Terrible Pain in Left Shoulder/Heart Area

[Shannonsonline 0]

Hi, I was just banded 3 days ago and I woke up in the recovery room with this terrible Pain in my left shoulder and heart area. They gave me some pain meds at the hospital and said it was from the gas they use during surgery. It hurts very bad and the only thing that seems to help is when I stand up. The hospital did not send any pain meds home with me, so I have been taking aspirin. I am not hungry and I am bloated something awful. Has anyone else experienced this shoulder pain ?

[Dana36 0]

You don't need to take aspirin as it can irritate your stomach. Take liquid tylenol.

Also, use a heating pad on your shoulder and chest, that will help the gas pains.

[Shannonsonline 0]

Should I take childrens liquid Tylenol ?

[Dana36 0]

If you have any on hand, you can take it. If you have to go out to get some, they actually sell an adults liquid tylenol. It works really good!

[NoName-AZ 0]

I went through the same thing. It feels like your having a heart attack at times, then that pain in the shoulder area. OOOOHHHH I feel your pain.:sad: But not to worry... It is from Gas!

Go and get some Gas-X-Strips, and take like 3 or 4 of them. Many people only take one, and the directions tell you to take more. Make sure to take enough or it wont work!

Also, get up and move around walk, walk, walk.

I promise you this pain will go away in a few days. They blow your stomach up with air when they do this surgery and your intenstines go to "sleep" as my surgeon put it. It takes a few days for them to come back to life.

I got a tennis ball and put it up against the wall, and stood up and rolled on it. You are okay to take aleve, or even gel tylenol. (call your surgeon of course first) But mine said it was fine.

This gas was even more painful for me, than recovering from the surgery. Mine actually lasted for like 6 days. You are going to be okay I promise. Hang in there kiddo!

[Ryno 0]

Yeah it is totally the gas, I was banded on the 15th, and I'm finally free from it all.

But I can honestly say that the Shoulder pain was just downright painful...

The stomach pain was more like a quick pressure, but the shoulder (left one) was rough.

I didn't take any meds for it, but I really should have....

Trust me though it will go away. Just rub the shoulder and yeah try to get up and move around it helps.

[Lupe 0]

I felt the same thing and it is probably one of the worst parts of the surgery. Walking helps, medication helps too, and this may sound weird but when you can stick your backside up in the air. Gas travels up! So it travels up intp your shoulder area. Once you start passing it, you will feel better. Stand next to your bed and lay down face first without letting your stomach touch the bed. Make sure your shoulders are lower then your backside and stay like that for a while (as long as you can). It sounds silly but it worked it works.

[Maggie76 0]

I too experienced this horrible pain after having my appendix removed and after having my galll bladder removed. When I had my appendix removed my mom called over a massage therapist she worked with and the lady really helped me a lot with massaging my shoulders and back. She was really gentle, knowing that of course I was sore from surgery. So, if you're feeling up to it, perhaps go have a 1/2 massage.

Feel better soon!

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

Oh, yeah....it's gas from the gas pumped in for surgery. It has to be reabsorbed to get rid of it. The things that help the most:

1. Move around as much as you can. Walk small distances several times a day. Sometimes, put your arms up over your head and wave them. A friend was told by her doctor not to sit in a regular chair for the first week, but to sit in a rocker and rock every so often.

2. A heating pad! You can put it behind your shoulder when you sit, or drape it over your shoulder. Just don't sleep on it because that's not a safe thing for anybody to do.

[HeatherO 7]

Everyone provided excellent advice regarding how to deal with the issue. I have had the pain as well . . . sharp pinching that is very painful and feels like a horse kicked me in the area between your shoulder and neck. Massage and soaking my shoulder/neck area in a very hot bath helped (with my belly exposed above the Water so my incisions didn't get wet).

One thing that does concern me is that you say the pain is in the left shoulder/heart area. I never felt the pain in the heart area. I would say that any pain in the heart area should require a doctors visit or at the very minimum a phone call just to be on the safe side.

We can only advise someone based on our own personal experiences but we can't be sure there is not a more serious issue at hand. Any concern at all related to the heart or that general area is best presented to your doctor.

I hope you feel better soon.

[HeatherO 7]

One thing I forgot to mention was regarding the source of the problem.

It could indeed be gas as is the case for most people. This generally gets better after a few days.

It could also be referred pain from your diaphragm that a lot of us experience post abdominal surgery. Sometimes this pain can last for weeks and diminish very slowly over time.

[ca7696 1]

I had that same pain....but it was not from gas... when i went to follow up visit the doc asked me if i was having any pain in my shoulder area...I said yes I thought it was the way i was sleeping or sitting...he told me it has to do with the muscle and the operation. he said it would go away in a few days I took some asprin and it helped a little the pain would come and go.....ask your doctor about it it was kinda weird him asking me first and saying a lot of patients have it after the surgery and its about the muscle and the surgery something or other....BUT it definatly not was from gas!!! at least for me...hope this helps

[mjacot35 0]

I was so bad with the pain that my surgeon met me at the hospital and re admitted me for 2 days. He called the band company and asked if anyone had ever reported this horrible pain, as a matter of fact they did a whole study on it. It was gas combined with the referred pain from the swelling and placement of the band on my diaphram. It only felt good when I laid on my left side with a heating pad. So that is what I did. It did finally go away but not for at least a month especially after I ate something it came back. Good luck it will go away eventually.

[prgb 0]

Mine lasted for 12 days and then it was gone. It is very painful and feels like your having a heart attack. I walked a lot.

[Shannonsonline 0]

Thanks everyone for the advice, I have noticed that today the pain has moved to the side of my neck but it is still in the shoulder area. Also walking around no longer helps. Keep our fingers crossed and hope this goes away soon. Thank you everyone...