Long term Covid and Parsonage Turner Syndrome?

Posted by scionmissy @scionmissy, Jul 16, 2022

I am wondering if anyone has any insight on post covid issues that may be Parsonage Turner Syndrome (PTS) where one is unable to life their shoulder by more than a few inches? I think this is what my husband may have developed about 2 weeks after Covid, however, a few different orthopedic doctors have not been able to pinpoint his issue. They say his rotator cuff tear is too minuscule to effect his shoulder in the manner it has. He has been unable to work in over 2 months because of it.
šŸ™ We live in the Orlando area and have not found any post Covid treatment clinics.

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If he has a tear in his rotator cuff, does he know when it happened? Was he quite inactive while he had Covid?

I think maybe, before searching for a post Covid clinic, he might want to be evaluated for a frozen shoulder. Sometimes, even with a relatively mild injury, the muscles and joints will stiffen up dramatically from non-use. I had a friend who experienced this after a long illness, even without any apparent injury.

The solution was a fairly long course of progressive exercises to get the movement back, as well as repeated evaluation and manipulation by a PT.

Did any of the docs he saw suggest this as a possible issue?
Sue

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Any symptoms are possible and real to a long hauler. We smell things that arenā€™t real or food tastes spoiled or rancid. I live in a 100 apartment high rise building and almost turned in the fire alarm recently because I swore I smelled paper burning somewhere in my apartment. It was real in my head but my brain was telling me something that didnā€™t exist.

Since your husband had Covid, itā€™s possible the pain in his shoulder that he intensely feels is just his brain imaging it but itā€™s very real to him. It took 25 days after getting Covid to lose my taste and 6 more days to lose my smell. After 2 months, heā€™s a long hauler to me. Iā€™ve read where people suffer from their symptoms for almost 2 years, me, Iā€™m at 4 months. All I can suggest is physical and mental therapy. Because of Neuropathy in my legs caused by my bad guys eating the Myelin coating off certain nerves in my legs, my legs are dead. Because of it, I must force my brain to make my legs to move just so I can walk with two canes. There are certain tests he could have done to see if the nerves in the shoulder area are still working. Like my legs, it shows the nerve that allows a signal to make your muscles movements. My pain nerve is completely dead but the nerve for muscle movements is still working . So I had to go to physical therapy and force my brain to move my legs. His pain is vividly real to him but if the nerve for muscle movements is damaged or pinched. This test done by a neurologist will be able to detect how that nerve is or isnā€™t working correctly. If Iā€™m lying down, I can barely lift my leg up off the bed. This has been going on since 2019. Hope the best for your husband.

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@sueinmn

If he has a tear in his rotator cuff, does he know when it happened? Was he quite inactive while he had Covid?

I think maybe, before searching for a post Covid clinic, he might want to be evaluated for a frozen shoulder. Sometimes, even with a relatively mild injury, the muscles and joints will stiffen up dramatically from non-use. I had a friend who experienced this after a long illness, even without any apparent injury.

The solution was a fairly long course of progressive exercises to get the movement back, as well as repeated evaluation and manipulation by a PT.

Did any of the docs he saw suggest this as a possible issue?
Sue

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Thank you. Honestly with him it was the complete opposite. Heā€™a restless, canā€™f sit still. So while he was home ā€œrestingā€ to go back to work, he started pressure washing the house, washing cars, etc. Iā€™m not sure if his overactivity played a part. He has gone to 3 different orthopedics, and none have been able to provide a definitive answer. šŸ™ He started PT this past week, will be 2x a week, hopefully that will be all he needs.

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@becky1024

Any symptoms are possible and real to a long hauler. We smell things that arenā€™t real or food tastes spoiled or rancid. I live in a 100 apartment high rise building and almost turned in the fire alarm recently because I swore I smelled paper burning somewhere in my apartment. It was real in my head but my brain was telling me something that didnā€™t exist.

Since your husband had Covid, itā€™s possible the pain in his shoulder that he intensely feels is just his brain imaging it but itā€™s very real to him. It took 25 days after getting Covid to lose my taste and 6 more days to lose my smell. After 2 months, heā€™s a long hauler to me. Iā€™ve read where people suffer from their symptoms for almost 2 years, me, Iā€™m at 4 months. All I can suggest is physical and mental therapy. Because of Neuropathy in my legs caused by my bad guys eating the Myelin coating off certain nerves in my legs, my legs are dead. Because of it, I must force my brain to make my legs to move just so I can walk with two canes. There are certain tests he could have done to see if the nerves in the shoulder area are still working. Like my legs, it shows the nerve that allows a signal to make your muscles movements. My pain nerve is completely dead but the nerve for muscle movements is still working . So I had to go to physical therapy and force my brain to move my legs. His pain is vividly real to him but if the nerve for muscle movements is damaged or pinched. This test done by a neurologist will be able to detect how that nerve is or isnā€™t working correctly. If Iā€™m lying down, I can barely lift my leg up off the bed. This has been going on since 2019. Hope the best for your husband.

Jump to this post

My coworkerā€™s mom has experienced your same issue post Covid. My coworker tells me how her mom is always throwing away food because it smells rancid. Itā€™s amazing how Covid can also have a psychological affect. I had not thought that perhaps my husbandā€™s issue can be neurological. He has an EMG test scheduled for his shoulder end of this month, letā€™s see if the test shows any damage to his nerve. I just hope we are able to get to the bottom of it and hopefully he will regain all or at least most of his mobility in his arm. Best of luck to you.

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