great info john. just wanted to mention one other effect that any NSAIRAB including aspirin also simply have in common, and that is the blood thinning properties. you may bruise a bit easier, or if you actually have a cut somewhere, it may be just a wee bit harder/take longer to get the clotting part of stopping the bleed to kick in too while taking any type of NSAD too, just so you know that.
i am assuming mostly becasue of the type of job you do, that if you DO indeed have any real rotator cuff damage(and your back as well), it more than likely IS work related too, hence it would be considered more of a workmans comp issue and should really be fully evaluated and possibly MRIed just to check for all possible damage in there.
the more and longer we simply 'lift' heavy objects and use movement of the arms to tranfer that weight, the much higher risk we have of also possibly ending up with certain more common types of rotator cuff tears too? it kinda comes with the territory with everyday wear and tear upon that rotator cuff and very specific more commonly used tendons such as that very top one called the supraspinatus? this IS the most commonly torn in people with rotator cuff issues. this is what i tore, my bro in law and my best friend tore too. we all did alot of heavy lifting for our jobs and the rest just happens over time and repetition.
i had no real idea, other than having 'some' very real pain kind of off and on over years, just how truely badly my rotator cuff was til the morning i went to lift something(less than even 10 lbs) off the top of my fridge and felt like a tug across my top shoulder, then pain and immediate loss of my ability to even hold onto what i was lifting, (i had to drop it)just all within a couple seconRAB. that was instant loss of part of my range of motion going bye bye and alot of NEW pain moving in. my MRI ordered by my primary when i went to get this evaled showed it all. i also had a partial tesr in the tendon directly underneath that fully torn one that had started to 'compensate' for the losses in the one above it? that had to also be surgically repaired.
i am only telling you this since you DO sound like you may have some good damage in that rotator and also the same type of possible tearing that just can occur esp over the many many years of simply doing the type of job you have been for all this time everyday. it can take its toll, believe me. both within the spinal and the joints, with that rotator 'complex" being the MOST common joint and its interconnecting system of tendons, ligaments and then muscle just being way used and at times overly used despite real pain you are feeling, being the MOST commonly done surgeries by orthos. even more than in depth knee surgeries are done annually.
as long as you are still working this job, you really DO need to report this pain and other symptoms to your HR person BEFORE you have major loss of ROMs thru out that shoulder area. just having your employer/WC send you for one MRI done on that L shoulder would show what is and is not there or being impacted and any possible stages of tearing which more than likely have at the very least, started to some degree just given the nature of your job and what repetitve movements can do. you just cannot continue to mask pain that is more than likely stemming from real underlying injury for too overly long since it progresses and will get worse without any intervention to make it stop?
you can also simply see your own primary for what you are dealing with and he or she will more than likely want to see whats going on in that shoulder area and your back too wherever you are having the pain. this would probably be the simplest way in starting with your own doc. you just really DO NEED to finally have that whole shoulder evaluated for possible damage and appropriate treatments too. i am very glad i was able to really see just how bad my rotator was with the MRI then mostly becasue if that top one had not fully snapped on me that morning, the other one underneath it also would have probably ended up snapping too before i had surgery to fix both tendons,and fix alot of other crappy stuff that needed fixing in there too.
this just is something that you really WANT to 'catch' well before any tendons really tear to the point mine did and well before you actually start to lose any real ranges of motion in there too. and also get that back fully evaluated for the reason(s) for your symptoms too. i do hope you will at least see your own doc and actually be able to obtain that very needed MRI done on that shoulder right now. it really can come back to haunt you if certain types of real damage is going on in there and is left to progress. good luck with this and do please keep us posted, FB
