What's causing my chronic, debilitating shoulder pain?

[ag2015]

Over a year ago I started having slight left side shoulder pain when I raised my arm out to the side.  The pain progressed and was hurting whenever I made any kind of upward movements with my arm.  The pain occurs in the area of my collarbone (underneath it) and in the "front" side of my shoulder.  It gets worse on days when I am on my feet all day, even if I am not doing any lifting.

The pain has now progressed into BOTH shoulders.  It is at a point now that it cramps and aches even if I am not moving at all.  It hurts very badly to lay on a very flat surface where my chest/shoulders are being stretched.  It is almost like the muscles under my collarbone are so cramped up and will not let go.  Doing a shrugging motion is also very painful.

I have had an MRI on the left side which ruled out any tears.  I have had cortisone shots which did nothing.  I have seen a chiropractor which I think got closer to the issue but could not relieve it.  I have had myofascial release massages which make it feel slightly better for a very small amount of time, but then I'm back to the pain.

It has also severely limited my range of motion in my arms to a point where I can barely raise my arms more than a 90 degree angle when held out to the side.  When I hold my arms out in front of me, I can't get them up to my head.  The myofascial release massages do help the range of motion get better, but then in a short amount of time the muscles have shortened themselves back up and the progress is gone.  I can stretch my arms by myself very slowly and painfully and can make very small gains in my range of motion.

This pain has been going on for almost two years and I am desperate and defeated.  Nobody seems to know the true cause of this pain/muscle issue or how to help it.

[Sara_MHModerator]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Thank you for your question but sorry you are in such pain.  Have you seen an orthopedic doctor as of yet? I highly recommend you consult one. When you had the MRI, did they just look for tears or did they also check to see if you had something called frozen shoulder.  Your symptoms do seem to fit the profile of this. https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-a-frozen-shoulder#1  Does ibuprofen help you at all?  And have you seen a physical therapist?