depending upon just how really active you were or are in certain types of sports, or past injuries that impacted that shoulder in some way,or just depending upon your age, you could possibly be dealing with some level of a real rotator cuff issue. do you have ANY actual neck pain or any symptoms that appear like they are "running down your arm' to any particular fingers? its just the two most likely 'places" that could generate this type of symptom would be either a rotator cuff(the tendons,ligaments and muscle and joint that simply make up that whole shoulder area) or a spinal, in the c spine/neck area type of problem.
when you see your doc,he or she will more than likely try and run that whole shoulder area theu all ofthe possible ROMS that it just has the abilitys to go to. what you are describing right now is kind of a loss of a particular type of ROM just so you know? the very best way to really rule in or out any area of true involvement would be with a good contrasdted MRI just done on that body area. they could look at both that c spine and that shoulder with one referred MRI. that would simply show both more possible areas that could produce this type of symptom the best.
there are just SOOO many different types of problems that you can have in your rotator cuff and also the c spine too that need to try and be sorted out as to what the actual underlying problem is and where it is stemming from. that MRI really would kind of dictate your very next step. just having had my own rotator cuff tendon tears and a few other odds and ends also found within my shoulder upon MRI, believe me, this really does sound much more like a rotator cuff type of issue to me.
either way, i seriously would be pushing your doc for an MRI on at the very LEAST, that whole rotator cuff area within that shoulder right now. like i mentioned above, you also can have that c sppine done too at the very same time which would just take out alot of hassle and direct the doc in the right direction immediately too. but merely settling for ONLY an x ray of any kind wont show the very much needed deeper structures(the soft tissue areas?),so that MRI either way would defintiely be a needed thing to fully see the inside where this type of real damage occurs. but at some point, that MRI just needs to be done just to see inside it before ANY true and solid type of Dx can be made and the more appropriate types of treatment options can be told to you. you just really DO need that rotaor looked at the sooner the better since any actual tearing of any of those tendons would progress not get better. this was my case.
my supraspinatus which is that very top running tendon across from the base of our necks and to the very top of that humorus(upper arm bone) was at one point merely 'torn", just did not know it. up til the day when all i did was try and lift my purse up from off our refrigerator and it just totally snapped the rest of the way on me, i could have, if i had gotten that MRI earlier when i first started getting alot more pain there, prevented it from snapping at all. i just did NOT think things in there were even close to as bad as what actually showed up on that very revealing MRI i had to have done since i immediately lost ROM with the lifting thing as soon as it occured. rotator cuff injuries are just one of the most common out there that orthos even do surgeries for. that area/joint just moves in sooo many different directions and gets pretty abused over time that alot of people actually ending up with the very same tendon i snapped being their bigger problem too. it takes the most use and abuse in just our daily living. and if you play sports that use that shouler joint at all like i had for many years too, it REALLY gets used alot more than the norm would cause too.
just really push your doc for the MRIs to be done on that shoulder espescially and the c spine just as another possible source of the problem. that way you now have both done with very in depth views. this would just cover the possibles in the very best way for you. hopefully your doc will just do the right thing and also want to know where this is stemming from too. please let me know what you find out, FB
