Purrs headed your way - that's a tough injury to cope with!  The cortisone,
if it was injected properly, should kick in quickly, but once it does the
pain will subside.  The only thing is you have to be very careful you don't
worsen the injury while the pain is masked by the cortisone.

Hugs,

CatNipped

Lots of purrs. Did you get good drugs? ;-)

Oo. Purrs for that shoulder. I've always heard they are just a b*tch.
But, you do usually get over them. I hope you don't have to have
surgery or anything.

Okay, you've earned your IWORPCA T-shirt.

Don't hope too hard against the surgery -- sometimes it can mean
better functionality, quicker and with less pain.

Hope you get relief soon.  (When I took Relafen I had a bad
reaction to it.)

Ouch ouch ouch!  You haven't been throwing curveballs have you?
Soothing purrs for a nasty injury.

Theresa
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Make Levees, Not War

Ouch!  Purrs that it heals quickly.
Sam, closely supervised by Mistletoe

So sorry, Lydia. I've had cortisone shots in both shoulders, but neither
did much good. One shoulder even hurt *more* for about 24 hours after
the shot, but the doc warned me that could happen. I've been having
physical therapy for years now, and I always feel better during the
therapy, but when it ends, I forget to do the stretches at home, and
then it starts to hurt again. Many purrs that your condition heals with
the corttisone and the physical therapy.

I hope you're eating nice, soothing things.  Otherwise all that pain
medication might give you some stomach problems too, which you obviously
don't need.

I had a cortisone shot years ago, and remember how it hurt, but I don't
remember how long it took to help.  My problem wasn't the same as yours, so
my experience probably wouldn't help anyway.  I hope the pain has eased up
by the time you read this.

Hugs and purrs for your pain to ease.

Purrs for you soon to feel better.

I hope I won't need surgery.

OH NO! Many purrs for a quick recovery and so you're feeling better
soon.

Helen M

Comforting purrs from us lot. We hope Lily's being a good nursecat.

Gordon, Bandit, Snowball, Claudius & Raki

My husband tore his rotator cuff about 9 months ago (he's a 40 year old
carpenter), got the shot (which didn't work on him, either), and was in
horrific pain for about 3 months.  He still can't sleep on that side, but he
can raise his arm over his head now, and he's been working.  It's *still*
sore, sorry to say.  I've heard this type of injury can take up to two years
to heal.  On a good note, he had much more flexibility and less pain in his
shoulder within 6 months.  He woke up one morning, took a shower, and yelled
for me, frantically.  My first thought was, "Oh, God, what did he do to
himself now?"  Turns out he wanted to show me that he could was his own back
again.  Good luck!  It just takes time.

kili

{{{{Lydia}}}}

I don't know anything about the meds, but I sure hope they kick in
soon and you feel better.  Sending purrs to you to be back to normal
very soon!

Ginger-lyn

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Ouch!  I've had one of those before.  It took a long time to completely
heal, and lots of specific yoga exercises to strengthen the places that made
it vulnerable in the first place.  The major pain improved and much of my
range of motion came back relatively quickly - the full range of motion took
a long time though.  It's funny how we're not aware of our beautifully
functioning bodies until something gets hurt.

I hope you're feeling better soon!

Susan M
Otis and Chester

I'm so very sorry to hear you are in so much pain.
Lots and lots of healing purrs and best wishes,
Polonca and Soncek

Your poor shoulder!    I've had a lot of injuries myself lately and I find
co-codamol 30/500 is quite a good painkiller.  It's stronger than the
co-codamol you can get over the counter which is not effective for pain such
as this.  You get the 30/500 from your doctor or hospital.

Tweed

I had a mild to moderate rotator cuff injury, which went out in the
very start -- not the stress part -- of a weightlifting movement.

Don't take Advil, Aleve, and Relafen together. They are all of the same
general chemical family, and raising the dose both increases the chance
of side effects but doesn't improve pain control. Yes, they are
appropriate as inflammatories, but if they don't control the pain, you
probably need an oral opioid, or at least tramadol.

It's hard to say how long it will take for the shot to take effect.
Obviously, it wasn't mixed with a local anesthetic as they often are.
I'd guess that you should see results, if you are going to see them, in
a day or two, but that will be over time.

My physical therapy ran 2-3 times a week for about, IIRC, 3 months, and
I have a permanent routine of rotator cuff strengthening exercises,
which are not difficult or strenuous.  The physical therapist did use
heat and electrical stimulation, which helped a lot. Since I already
had a TENS electrical stimulator, I used that a good deal as well.

I'm afraid your doctor is not giving me a warm, comfortable feeling, as
I would question the use of injected corticosteroids for other than a
quite narrow area such as a tendon or joint.

Purrs, and applications of lightweight warm cats.