collarbone vs. shoulder - advice?

[sanguine_emma]

Hi people,

I was wondering if this is normal for ordinary people, normal for HMS people, or just normal for me

Carrying a weight, or even just pushing my shoulder down gives me a pain around my collarbone. It also seems to me that my collarbone crunches around a bit, causing stabbing pains along my shoulder and up the side of my neck. Right now it seems to be joining in with my ribs. Is this familiar to anyone?

Emma

[sillyoldbear]

hi

i get pain in my collarbone too and it crunches alot when i move my shoulder, feels like its subluxing (dont know if the collarbone can though!!) but thats the sort of pain i get in it. although i suppose it could be referred pain from the shoulder.

sorry wasnt of more help

simone

[Retro]

Sound's familiar. I get pain at both ends of my collar bone occasionally, it can be quite sore, doesn't usually last too long thankfully I've found relaxing my shoulder seems to be most successful in getting the pain to stop.


Take care

Lindsey

[nonyanomemory]

Hi Prof. G diagnosed my daughter with a subluxing collar bone. She is young yet so not painful -it is still a source of fascination for her friends but it is so mobile it just does it as she talks or moves. She had loads of 'hypermobility' outside of the Brighton criteria, particularly in that area.

nonay

[Dom]

Hi Emma

Hope all is well mate

Subluxing collar bones, hmmmmmmm. oh yes

Mine are real floaters, and a real pain. My A/C joints are now almost permanently subluxed and after nearly 7 years of it starting are now better out than in if that makes sense, when they are properly relocated get lots of pain and disomfort but when 'out' are generally ok. The joints at the throat end (not very technical ) can be agony if they start going out.

So in short, yes can totally relate to the floaty collar bone and in particular when carrying heavy weights, but luckily for me has settled quite a bit - was offered opportunity to have A/C joint pinned but refused thinking it would only force it out at the other end, glad I did now.

Hope this has helped, take best care Emma

Dom

[Guest]

Hi Emma
I'm new here.
I take it from your name that you are confident and optimistic rather than red about the face.
I have a collar bone which decided to jump out of my chest 3 years ago. My shoulder was also very painful, the pain radiating into my chest, neck and down my arm. I went to my GP who diagnosed a swollen gland. 3 years on, it is still sticking out and it moves and crunches when I move my arm. I am now beginning to wonder if it has subluxed along with my right shoulder. My GP is still paying no attention to it.
Do you know if this would show up on x-ray? I really miss the use of my arm.

[sanguine_emma]

Hello Garfield

My face isn't red - it's a bit sallow with dark rings under my eyes . 'Sanguine' is a reference to my optimism and also my job in the national blood service.

It certainly sounds like you have a subluxing collar bone. I'm not sure if it would show up on X-ray because of it not being fully dislocated. I know that my rib subluxations never show on x-ray. Sorry to hear your GP isn't being helpful - not sure what to suggest. Do you have a rheumatologist or a physiotherapist who might be more helpful?

Emma

[Guest]

Hi Emma

Didn't mean to cause offence with your name, just my warped sense of humour.

The surgery finally sent a Physiotherapist round to see me in May this year. She said not only my collar bone but also my right shoulder is out of place. She managed to put them back, but as soon as my body jerked (which it does every 10 to 30 seconds) they came out again. She left telling me that until I stop jerking, there is nothing she can do.

I am now considering doing some work in the garden to make it worse and then going to A&E to see what they make of it.

Alison

[sanguine_emma]

None taken Did I sound grumpy? sorry if I did. I must remember not to post in the mornings until pain meds have kicked in!

Do you think there would be some kind of shoulder brace that could hold you together? failing that, how about seeing what an orthopaedic surgeon makes of the problem? Surgery is always a last resort, but surely you can't be expected to go on with your arm dropping out of its socket all the time?

I'm off to see prof G tomorrow. One of my questions is "what do I do when I get an injury and no-one will take me seriously?" and "Who should I go to with my injuries? What should I do when it's too weird for my GP, too acute for my physio and too chronic for A&E?" If I get any good answers I'll let you know...

[libby]

hi,
did you ever feel your collarbone and shoulder chafing one against the other? it wasn't even as if i dislocated my collarbone, but bone was just rubbing against bone over and over last week, and since then i have a terrible neuropathic pain all the way down my arm, as if i pinched a nerve in the process. i can hardly use my arm at all, and i haven't been able to sleep at night because the pain is so great that even morphine doesn't make it go away completely.
has this ever happened to you? how long did it take to heal? what did you do?
thanks so much,
libby

[Kayzee]

Hi Libby,

This hasn't happened to me, but if I was you I'd see a doctor asap.

At least they will be able to put your mind at rest and ensure you get the right treatment

Good luck and let us know how you get on

Kay x

[Hevsie]

Hi Libby
What you are describing is exactly as my shoulders feel. As Kayzee says, please see a doctor to check you out.
I've had this problem now for about two decades, and left it too long before getting help as I was frightened of keeping going back to the doc, and now the damage is irreperable.
Please look after yourself.
xx

[libby]

i did see my GP a couple of days ago and asked for an x-ray or something else to determine whether i've done myself serious damage, but he insisted there are no nerves between the shoulder and the collarbone so i can't possibly be having such pain, and that there's nothing to it. he said i probably hurt a tendon and that's all, no big deal and no problem. so i'm not sure where to turn next.
libby

[Princess_Noodle]

Hey

I have a problem closely linked to this, so I thought I would just tag it on the end

Occasionally, my collarbone seems to move. A hard lump, about the size of a two pence piece, juts out from just under my collarbone when i move my shoulder forward. This movement is not forced, its just a simple movement. It feels like something is pressed against something else, which gives way, and the kump which feels like bone, juts out. It is visable and the thud sound is quiet clear to people around me.

It aches like mad when this happens, although it is not the movement itself that does it, it is more before and after.

Any ideas?

PS

xxx

[Kel]

I went to my GP with a crushing shoulder pain this time last year. He referred me to a physio, who found that the pain was being caused by my right collarbone being dislocated. This in turn had pulled my top three ribs slightly out of place. The muscles in your shoulder attach to the collarbone & ribs, and the shoulder muscles were intermittently going into spasm where they were being pulled in all the wrong directions (for seven years!).

My GP had examined me and didn't notice the collarbone. The physio put it back in - double-ouch, but it's been much improved ever since.

Ask your GP for a referral to a physio?

And ignore any GP that says a dicky collarbone can't be related to shoulder pain!