OA in neck and shoulders

HCAcomm1
HCAcomm1 Member Posts: 22
edited 8:18AM in Living with arthritis

I have recently been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my neck and shoulders. My ears throb and my neck clicks when I move it. Does anyone else have this, as I'm doing exercises but it doesn't seem to help

Comments

  • Trish9556
    Trish9556 Member Posts: 869
    edited 16. May 2025, 20:23

    Hi @HCAcomm1

    Have you been seen by a spinal surgeon and an orthopedic surgeon for your shoulders? If not, I would suggest you ask for referrals.

    I had C6/7 surgery in 2022 after suffering for almost 20 years. My neck was noisy, I couldn't turn it fully and it felt like I had a bag of gravel in my neck. I was eventually seen by a surgeon at Stoke Mandeville Hospital who scheduled me for an ACDF which goes through the front of othe neck but on having a MRI scan just prior to surgery he discovered my vertebral artery was in the wrong place and he couldn't do the surgery. He did however refer me to a wonderful surgeon at Oxford who did the surgery through the rear and I've not looked back since. It did take an awful lot of fighting from me to convince them that this needed to be fixed. I had a range of diagnosis over the 20 years I suffered ranging from there's nothing wrong with your neck to you've been in a major RTA which I hadn't. Don't give up, fight for your neck.

    i have also had sub acromial decompressions on both shoulders, two years apart. A simple clean up and polish (my surgeon's words), a lot of physio and I've not had any problems since.

    My advice would be to make sure your diagnosis is correct - did you have xrays, mri scans, were you seen by an MSK specialist physio or just diagnosed by the GP? i'm afraid a lot of GP's are not interested in OA and just say it's as a result of getting old!

    I hope this has helped somewhat?

    Trish

  • claudsl
    claudsl Moderator Posts: 195

    Hi @HCAcomm1

    Here's some articles on Osteoarthritis that may have some useful information for you. The comment above from @Trish9556 has some great advice too.

    Osteoarthritis (OA) | Causes, symptoms, treatments

    Osteoarthritis (OA) of the elbow and shoulder

    Take care, Claudia x

    Need more help? - call our Helpline on 0800 5200 520 Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm

  • HCAcomm1
    HCAcomm1 Member Posts: 22

    Hi Trish 9556

    My GP has diagnosed it as he says you have osteoarthritis everywhere else so its more than likely it's in your neck/shoulders. I'm waiting for an x-ray appointment and I have a physio appointment in about 3 weeks time. Thank you for your advice, as the noises in my neck are not nice, I have in the last week started to feel off balance especially in the morning when I get up, which I have read can be coming from arthritis in my neck. Hopefully I will get a diagnosis after my appointments.

  • Trish9556
    Trish9556 Member Posts: 869

    hi @HCAcomm1

    I am happy you have managed to get some diagnositic appointments - I'm afraid GP's are all too quick to dismiss OA as well you have it there and there so probably there and there as well, just take paracetamol. That's not good enough, you need proper advice, support and treatment which I hope you will now get.

    Good luck and let me know how you get on

    Trish

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