Frozen shoulder

[Dancingrosie13]

Hi, wonder if anyone can help, I had my COVID jab 4weeks ago, everything very efficiently done, but ever since I have had a frozen shoulder, well I think it’s a frozen shoulder, very stiff and unable to rotate. I’m on 3mg prednisolone and doctor said to stay for a few months as had a few flares. Been Gca and pmr for 4 years now. Anyway question is has anyone had frozen shoulder after jab and what did they do or take to help with pain and discomfort.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Are you sure its a frozen shoulder? It does get the blame for lots of other issues. Mine turned out to be GCA, but as you already have that, are you sure its not a flare?

To find out you could try painkillers first for a few days, if no better, then try upping your Pred for 4-5 days. But obviously not both at once otherwise you'll be none the wiser.

[Dancingrosie13 in reply to DorsetLady]

Thank you DL, I have tried pain relief but doesn’t touch it, will take extra 5mg making 8mg for the next 3/4 days,🤞that works. If not will give GP a ring to see what they can do.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Dancingrosie13]

Okay...

[Blondiejayjay in reply to Dancingrosie13]

HiI had the flu jab in November and have frozen shoulder since. It’s the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced. I start physio on Tuesday.

[Iloveholidays]

Hi, I had vaccine 5 weeks ago and about 3 weeks ago started waking with a stiff neck on one side going up behind my ear, paracetamol doesn’t help at all and as the day goes on it wears off, I had a couple of days where my head felt too heavy for my body. I wondered if it was due to the vaccine as same side as vaccine site but in back of my mind think is it something else? I have PMR and I’m struggling to reduce from 9mg to 8.5mg for third time. I’ve noticed a few people complaining of stiff neck recently on here, I do wonder if it’s to do with the vaccine 🤔

[herdysheep in reply to Iloveholidays]

I can get that feeling of head too heavy for my body - usually a sign of a flare for me. Clothes too heavy for my shoulders, likewise. Many of us may have neck/shoulder issues on one side that were masked by pmr and remind us as we age and decrease our pred. Never one thing...........

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to herdysheep]

I get a stiff neck when the sternocleidomastoid muscle joins in with back muscle spasm - I've also had it recently and it it nothing to do with the vvaccine - Doubt I will get one before Easter, if then.

[Daffodilia]

May be check it is frozen shoulder with GP - I did that with mine last year - if arm will not lift to side that is a sign and bad pain - do exercises to keep moving and use heat pad and paracetamol - it will improve in time - mine took 6 months

[Pixix]

My shoulder was so bad I couldn’t lift my arm at all...pain was so bad...more like a broken bone pain! I’d had no fall, no injury, it just happened overnight. Couldn’t dress myself, or anything: with very very very gentle exercises & patience it wore off in two weeks (well, it still hurts & cant lift above head!) It started two days before my covid jab...so do consider coincidence as well! The jab didn’t make any difference, I chose to have it in the bad arm, figuring one bad one is better than possibly two: Hope my story helps!

[Flipper12345yellow in reply to Pixix]

So what was shoulder diagnosis/ outcome please?I'm exactly the same

[Pixix in reply to Flipper12345yellow]

It wore off a bit before I had my appointment with rheumy first appointment so much time spent on background history drugs etc so no time for discussion. It went when I upped the steroids for five days and didn’t return. So far. She referred me to other fronts but still waiting for two appointments! S x

[Pixix in reply to Pixix]

Sorry fronts should read depts or departments! S x

[tangocharlie]

I had frozen shoulders 9 years ago which morphed into PMR. I had ultrasound scans to confirm it was capsulitis - worth asking for? I still remember the pain was excruciating, nothing helped, even steroid injections directly into the shoulders but it did get a bit better after a few months. So many of my friends have had frozen shoulders in their late 40s and early 50s, I wonder what causes it?

[Knitwit2020]

SIRVA is more common than you think..(shoulder injury related to vacine administration ) can occur whenever Deltoid intramuscular injections are given...some patients face months of physio to improve ROM (range of motion)Symptoms mimic what we would accurately call a frozen shoulder but the anatomy is off..this is not related to a RCT rotator cuff tear nor a post surgical acromioplasty nor an arthroplasty of the shoulder girdle.Most likely the needle was advanced too deeply into the deltoid and it has caused damge to the muscle and surrounding soft tissues...sometimes we find the bevel of the needle had a barb on it..sometimes the Patient moved and sometimes it is just poor administration technique...ultimately the tendons tighten in response, movement becomes more and more painful causing us to move it less ..thus resulting in stiffness analagous to a frozen shoulder..Physio is helpful, passive Rom is also important to keep the joints...acromioclavicular and the glenohumeral... from becoming increasingly stiff.. It takes guite a long time for injured Deltoids to heal..but they do...Hope you feel better soom..take care.KW2020