Back to Physical Therapy

When I saw the Orthopedist last week, he was happy to hear that the pain on the right side of my neck and shoulder had responded to the facet injection.  But the problem was that now I was feeling more pain on the left.  It's not new pain on the left - instead it's pain that's always been there but was overshadowed by the intense pain on the right.  I wouldn't say that the right is pain-free, either, but definitely less intense than before.  When he felt my upper traps (which have been extremely tight for YEARS), he called them "cranky."  So, gave me an anti-inflammatory medication and told me to go back to physical therapy for a month and then we'll re-evaluate the situation.

The bad news is that I've been having another week of migraines.  The good news is that I'm feeling them more on the left than on the right this time.  They always start with intense pain in my neck, so maybe the facet injection helped ease them somewhat, since I typically feel them on the right more than the left.

Today was my first session of PT.  I went back to the same therapist that treated me several months ago, since she knows my situation and what kind of treatment I can tolerate already.  After a quick re-evaluation, she did some treatment.  It seems that my muscles are worse off right now than they were before.  I have been doing some of the exercises at home but I will have to get more regular with them.  The PT session was good, but I wound up leaving there with a migraine.  (I don't think it's from anything she did.  I probably would have had it anyway, since I've had them daily for the last week.)

Michelle, my therapist, was surprised to find that although most of my pain seems to be coming from C-5/C-6 on my neck, my MRI showed the worst bulge at C-4.  We're still trying to figure out how the torn rotator cuff on the right fits into all of this.  Did the torn rotator cuff cause over-compensation with the muscles on the right side of my neck (which eventually led to over-compensation with the muscles on the left)?  Or, did the bulging discs on the right cause additional strain on my shoulder, leading to the torn rotator cuff?  The only thing that I know is that the rotator cuff tear is not a result of a specific injury.  It happened over time, as a cumulative injury.  And the pain in my neck has been going on for a long time, also.

Having Fibromyalgia and Ehlers-Danlos doesn't help this situation.  ED is a connective tissue disorder, causing increased elasticity in my body and hypermobility in my joints.  And, of course, Fibromyalgia increases my pain.  I would guess that the ED is probably the reason these issues came about in the first place.  In general, it looks like I need to strengthen my whole body in order to stabilize everything and not ruin any more muscles!  If only I had the energy for this.

Right now, I'm hoping that the migraine lessens so I can get to work today.  I came home after PT and popped some Excedrin.  I have no energy to get up and go.  I thought doing PT in the morning would be better than going at night (when I already am out of energy) but it looks like it doesn't make much difference either way.  I'll have to decide whether I want to stick with mornings so at least I have energy to do the exercises, or spend my energy at work and not have much left for PT in the evening.