post op shoulder pain

[lich3853 0]

hi all, its now exactly 1 week since my op and hey im 9lbs lighter. i do however have a problem, staight after surgery i experienced severe pain in my left shoulder, this eased of after half an hour, i have had bouts of shoulder pain over the last week but nothing like today, its agony, i am getting a sharp nerve like pain in my shoulder which extends down my back and accross my neck. it is worse when i breathe in.

has anyone else experienced this problem and how did you cure it, after surgery i was told it was caused by trapped air in my abdomen which eventually works its way up, if this is the case why is it so bad today a week after the op.

anyhow if anyones got any ideas i would appreciate them.

kind regards

mick

[Kimmya 0]

I had the same exact thing. My doctor told me that it was gas and that I needed to move around more. I started to move more and the pain went away. It did take a little time but eventually it was gone.

[TxMomof4 0]

Hey Mick,

i am a week post op also. I do still get that pain in my neck/shoulder. Sometimes it hurts sooooo bad! I try to get up and walk around when it gets that bad. The pa told me today that it could last up to ten days. So be patient. When do you go in for your pos-op?

D:lol:

[lich3853 0]

6 weeks before another appointment im sure it will ease that seams to be the genral concensus, oh and thanks for your reply

[lipstix64 1]

Its all gas, gas, gas!!! The only thing that helps is walking and movement to get it out. I think some people use Phazyme. Maybe that will help.

hi all, its now exactly 1 week since my op and hey im 9lbs lighter. i do however have a problem, staight after surgery i experienced severe pain in my left shoulder, this eased of after half an hour, i have had bouts of shoulder pain over the last week but nothing like today, its agony, i am getting a sharp nerve like pain in my shoulder which extends down my back and accross my neck. it is worse when i breathe in.

has anyone else experienced this problem and how did you cure it, after surgery i was told it was caused by trapped air in my abdomen which eventually works its way up, if this is the case why is it so bad today a week after the op.

anyhow if anyones got any ideas i would appreciate them.

kind regards

mick

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

Gas-X strips, movement (as in walking as much as you feel up to) and heating pad (which can be moved from spot to spot to follow that nasty gas!

[GreenEyedLady 0]

I agree--Gas-X, moving around and a heating pad. I also found lying on my left side when it was the worst helped a lot, too. My pain didn't start until the 3rd post op day--it came out of nowhere. The only thing I could relate it to was that I was so full of gas I felt like I was 10 months pregnant! The pain is absolutely unbelievable. Childbirth and gall bladder attacks don't even compare, lol. But just as quickly as it came on, it also disappeared--took about a week. The gas went away and so did the lt. shoulder pain. Haven't felt a thing since. Scheduled for my first fill next week, hope it doesn't start up again:ohmy:. Hang in there, it does get better.

Cathy

[HeatherO 7]

It may not be gas, especially since it started a week after surgery.

I had this problem too and it started about a week out. Gas-X did nothing for it at all. I talked to my doctors office and they said it is most likely referred pain from an irritated nerve in the diaphragm. I remember being really worried about it because it started a week after surgery . . . and it didn't hurt just a little, it felt like a horse kicked me between my shoulder and neck on the left side. Sometimes it felt sharp like a knife. I thought maybe something was really wrong with me at that point until my doctor put my concerns to rest.

Not everyone gets this referred pain, I think it is only a small percentage of us. One thing I noticed is that for those of us who do have it, most people posted stating that they had hiatal hernia repairs done at the time of banding which was also true in my case.

The only thing that helped with this pain for me was massage from my dh, a heating pad, or taking a bath soaking my neck and shoulder areas in very hot Water (while of course keeping my belly incisions exposed above the Water since you are not supposed to submerge them). Gas-X never even touched the pain, which makes sense when it isn't a gas problem. This symptom started to lesson between weeks 4-5 and was gone for the most part by week 6. In the months following, I would only get an occasional twinge if I overate.

I hope you start to feel better soon :0). Please keep us posted on how it is going.

[gumbo 0]

I had the left shoulder pain for about 2 weeks..I found that a heating pad helped the best.

[watermelon_1 0]

I just had surgery on April 03, 2009 and my left shoulder has hurt since I woke up from the surgery. It comes and goes but when it comes I can barely stand it. I've had trouble with my left shoulder before so I'm contributing the pain to damagef nerves and gas.

[RestlessMonkey 7]

Again, I'm with HeatherO. It is referred pain from the diaphragm which is moved around and really irritated during the surgery. That ties in with the "deep breathing". One week post op it isn't gas any more. (gas we generate from food etc doesnt' escape the stomach and intestines...it either goes out the mouth or out the other end. The gas they pump in to our abdominal cavity to make surgery easier is a different ball of wax; not treated by gas x because it isn't IN the stomach and intestines, it's outside there. THAT gas can discommode the diaphragm too and cause the pain; gas x won't touch it. If it does, it's coincidental!)

Anyway it will abate as your diaphragm heals. It sends a nerve signal that causes your muscle to spasm. Having my husband rub my neck helped me because it released that cramped muscle. And...exercise but don't go full bore panting etc yet. That heavy breathing was when mine hurt the worst.

Mine was gone in about 3 weeks; yours shouldn't last much longer than that. If it does,. check with your surgeon!

[B_there 0]

I got some relief when I would lie on my right side and raise my left arm over my head.

[NEW BEGINNINGS 0]

I was banded on 3/16/09 and started with the left shoulder pain on 3/19. The pain was horrible. Has continued almost daily since. Some days are definetly better than others. 2 days ago had a CT scan done will hopefully get the results next week, my Dr also agrees that it is probably something pressing on the diaphram. Hopefully it will be something that will work itself out.