with my shoulder, i have the same problem with almost all of what you are describing...

i think i hurt my shoulder the week after my brain injury while in bed trying to roll over and trying to do it in a way to avoid any movement of my head or neck, thus leveraging the muscles in my shoulder way too much, and i think it caused some damage to my rotator cuff, biceps ligament or a tendon...

an MRi shows curvature of the bone, which can lead to pain...

i cannot lift a thing unless my arm is right next to my body, and while there, i cannot move my extended hand out...picture both hands in front of your body as if you were praying, then spreading your hands out with your elbows touching your side...my right will go far to the right , but my left cannot go past straight out...

i cannot lift my left arm above my head....only slightly better when someone else tries to move it for me...

if i move it too far...knee-buckling, blood curdling, screaming paid for 1-2 minutes...this happens 4-5 times daily...

the MRi reveals slight fraying of both a tendon and a ligament, my theory is from moving it past the curved bone and 'catching it' over and over...the bursa sac is inflamed and causing pain severe as well...

of course, all of the above is my theory and my explanation and not done very well medically and may be inaccurate with my terminology...

the docs at my crappy HMO - Kaiser Permanente in Denver - have given me 2 steroid injections, the last of which was deep and low on my shoulder providing me with pain relief, but i can tell there is an injury there...and once the steroids wear off, it seems to me it can only be painful once again...

on consult, one surgeon recommended surgery to tidy up the tendon and / or ligament that has frayed...

another surgeon on 2nd opinion told me this is 'frozen shoulder', no surgery is needed and physical therapy will be necessary for 12-24 months with daily exercises...

although i had not heard of 'frozen shoulder' before this, it seems to make some sense...i have had no choice but to be very inactive for the last 6 months...

here is some info from Mayo clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fro...oulder/DS00416

my problem with the diagnosis is this...this happened to me in the week after my brain stem concussions and has become worse over time...this happened to me instantly...i knew i had hurt it right away...'frozen shoulder' happens over a long period of inactivity...

i am seeking yet a 3rd opinion on whether or not to do a surgery...i believe most of the surgeries for something like this can be done artrhoscopically, but it is possible of a general anesthesia surgery, which is most definitely NOT something i want to do as i struggle mightily with my daily life...i had a surgery 7 years ago and it seemed as though it took 2 months to shake the anesthesia...and 6 month post-brain injury, this is not an option...

3rd opinion is to come from a respected ortho, outside of the Kaiser Permanente network, and therefore, paid out of pocket...and if they recommend surgery, most likely, Kaiser will refuse to pay...

i dunno if any of this helps except sharing notes with each other might help us figure out what the heck to do...

so i hope this has been helpful...

any advice would be welcome.

Brainstemmed