Sept-Dec: Painful Arm

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One morning around the end of August I woke up with a pain in the lower part of my upper left arm.  I assumed that it would go away in a day or two but it didn’t so I booked an appointment at the University Health Service (UHS) where I am registered.  It turned out that the pain would be a significant factor in what I did for the rest of the year.  This was the history of my treatment:

  • 16th Sept – saw a Doctor at the UHS but was told to take painkillers for 2 weeks and come back if it was still hurting.  During routine dentist checkup later that day the dentist asked if the doctor had checked my heart, since the arm pain could be a sign of heart trouble!
  • 2nd Oct – saw a Doctor at the Highfield Road Surgery (part of the UHS) and told to take paracetamol topped up with ibuprofen and given Omeprazole Capsules to stop later damaging my stomach.  Appointment with UHS physiotherapist assessment booked.
  • 13th Oct – UHS referral physiotherapist suggested I do median glide exercises for 6 weeks and if no better to complete a self-referral to the local
    Musculoskeletal (MSK) service.
  • 20th Oct – gave presentation at NCI AGM but was in pain from my arm
  • 26th Oct – My arm pain was getting worse with the exercises so I stopped doing them and submitted a physiotherapy self-assessment referral.  Both driving and walking were painful so I cancelled Coastwatch shifts after this date.  I tried to rest my arm by not driving or walking, and doing minimal computer use.
  • 27th Oct – following my self-referral was given an appointment at the Stoneham Centre for 11th Nov
  • 30th Oct – routine UHS health check discovered my blood pressure far too high.  Stopped taking ibuprofen which apparently can interfere with my blood pressure medication and it started to decrease to more acceptable levels!
  • 11th Nov – saw physiotherapist at Stoneham Centre, had explanation that problem was a nerve in my neck, and given exercises
  • 13th Nov – the “featured image” is a heron perched out in the river seen from my bedroom window!
  • 11th Dec – follow up appointment at the Stoneham Centre, by now the pain was much less, for example I was able to walk without too much pain.
  • 15th Dec – re-started NCI watches with one up Calshot Tower to familiarise myself with doing watches there since I was booked on for one on Boxing Day.

We (or at least I) tend to take our bodies for granted but a relatively small thing going wrong can be very debilitating.  During the October to December period I became very much confined to the house.  The main lesson learnt was that I should have completed a self referral to the MSK Service much earlier.  The exercises from UHS actually made the pain worse and the advice to use ibuprofen should not have been given without being told to monitor my blood pressure.