Hello, and I will add my welcome to Mayo Connect.

I have been having similar issues, and like Colleen therapy is helping to resolve it, but it is very slow going. I was having chronic pain & spinal immobility due to arthritis, stenosis, bone spurs and 2 years of a different illness, which limited my ability to be active...Then I needed to stop anti-inflammatory meds I was taking, Covid hit and took away all my outlets for socializing and I was miserable - everything hurt.

My primary doc referred me to a pain management specialist whose skill is helping get you over the pain through multiple, non-opioid strategies. I was diagnosed with overreactive pain sensory nerves that needed to be calmed as well as the arthritic pain. I am taking (temporarily I hope) a medication to calm the nerve response, and specialized PT by a person trained in traditional PT and osteopathic therapy. He first designed series of stretches and exercises to mobilize my neck and spine as well as performing specific manipulations meant to do the same. After about two months, we began targeting individual parts of the body, depending on which were the most painful at any given week. For five weeks we have been targeting my painful shoulders, and I am beginning to feel some relief, though I still cannot sleep on my right side.

In addition to the therapy appointments, I have a series of exercises to perform each day. The shoulder pain seems to be related to my neck, so those exercises are performed in a specific order to work best. I also continue to walk for exercise, practice mindfulness to keep positive, eat a very healthy diet and strictly limit caffeine and alcohol use.

My recommendation to you is to locate a pain management specialist who works to find and correct the root cause. It has changed my life.
Sue

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