Pain in shoulder after cervical surgery

Posted by Harvey @purdy, May 10, 2020

Anyone have cervical surgery in areas if C4 through C7 and have had permanent pain in your shoulder? Have tried injections and ting unit, but no relief.

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Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Dec 15, 2022

In reply to @sam87 "Any tips on how to deal with wesring hard collar for 6 weeks post op? I..." + (show)

I asked my good friend, who had cervical surgery the end of September. H said he had to throw all the pillows he previously used in the closet and find a very squishy one he could "mold" around the c-collar. (He also uses a CPAP, so a mostly back sleeper.) He also said not wearing the collar and doing some stretching exercises in the hour before bed helps him.
Aren't you glad I live among a community of "older" people with just about every health issue you can imagine? There is always someone to ask!

What have you tried so far?
Sue

betty71263 | @betty71263 | Feb 2, 2023

I had C5,C6,and C7 disk replacemen and infusion 5 months ago,and I have severe shoulder pain and stiffness.More in my left shoulder.Am doing physical theripy it is helping stifness a little bit.Hopping it will get better.

barnfind | @barnfind | Feb 14, 2023

Hi, I had 2 disc removed and fusion to c345 9 weeks ago. I bent my head backwards too far when my dog lunged at my face. C4 went forward over c5 and was pulling spinal cord with it. My surgery pain went away after a couple of weeks but my left shoulder pain started getting worse and the left hand. In the last 3 weeks my rt shoulder started hurting and my rt hand feels stiff with pain in middle finger and thumb. I can't hardly put my shirt on now. The pain is so bad in rt shoulder it feels like muscle tearing when I use it. Pain meds barely touch it. I did internet search today "shoulder pain after cervical fusion where there was no pain before" and found this site. Its a little comforting to know I'm not the only person to have experienced this and upsetting to hear how bad and how long it can feel like this. Thanks

barnfind | @barnfind | Feb 14, 2023

In reply to @lorimpl "Yes! I had cervical 4-5, 5-6, 6-7 done. I had excellent results for several years. However..." + (show)

@lorimpl

Yes! I had cervical 4-5, 5-6, 6-7 done. I had excellent results for several years. However my Doctor explained that you have to be care Dio when eating drier foods like bread, crackers chips and harder things like Licorice in bed if not sitting up
Straight snd you need to chew thoroughly! I had my procedure done in 2010, right after rotator cuff and labrum tear surgery. Shoulder locked back up so had to redo physical therapy on shoulder along with neck. 11 years later, my disks above and below are in severe pain... they’ve weakened a lot. The only thing I can suggest to give you relief other than a lot of opioids or a fentanyl patch is to have regular facet injections. Epidurals don’t work for this and all it does is add on the pounds!

Facet injections are wonderful and if two or three of these work, then plan a rysotomy with your pain management dr. This is where they either burn the nerve or sever it with needles.. I chose the later in case there was a slip, I knew in time it would come back! These work for a good 8 months at a time.

I’ve now had a reverse shoulder replacement six weeks ago and I know I really need a complete fusion after the 11 years in the cervical. However, my neurosurgeon says it’s a huge operation as the hardware I presently have has to be removed and then the entire neck has to be fused. This will SEVERELY Decrease mobility to the point of possibly not being able to drive and a huge scar across the entire neck. I visit my shoulder doctor today to see what I can do next as the reverse replacement hasn’t eased my shoulder pain at all. I have severe reduced mobility in the arm AND I still have constant pain and it now goes from shoulder to shoulder and is causing severe muscle spasms across my entire back, upper neck area from shoulder to shoulder! I’m a mess! In addition I’ve had two lower back surgeries! A fusion done thru the front where they moved all my organs to get to the back... done in 2012. Last May, I had had severe static’s for over 6 mo the and wanted to just craw into a ball forever. My neurosurgeon did a discectomy and laminectomy and my lower back hasn’t felt this good in years!

However, my thoracic spine is also herniated and surgery is THE LAST OPTION FOR THIS... I’ve been to University of Miami twice to Dr. Lee and it’s a very dangerous procedure! Having recently had this reverse shoulder replacement, I really feel it’s taken a severe toll on my cervical and thoracic spine and the reason I’m not healing as expected! I’m only 58 years old and I have felt with chronic pain since 2004 from a severe auto accident. I’ve taken myself off of ALL PAIN MEDS, but now I’m wondering if a fentanyl patch may not be the way to go again!

I’ll keep you posted. However, all I can say at the moment is I’m not happy. I wear pain on my face daily and I’m always in pain which is exhausting! I just wish I knew a solution for all I carry. In addition to all of this.... I apparently have accelerated arthritis which I believe is hereditary. When I had my cervical fusion at 47, my doctor told me he actually flipped me
Over to be sure he was operating on me as he said I had the back of a 70 year old woman. So... who knows where I go from here. I’m assuming pain will always be in my future. I just continue to look for holistic ways to treat it as my liver, I’m sure, is not in the best shape from all the drugs over the years!

If any doctors are reading this and have ANY SUGGESTIONS... I’m open to anything to try accept oxycodone or OxyContin drugs! They’re nasty and I’m very sensitive now to all opioids including morphine and dilaudid. Anything I take makes me itch bad! A fentanyl patch is about the best thing and that keeps me from sleeping so I just move on day to day and suffer and try to enjoy life the best way I can. I test a lot and am not who I was just a few years ago.

