I was fine when I went to bed on Thursday, but sleep with my right hand under my pillow which probably means I have managed to move into an awkward position in the night. When I woke on Friday I had some pain trying to achieve the full range of motion when I brought my arm in front of my body - where my hand was between waist and shoulder height it felt stiff and very sore but I could still move it. I thou.ght I had just slept awkwardly or pulled something a little I went out for a long walk and some climbing, and when I came back I started to get a deep ache in my joint. I took ibuprofen immediately but the joint started to really hurt. With the anti-inflammatories the pain went away again as long as I kept my arm by my side. By the evening, I was physically unable to move it forwards at all. I could move it with the other arm, but it caused a lot of pain and seemed to trigger inflammation in the joint so I have rested it since. I have some backward and side movement, but no forward movement at all. During the night before last, I must have moved awkwardly again and it triggered pain sufficient to nearly have me crying which only went with anti-inflammatories. Now it doesn't hurt, but when I try to move it forwards I am unable and if I force it it hurts. I am resting it, I am taking anti-inflammatories, but I cannot drive, I cannot even put my hair up or put my socks on or sweep the floor. I am going out tomorrow night and am going on holiday next week for a week, and I suppose my question is how long is this likely to last before I recover some movement? Is there anything else I can do, or have done, to help? I am going to go to the doctor tomorrow BTW.

Sounds just about right, it's often called "A frozen shoulder!" possible caused by some minor damage to the rotator cuff which is part of the shoulder joint. It can take months to heal up, it can be helped along by injections of silicon and or steroids into the joint. I would also suggest you take a stronger pain killer like Codeine the ibuprofen will help with any inflamation but additional pain relief helps a great deal...

Hi Irisibis. Bursitis is a fairly permanent condition caused by long term damage to the joint. Or you may have damaged the rotator cuff, which can be helped by physical therapy. I tore my rotator cuff in April and I'm still in physical therapy today, although it's back to 80 to 85 percent. I'm not one to run to my doctor for every little scratch but the therapy has really been a good thing with this type of injury.