Hello,

I was rear ended by 2 vehicles 7 months ago, suffered a pretty bad concussion, whiplash, shoulder injury, went through PT and OT, my neck still hurts but my shoulder, even though it improved greatly from PT, is still giving me pain, especially at the front of my shoulder when I lift my arm up, it throbs almost constantly.

My Dr. sent me for an MRI without the dye and I have the results and wonder if anyone can decipher it for me?

The subacromial-subteltoid bursa contains a tiny amount of fluid compatible with minimal bursitis.

Rotator cuff tendons have minimal to mild amount of poorly marginated increased intermediate signal compatible with minimum to mild tendinopathy.

The acromioclavicular articulation has mild arthritis.

Acromion has mild lateral downsloping effacing the subacromial laterally.

Rotator tendons are without significant fluid signal tear identified.

When my family Dr. read the results he said..."You are fine, take ibuprofen..."

Well, no I don't feel fine, my shoulder hurts and some days are worse than others.

I still have neck pain from the accident, i'm wondering if this could be related, when the PT pushed on part of my neck I almost jumped thru the roof.

Anyone have any advice? it hurts to put my arm over my head, when I pick a drink up, cannot sleep on my left side etc.

Thank you very much for any help.

dagma,

I can relate to your situation. I had a shoulder injury and TOS from a car accident (4 cars were involved). For me, the TOS was the "easy" diagnosis but the shoulder injury was undiagnosed for years. It was a new doctor who picked up on the shoulder problem completely by observation in my initial exam. The shoulder was causing neck problems but once the shoulder was fixed, the neck settled right down. You could have neck, TOS and/or shoulder problems as all three go hand in hand.

Based on my experience, I'd highly recommend seeing a physiatrist (physical rehab medicine specialist). It was a physiatrist who diagnosed my TOS and it was another physiatrist who picked up on the shoulder injury.

Have you had a neck MRI? If you get another shoulder MRI, you need to get an MRI arthrogram as they use the dye to get a good look at the capsule. The dye is what showed my problem. Primary care physicians know enough to treat general stuff but not more complicated stuff unless they've run into in their practice.

Good luck!!