Pain in shoulder after cervical surgery

I had fusions 6 yrs. ago on c2 ,c3,c4. My spinal cord was almost severed. I have pain in my shoulders most of the time and lately I have major pain in my neck. I have been on tens unit nearly all day and then the heating pad. I have to take muscle relaxer to be able to sleep at night.

Good evening @ljbsgausa, welcome to Connect. I had the same cervical fusions as you did 7 years ago. I don't recall any pain in my shoulders. I had just had a reverse shoulder replacement before the cervical surgery. And as soon as the fusions were healed in about 3 months, I had a rotator cuff repair on my left shoulder from falling down the stairs. At that point, the pain in my arms and wrists became quite critical. It was then that my small fiber neuropathy was discovered by a punch skin biopsy. This all became one of those nightmares from a fall down the mountain.

I have very little discomfort in my neck as long as I do yoga stretches every morning and use the cervical collar. I still have numbness and pain in my arms and my feet. What are you doing to treat your pain? When was the last time you discussed your shoulder pain with a clinician? What has been recommended and how can we help? We are here for you.......not as physicians or medically trained technicians. What we can do is help you research your medical status and ask others to share their treatments and medical care with you.

May you be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
Chris

I am so sorry. I’m afraid that I’m beginning to have pain in my neck as well, and have also started having issues swallowing. I’m scheduled to see my pain med doc this week and plan to talk to him about an epidermal injection. I’ll keep you posted. Hang in there. It’s very frustrating.

Good morning. I’m not the one that you responded to, but it was my original post that started the discussion. If I may ask, do you know anything about epidural injections and if they tend to help?

Yes, I’ve had numerous epidurals. Never this high up so may get an appt. to see if that will help. I don’t want to get out due to other health problems.

I’ve had several epidurals, but not this high up. Thinking about calling my pain dr and see what he thinks. I don’t want to get out right now due to virus as I have other health issues. I had scar tissue in my neck and could hardly swallow, so another dr stretched it last year and it helped some but it is tightening up again. Thanks for encouraging words.

Gee, I had C2 to T2 fused and have shoulder pain as well now. I figured it was just "the next thing" . Does everyone think they are related? I know side sleepers tend to lose muscle mass in the shoulder area as they age, which will cause pain. I was going to start yoga and get back to exercising... soon.

I’m four weeks post-op for cervical surgery on C4-5-6-7. I now have the feeling that I need to constantly clear my throat, horrible taste in my mouth and still have extreme pain in back of neck in area where surgery was done. Has anyone had this same surgery and dealt with any of these post-op issues? Is so, what help you deal with them?

I wanted to respond to the above text for the pain after surgery of cervical fusion 4,5,6,7. I had surgery because I continued to fall, was losing function of 1 hand, foot and could no longer feel temperature. Didn’t have much pain until after surgery. After surgery had shoulder pain, headaches, neck pain and difficulty swallowing, the pain for 2 years was quite difficult. Now the GOOD news! After many docs I have a wonderful treatment plan. I elected Not to have a second surgery. I now get facet joint ablations in 2,3,4 every 7 months and Botox injections for my headaches, muscle spasms in shoulders, neck and mid back. I get them every 3 months and they work wonders! I do still take muscle relaxers at night and Neurontin for neuropathy. The swallowing I live with but changed diet. Don’t give up looking for a plan that works. I tried them all, tens unit, 2 years physical therapy land and pool. Everyone is different but there is a plan for you! Hang in there. I now have good quality of life. It was long process, just don’t get stuck in a plan that doesn’t work. Will be praying you find the best for you. Sending my best

Thank you so much for your response and the good news. I’ll speak to my pain med doc immediately.