworn off of cortisone. It's a shame that doctor's rely on it so much. (That being said, I think some people here benefit from it.)

Have you tried other modalities like Myofascial Release (as opposed to a traditional massage) or epsom salt baths or ultrasound? I'm not sure if that'll help, but prior to the diet, my rhomboids would easily spasm if I contracted them.

I hope you find something that works before you start grad school.

Good luck!

Freddie

As always, thx for the support everyone.

I went to acupuncture on Friday pm and managed to go to my Jeffy's art opening. I mastered one armed hugs and the adrenalin of seeing EVERYONE in one place got me through the evening.

Saturday I was "okay, but gritting my teeth" in the am, as long as I immobilized my arm, but about 4 pm, it hurt more than ever and I realized that I could not move it at all, even if I tried, without extreme pain. I became very freaked out that I was somehow causing more damage and went to the emergency room. Of course this was unneeded, but I was afraid that if I waited until Tuesday (holiday here on Monday), I would be told I was ripping something or something was infected and I should not have waited so long. Of course, the doctor got out her hypochondria manual to in loosely veiled terms explain to me that there was "no reason for my rotator cuff to hurt if the injection was that far away" and told to take the normal doctor recommendation of nsaids until my stomach starts bleeding (gotta love it). The one helpful bit was she told me that heat was no good at this point, which looking back I should have figured out myself, both my pain= sobbing fits happened after heat. duh.

Sunday I ran into a friend who has AS and is a massage therapist (when she is up to it). She explained to me that she gets the pain in her rotator cuff and she realized long ago that it was referred pain from EXACTLY where I got my shot. (hello Mrs smartypants Dr. ER, HA!) since then I have started icing, anti- inflammatory creaming that spot (which was not even actively hurting btw) and the rotor pain is under control, though my shoulder is still hurting far worse than it has ever hurt in the past and unresponsive to nsd.

Today I am back to acupuncture, now that the holiday weekend is over.

still feeling "humph", but not in panic mode any longer. HOPEFULLY I will be able to move my arm before I start teaching.

You are all WONDERFUL,
Stacey