Hello all. 12 weeks (this past Wed) since my left transcervical styloidectomy. I have conflicting feelings… the styloidectomy did help resolve the pain i had from the errant SP and i’m so grateful for that, but i’ve traded that pain for a different pain.
Right after surgery i developed weakness in the left side of my mouth and weakness in my left arm; a risk the surgeon mentioned but facial numbness and weakness were what she focused on. Never said anything about arm weakness but i wasnt totally surprised because i knew about it because of this forum. Over about 6 weeks post op the mouth/lip weakness gradually went away and i was hopeful the arm weakness would too but it hasn’t. At my 2 week post op visit with my surgeon she was surprised to hear i had arm weakness (i think i mentioned that in my previous posts).
I cannot raise with flexion (forward) more than 90° or shoulder height. I cannot adduct past about 30-40° and it’s much more painful than flexion although both are painful. I have difficulty with reaching above waist height, lifting anything remotely heavy unless i hold it close to my body. I have difficulty getting dressed/undressed, cannot reach the back of my head or raise my arm enough to wash my underarm or wash my hair unless i hold with my other hand. Reaching out to pull the car door shut is almost impossible, i find myself using my chest/back/neck muscles to swing my arm enough to grab the door, reach something at shoulder height, etc.
My shoulder aches down into my upper arm, pain wakes me from sleep. In the mornings when i first get up i have terrible pain in my collarbone area..it hurts so much to move my arm in any direction until about two hours after i’m up and moving around. My hand is tingly daily and numb frequently esp if i do passive rom forward (flexion) stretches for very long. I’m paranoid about developing frozen shoulder so i try to keep moving and stretching. My surgeon referred me to PT which i started on july 24, 2-3 times a week and there’s been no improvement at all.
I asked my pcp to request an xray of my shoulder and EMG of my arm. EMG was done july 22 and xray was Aug 4. It took them forever to get the EMG results to my pcp and i finally heard from them yesterday it was “normal”! SO NOW WHAT??
I’m really frustrated. Today i asked my pcp for a mri of my shoulder. The xray report noted osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint…no big surprise there - i knew i had OA in various places, i’m 67, duh. Xrays wont show soft tissue problems obviously. I’m sure next step is referral to orthopedic specialty. I paused PT till i can get more imaging and answers. PT told me yesterday he thinks it’s rotator cuff based on my symptoms.
All i freaking know is that before may 27 i could raise my arm normally and no collarbone pain. I knew to expect some post op swelling/pain/weakness; i’ve had enough surgeries to expect the 6-8 week intense post op recovery, weird swelling, bruising, etc but by 12 weeks i was hoping to see more improvement in my arm.
All i can think of is that something happened to my shoulder/neck during positioning for and during surgery and/or right after during transfer to pacu. How else do i make sense of this?? I want to punch something but cant afford another medical bill!
Sorry for the long vent. I needed it. Thanks for being here.
