Shoulder and arm pain following stent

[Runninbear]

I had a heart attack about ten weeks ago and had two stents fitted in the right coronary artery. All went well until about 10 days after the heart attack when i started to get severe pain between the shoulder blades. A visit to A&E and an ECG showing no heart problems ended in a diagnosis of a damaged muscle. This pain continued and is worse when walking and moving, especially when looking up, but not when cycling. Neck is very tense and shoulders are uneven due to tension. Diagnosis has changed to trapped nerve in my neck but lots of physio exercises are not improving the condition. Could this be linked to my heart attack or to stents being inserted? Any advice would be helpful.

[DavidKeith52]

Sorry to hear you’re having neck and shoulder pain. I had a triple bypass in January this year, and about 6 months later developed severe shoulder pain. The physiotherapist at cardiac rehab seemed to think it is frozen shoulder, and gave me stretches to do at home. I find that direct heat helps, so I do the stretches under a hot shower. Although my shoulders are still painful, I now have much more movement. Unfortunately, nobody can tell me if it’s related to the surgery or not. I do hope the pain eases off soon. Take care.

[Salihyuksel67]

Hi I had triple by pass operation 7 months ago 2 weeks ago my right shoulder started really painful and I don't this something to do with hearth especially when I driving getting worse. But I start using deep heat spray little bit helps. You can use codeine and pain goes away but hard to get piscriptine. I am planning to see doctor this week. Let me know if you get answer from your gp. Thank you

[calvo2000]

Hi,

I had something very similar. I took up yoga after the first stent and at one of the classes I went at the stretching a bit too eagerly and felt a slight discomfort in my right shoulder/chest. It didn't get too bad at first - just slight pain when stretching in particular directions. After the 2nd stent operation in May it got a lot worse (the doctors couldn't go in through my arm artery) and I was convinced that it was the first operation not the yoga that was the problem.

My GP prescribed physio but, after a few of sessions trying various exercises, my shoulder got a lot worse - movement was severely limited and there was a constant aching pain that was waking me 3-4 times a night. The Physio sent me to see their specialist and he diagnosed a frozen shoulder. Fortunately I was able to get a cortisone injection the next day. It made a huge difference within about 4 days - the pain almost disappeared and movement improved.

That was about 6 weeks ago and movement is almost back to normal. I did notice at the weekend that my arm was very tired after raking the garden but realised that as this has been going on since May so have avoided using my arm too much.

If you do go to your Physio impress upon them how much this is affecting your life - particularly if you can't sleep or do exercise which is particularly important after your operation. Apparently these are the criteria for prioritising who gets the injection. Hope you sort it out.