Is it normal for my arm muscle in my shoulder to hurt 2 weeks after flu shot?

Nerve injury caused by an injection isn't a common thing except on places like this site. Millions upon millions of injections are given every month in the USA alone without any significant problem. If the health care professional uses the proper caution and medical protocol, shots are a very safe way to be treated. There are times, however, when people find themselves in that rare position of having been improperly injected and very much injured by the injection. My wife is one of those, which makes her one of you. Her injection was in Feb 2010. You are part of hundreds of people (out of the many millions) who are going through hell.
You've tried going from physician to physican and you're still struggling with the nightmare. We know all too well what kind of frustration can be had at the hands of well meaning professional medical people who just haven't seen enough of this to quite know what to do. I have done many weeks of research trying to find an answer. We have even had a neurologist from Vanderbilt Hospital tell my wife there is nothing wrong, EXCEPT....what's going on in her head. He claimed she may have been abused sexually as a child and the pain in her arm is a manisfestion of that abuse!!!
This actually happen last week (Oct 2010). We've all heard some pretty frustrating things that aren't anywhere near what's going on in your arms. No, my wife has never been abused in any way. Dr. (name removed) at Vanderbilt is the neurologist who suggested sexual abuse as the possible cause. Dr. (name removed) has been crossed off our list of "experts" and added to our list of unfortunate experiences. I've done a lot of looking around and talking to any medical professional I come into contact with and a few rays of hope are starting to shine through. Below is some information I picked up from reading about a Dr. Roger A Meyers MD, DDS, FACS. He's located in Atlanta and he is one a very few medical professionals that not only knows about injection caused nerve damage but he is a microneurosurgery expert who repairs them!
Below is some knowledge I've gleaned from information on his site:
Injuries to sensory nerves which supply the feeling in your arm can occur during the administration of injections such as flu, B-12 or other needle stick procedures. Injections of local anesthetics (such as "Novocaine") may also result in nerve injury. Nerve injuries are an inherent risk of any injection,surgical or dental procedure and may occur despite the best of care provided. This may remain permanently in 0.1 to 1.0% of such patients, if left untreated.
The patient with a nerve injury may experience a variety of sensations, most of them unpleasant. Numbness, cronic pain, tingling, burning, crawling sensations, electric shocks, or hypersensitivity of the affected area may be the result of a nerve injury. These sensations may interfere with normal arm movement activity like dressing, driving or typing, etc and they are distressing to the patient. Such symptoms, if persistent beyond one month following the injection, may indicate a nerve injury that will not resolve on its own without surgical intervention or other treatment, and should be evaluated further.

The development of MICROSURGERY following the introduction of the surgical microscope, magnifying loupes and specialized instruments has made possible the replantation of amputated parts (such as fingers, toes, ears, etc.), surgery on small blood vessels in the brain, and the repair of motor and sensory nerve injuries previously thought to be impossible. Your nerve injury may be able to be repaired by the techniques of MICRONEUROSURGERY. This type of operation is major surgery requiring general anesthesia in the operating room and a short stay in the hospital, often of less than 24 hours, for recovery and postoperative nursing care. Microneurosurgery is technically difficult, and the operation may be several hours in length. The nerve to be repaired and the stitches used are often much smaller than can be visualized with the unaided eye.

Nerve Injuries

Several types of nerve injury can occur. These include:

COMPRESSION of the nerve by injection of material into the nerve or tissure swelling outside the nerve.
STRETCHING from manipulation during surgery or traumatic injury.
Injection caused partial or complete SEVERANCE, causing interruption or discontinuity of the nerve, or the development of a neuroma (a disorganized mass of nerve tissue which can be quite painful).
BURNS from caustic substances such as some medications.
Operations

Depending on the type of injury found at surgery, one or more of the following operations can be done:

DECOMPRESSION, in which the nerve is relieved of any tissue or material pressing upon it.
NEUROLYSIS, or removal of internal scarring inside the nerve.
REMOVAL of a neuroma or other abnormal nerve tissue.
SUTURING, in which the two severed ends of the nerve are brought together and held in place with delicate stitches.
NERVE GRAFTING, in which a lost portion of nerve is replaced by a graft taken from another sensory nerve in the neck or posterior portion of the lower leg.
Recovery

The outcome of nerve surgery is not totally predictable. However, factors which maximize the chance of partial or complete recovery of normal sensation include:

The time lapse between the injury and its surgical repair - the sooner the repair is done, the better. The best prognosis occurs when the nerve injuries are repaired within SIX MONTHS. However, later repair might be successful, if the nerve tissue beyond the area of injury has not undergone irreversible degeneration.
The skill of the surgeon. MICRONEUROSURGERY is a technically demanding skill. Training at specialized courses is a requirement. Nerve operations must be done sufficiently frequently to maintain skills.
Your surgeon should discuss with you after completion of your examination, the type of nerve injury you have, the possible operation or other methods of treatment to correct it, and the outlook for improvement of sensation. The costs of surgery and hospitalization are often covered by your medical health care plan. It is recommend that all treatment plans be submitted to your insurance carrier for "pre-determination" of benefits.

