Question
I have severe pain that radiates from my right upper back/neck to my right shoulder and all the way down my arm and to my upper right chest.  My doctor claims I have tendonitis in my shoulder.  I'll be pain free for a few weeks, and then the pain comes back and stays for a couple of weeks.  It seems to be strongly related to rainy weather, too.  My doctor has prescribed naproxen sodium but it only dulls the pain a bit.  It's so severe that it keeps me awake at night, and it even hurts my chest to breath.  Is this typical of tendonitis?  What's the best treatment?  Any suggestions?

Answer
What you have doesn't sound like tendonitis to me; it sounds like a nerve impingement (pinched nerve).  The condition usually results from contracted muscles.  In your case, it's probably your neck and upper thoracic spine.  Pinched nerves cause radiating pain into the area the nerves serve.  By the way, tendonitis also results from habitually contracted muscles.

I would contact a Hanna Somatics practitioner <http://www.hannasomatics.com/practitioners>.

If there's no one in your area, you may be able to retrain your own muscles to relax by using the training exercises found in The Magic of Somatics  (preview: send blank e-mail to [email protected].  The preview shows the approach used in the book.)

articles:  <www.somatics.com/page4.htm>

Lawrence Gold