Left shoulder MRI

l.t.

New member
I just had an MRI yesterday....I know wait for the doctor, but I am curious, hs anybody had an MRI of the shoulder and the bone was black, where the radiologist stated it should be white? Also the MRI was so painful and now today the pain is really bad and my arm is tingling all the way down to my hand. At times my arm even goes numb or my hand feels like I am on fire.

Please help if you have ever had this or know what I am talking about. I have not been able to sleep on my left side for about one year now and I cannot sleep on my back either.

Thanks
 
unfortunetly, it could be alot of different things(including the actual angle of where that camera was when it took that particular pic) which really wont come to light til you get that report back and also speak with your ortho too. i know from personal excperience that my R rotator MRI really was one of the more painful i have had to have done over the years(16 MRIS since 2001) mostly because they kind of force the shoulder into that cagelike brace to just "hold it' there during the MRI? i too had alot of pain both during and after mine too. even WITH using valium and pain meds before it.

just exactly what was going on with symptoms in you that actually prompted that MRI in the first place? any loss of ROM or other problems? just given what you have described so far this just 'could' possibly be also involving your c spine to a certain degree too, not 'just" that shoulder alone. alot of people, including myself had alot of c spine problems for many years along with two c spine surgeries as well along the way before my supraspinatus tendon actually finally snapped in half one morning(the supra simply runs across the very top from the base of your neck on over to the top of your shoulder and IS the most commonly torn tendon that seems to pop up in us). alot of, or at least some of what i was attributing to just my c spine crap was also including that rotator cuff tendon crap too(for many years actually). i also had alot of things going on within that rotator cuff area, including within that joint there too that i never really thought was shoulder related.

unfortunetly you will have to be a bit patient here and wait til you see what actually shows up in your mri report as possibles and then also seek out a good knowledgable ortho too to really understand just what any given finding truely means to 'you'. it does suck having to wait, but hopefully you wont have to wait too long to find out everything. was this an actual ortho who sent you or just your primary doc? primarys usually get the MRI results in like three days tops. the surgeons do too but since they are usually much more busy with all the surgical patients, any calls from them will generally take a bit longer. just my own personal experience with this crap. if this WAS indeed your primary doc, you should be hearing from them much more quickly.

good luck to you lady and i hope things are not too bad for you there. please let me know just what you find out,K? hang in there, FB
 
Hi FB,
Thank you so much for all the information and i am so sorry for all you have gone through! I actually had the f/u appoint. with my ortho yesterday. I have what "appears" to be two tears on the rotator cuff and tendonitis. He also wants me to get a neck MRI, he thinks I may have a bulging disc. He wants me to go to physical therapy first to see how I do. (that is going to hurt extremely, my ROM is very limited.) He said he may have to go in and clean out my shoulder. I don't know how I feel about the whole thing. If there are 2 tears (MRI never 100%) why would I go to PT? This is all so new....it just bites!
Thanks so much for your input!
ladyblu
 
do you actually have your very own copy of that report for your OWN medical files? if not, get one and also keep getting from here on out any and all copies of at least ANY real test results. believe me, it does come in VERY handy at times. espescially when you are trying to explain something to a newer doc(or they ask you stupid questions you really don't know the answers to?) or have to seek out the ER for some reason? i have all my medical files(the more pertinent stuff and test results too) all in an expanding type of folder that i can bring to all appts i have and also just have to grab and go if there was ever a need to have to go the ER route too. its all jut contained there in that one file ya know?

having ANY true level of tear, quite honestly,depending upon just where it is(what tendons are torn) and how this is impacting you and your quality of life, getting this crap fixed BEFORE it becomes a total and complete type of tearing like i ended up with is just sooo much easier as far as pain and rehab and how long it takes to recover too. the whole rotator cuff is alot of tendons, ligaments and muscle along with that joint doing all kinds of different movements for us. that whole area really moves in some amazing ways, any part that simply gets torn will weaken that whole structure to certain degrees and force other areas into trying to compensate too. it can lead to other problems if just not fixed, you know what i mean? knowing what two tendons have the tears would simply really help. but that whole summary would tell the whole story. i am willing to bet, just based upon your symptoms and the more commonly torn tendon,that supraspinatus(the same one i tore,along with a partial tear in the one right under it too)is at least one of the torn ones. it just gets used and abused more often. and like i mentioned above too along with what your ortho wants done, that your c spine could also be playing a big part in this too. its just not all that uncommon with people having problems in both areas at the same time so they both should be looked into. they just CAN mimic the very same types of symptoms to a certain degree.

if you do not yet have your own copy of your report, either just obtain one from your docs office by stopping by his office and they can pop one up for you after you just sign a release of infornation sheet. OR simply go back to the place where you had that done and they can probably get you one even quicker(this really IS much faster actually). i always have the place i go to just send me my own copy. but you DO need this for you. once you obtain this, if you could simply type out what that report actually states at the very end in the "summary'? that would help me to help you in the very best ways right now. also, when you go for that c spine one? ask them to give you a sheet to fill out then so you can get a copy of it sent to YOU at your home. this is what i always do. all you need is just that MRI report sent to you.

alot of what should or should not realistically be done as far as surgery or even PT really depends more upon just what tendons are actually torn and how badly too. and always remember, you have the right to obtain a second opinion too. most ins co will pay for this espescially for possible surgerys. but i really do need to see what that report actually found and where the worst is at in order to just give you the best possible advice. let me know when you get a hold of it,K? good luck hon and i would hold off on PT here and really ask your surgeon just what would be the real benefits vs consequences of goin that route before you actually attempt it. this will NOT in any way shape or form actually repair the tears. you just really do NEED to know what are the possible consequences here, thats all. please keep me posted lady, FB
 
it really sounds like a great idea. i would not do the PT either unless i knew without a doubt it was simply 'safe' in every way, including what may or may not even exist there within your c spine area too. i will pop back in when you post to see the summary. you have a great 4th too hon. FB
 
Hi there....okay I had my neck MRI done last night....that was extremely painful....my follow up is the 14th. I have a nerve conduction test tomorrow on my left arm....do you know what those are like? I am so tired of this....I know you understand!

Thanks
 
Thanks so much for your help and prompt replies! I will get the copies and get back to you. I think I will put off PT, at least until my neck MRI. I am already in so much pain, I can't imagine doing PT.

Thanks again and Happy 4th to you and yours!!!
 
so sorry i wasn't back here sooner. by now i am sure you now know what the EMG/NCV is about, and that is a wee bit painful too. what this testing shows and pretty much ONLY shows is the overall nerve flow velocity. it would be able to detect if any nerves were being affected or compromised by nature of how the flow velocity is upon testing. it is a good test for that but really not much else really. believe me,i have had a few of these done myself and it did show my areas of damage and nerve loss following my spinal cord surgery really well. but the one i had done on my arm before my c spine fusion surgey showed perfect flow. that was only because my hernation and the bone spurs that were causing intermittant tingling, numbness and pain was not a 'constant" type thing? if the nerve had been affected more profoundly that day or the way i was lying would have actually reproduced the intermittant symptoms at the time, it would have shown differently from what that tech had told me.

soo, now you have to just wait and see what actually showed up on both tests. just make certain to always obtain your very own copies of all types of test results that ever get done on you just for your own medical files. i always do this myself. it just helps us to better know whats really going on with us since some docs do not always tell you about everything that gets found in any given report. this just happens wayyy too often. let me know just what you find out. hope things weren't too bad for ya. FB
 
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