Finding a specialist that can diagnose and properly treat you may be difficult. Don't give up. Time is important in the treatment of nerve damage. You aren't crazy, it isn't in your head and waiting for it to go away for too long may very well be a big mistake.

Last but not least. I am far from being any kind of expert in what is going on here. But, I'm giving it my best shot because I want my wife to be delivered out of this horrific situation. I know that not only does the poor individual suffer with on going pain, but their families also suffer. If your loved one is one of the people in pain please try to be patient and understanding if they are on edge. Give them as much slack as you can. They are really going through the wringer.

Bob Gardner
Hendersonville, Tennessee

(Comments edited by EmpowHER moderator.)

UPDATE: Well I went back to the doc Friday afternoon. I told him how the Medrol pak helped and how the pain had returned within 24 hours of the last pill. That the only thing that would touch the pain were NSAIDs. So, since I normally stay away from steriods he said another round of Medrol would be OK. Also he said because the kidney function number he was concerned about was so close to normal and the BUN and Creatine numbers were normal, he was going to put me back on Mobic once I hit the 3-pill day of the Medrol pak. I also shared with him what I have learned from this site and others. So the game plan is to follow Medrol with Mobic and give it a couple more weeks. If the pain is not much improved he will refer me to a shoulder doc for evaluation and possible cortisone injection. Honestly I cannot afford expensive PT right now but HAVE been doing gentle stretches, etc. Knock on wood but I don't seem to have any range of motion issues if I can stand the pain. So, today shoulder is kinda achy but tolerable, today is 3-pill day so I will start the Mobic tonight. I should know by the end of the week if there is any improvement.

I received my flu shot for this season Sept. 19th. I have received the flu shot annually since 1968. I noticed it was given up quite high in the shoulder. The 2010-2011 vaccine is a multi-dose of H1N1, H3N2 and influenza B. I have never experienced pain like this before. It`s been 3 weeks and I have severe pain with certain movements of my arm. It wakes me at night. I`ve tried ice, heat and Biofreeze, and nothing is helping. I lost my husband this past January and my new insurance won`t pay for another Dr. visit this year. I`m only allowed 2 per year. I`m 63 yrs. old. What can I do?

I am sorry to hear that you have been through so much and still not healed Blueyes. I can relate, but I have not resorted to surgery of any kind yet. I have had tons of PT as well and spent thousands of dollars trying to find relief. I have heard others say that it takes time...well, it has been over a year now and I am not over this flu shot. I am alarmed that the media has not mentioned one word of warning about this potential problem. I am not a doctor, but I fear that the damage..both muscular and nerve may be permanent. I think that I may have an impingement as well. That sems to be what triggers the "intense" pain when I move suddendly or in a certain way. I truly wish that I had better news to encoourage people with, but sadly..it is what it is. All that I can say is that the level of pain is somewhat different now and I can sleep on the injured arm, but I am not convinced that I will ever recover from this horrible ordeal. However, I would still encourage others to do as Blueyes and I have done as far as the Physical Therapy..you will strengthen other muscles and learn to protect yourself from further injury. I wish I had a better answer..

Hi all! I have posted here several times and under the other thread about flu shots. I have been dealing with this pain for over a year; I received the flu shot on sept 15 2009 at the hospital I work at. I have had surgery in February, a scope that cleaned a large amount of inflAmmation out and also a decompression was performed.'i am still in pain. I have had 4 steroid shots and countless hours of PT. My latest MRI I dicates irreversible and irreparable muscle deterioration; also my supraspinatus tendon is deteriorating; impingement by my clavicle;'and some edema not gotten during the surgery. I have an excellent shoulder dr and he is at a loss on how to treat me. He definitely thinks the vaccine components have broken down my muscle tissue and tendon. My vaccine was also given too high. I will never get another flu shot nor allow my children to. Praying for a miracle seems to be my only option.

This site offers some insight to the possibility of nerve damage caused by the injection itself. I hope it helps some of the people who are searching for answers.

http://wiki.cns.org/wiki/index.php/Injury,_Injection

Anon 1 and 2 - There are 340 comments on this thread and if you go back to the beginning you will find comments from others who've experienced this and information on the steps they've taken to get treatment, a diagnosis and relief. You'll also find that some people developed additional problems, such as frozen shoulder. There's a lot of helpful advice and information in the comments on this thread, and we also have a couple of others on the site as well. Hope the helps! Pat