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Consider cannibus. It can help with pain quickly plus helps you relax and can improve your mood. Good luck.

Jennifer, Volunteer Mentor | @jenniferhunter | Feb 14, 2023

In reply to @barnfind "Hi, I had 2 disc removed and fusion to c345 9 weeks ago. I bent my..." + (show)

@barnfind Hello and welcome to Connect. Have you discussed these new symptoms with your surgeon? Sometimes post surgical inflammation can cause symptoms, and one of the risks I have heard a patient talk about is C5 Paulsey, but I do not know if that would be associated with a fusion of C5 and above. Physical therapy can help a lot, but you need the surgeon's approval for that, and it could be too soon depending on the procedure. At 6 weeks, the incision has just healed. It could be nerve pain because of nerves trying to heal, and that can go on for a while. Sometimes it can take about a year for nerve pain to stop as it heals. I experienced that with a pain caused by a spine injection that I felt in my hand, and it was just over a year when it stopped being cold sensitive. With the description of your injury, likely there would have been an insult to the nerve roots pulling at the levels that slipped over each other, and now there is inflammation added to that from the surgery itself which should diminish as time goes on.

The other condition that can be more common with spine injury patients is thoracic outlet syndrome, and it causes a compression of the nerves that go to the arms and can happen in several places; between scalene muscles on the side of the neck, between the collar bone and rib cage, and under the pec minor muscle in the armpit area. Your injury could have also caused TOS, but it is likely too soon to be able to tell that and separate it from the spine symptoms. Physical therapy can help TOS, and I have TOS as well. TOS can also disrupt circulation and cause the hand to turn a bluish, purplish and get cold to the touch or have a mottled appearance.

I am a Mayo spine surgery patient, and I had to wait about 4 months before I could do any therapy that would move my neck. I had a fusion without hardware, so it was the neck brace and my good behavior that kept everything in place until it fused which happens about 3 months after surgery or longer for some patients.

Would you contact your surgical team and share what they suggest?

birdman518 | @birdman518 | Feb 15, 2023

A little over 1 year ago I had an ACDF for C3-C6, with my primary complaint right arm and shoulder pain and numbness. My surgery did NOT help, and (after waiting a year as advised) I now have worse arm and shoulder pain, and it is now bilateral. Of course my surgeon is "surprised" that it did not work. I am exploring other options but I have not been able to have an MRI to "see" better what is going on due to my pacemaker. And I have tried extensive PT and myofascial release and dry needling,, none of these have helped me.
I know this isn't very encouraging, but you asked.

barnfind | @barnfind | Mar 12, 2023

Yes. About 3 weeks after having acdf surgery, I developed pain in my rt shoulder that feels like tendonitis plus stiffness in rt hand.

barnfind | @barnfind | Mar 12, 2023

In reply to @jenniferhunter "@barnfind Hello and welcome to Connect. Have you discussed these new symptoms with your surgeon? Sometimes..." + (show)

@jenniferhunter

Would you contact your surgical team and share what they suggest?

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It's been 3 months now. My surgeon has sent me to PT to fix my shoulder, I start in a few days. Doc also set up an appt with a new DR. in 2 days. I was a mechanic and it is impossible to use my Rt arm as it is. Pain seems to get worse during the night and some mornings I don't even get dressed. I'll let you know what happens this week.

harvodavo | @harvodavo | Mar 12, 2023

In reply to @barnfind "It's been 3 months now. My surgeon has sent me to PT to fix my shoulder,..." + (show)

I am suggesting to you that if your pain persists indefinitely, thus causing you to change professions, you might want to consider a state program of Vocational Rehabilitation. I am not sure in which state you live, but every state has such a program. It is 80% federally funded by the U.S. Department of Education. In some states this program may fall under the State Dept. of Labor; or Social Services; or Education; or Employment Services, or whatever. Its primary purpose is to help anyone with a "severe disability" which constitutes a handicap to employment, to become gainfully employed. They will do a complete medical workup to determine eligibility for services. All such diagnostic services are free of charge. If you are deemed eligible for services, a plan is written to provide you with whatever services you may require in order to help you get back to work. This could include re-training, vocational counseling, physical restoration of some sort (to include such things as P.T. , O.T. , prosthetic devices, further medical services etc.). And these services could also be no cost to you, subject to a financial means test.
The idea is to provide earnest clients whatever they need to get them employed. This also includes job placement services, as well as needed supplies, tools, equipment etc. needed on the job.
Quite honestly, I hope you will not need any such services; instead, you will experience zero pain, as you return to your mechanics job which you had prior to your medical issues.
Either way, good luck to you!

barnfind | @barnfind | Mar 15, 2023

In reply to @harvodavo "I am suggesting to you that if your pain persists indefinitely, thus causing you to change..." + (show)

Thanks harvodavo, I was put on disability in 2010 because of my back so I can't work for someone. I have been restoring a classic car that I use to drive 50 years ago plus play a little golf but I can't do either one with these shoulders. The Dr that the surgeon sent me to gave me a steroid injection in the rt shoulder yesterday. That would be great if that helps heal it. We will see.