Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Other Health Discussion => Topic started by: kerrieann on April 06, 2014, 01:31:03 PM
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hi all, asking for advice again :) for a week now i have been having discomfort in my arm pit on left side, and there is some puffiness it feels like a golf ball but under my arm but in fact it looks slightly swollen, it has woken me for a few night when i turn onto the left side, so i rang the surgery and got an appointment on friday the gp examined under my arm and said there were no lumps etc, he said that there is just muscle and glands in that area.
I told him that ive had a cold for a week so he listened to my chest and said it could be a virus if there no improvement go back in a week.
i first noticed this a week ago and i had been to my sons for mothers day dinner and had been standing for about an hour in the kitchen, well as i have alot of low back pain ( another story :)) i was supporting my back by leaning on my arms and wonder if its muscular ? the only other thing is about 10 days ago i was wearing and underwired bra and getting pain from it, it was digging in under my arm, i have been wearing non wired this week as when i put the wired one on it was so painful but there is no mark or anything where the wire was pressing.
any thoughts would be gratefully accepted as i am walking round with one hand on my hip as its so sore to put my arm flat kerrie
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Could it be the start of a cyst. I had one of those and it was the most painful thing. I think I started it off my self when I was shaving my arm pit. Have you tried lying in a hot bath with a hot flannel under your arm just to see if you could get some relief that way.
It could also be a blocked sweat gland.
If it's no better soon then go back to your GP.
Honeyb
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i really dont know honeybun, but iam sitting with a heat pack under my arm right now :)
it does feel better with heat, what was the outcome withe the cyst ?
i keep getting my other half to check for redness as it does feel very tender as though its a boil or something but there is no sign of anything just puffiness ?
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Take it to the GP tomorrow if there's no improvement or show it to a Pharamacist?
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It came to a head and burst. I never went to the GP so it could have been a boil. I had a dressing on it for quite a while as it kept leaking. Horrid thing, it was just generally painful for a while before it sort of came to a distinct lump.
Honeyb
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yes honeybun this is painful, i had a boil last year just at the top of my leg as it joins your bum ;D and it feels like that but there is no sign of any redness etc so that is why i keep thinking was it the bra wire, could it have caused some tissue damage? can wires do that ? off again with my health anxiety, never used to be like this, damn meno :-\
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If it is the gland swollen you may have an infection from somewhere else and your glands are doing their job. I once had a swelling from the gland in my neck, painful and uncomfortable. The doctor prescribed antibiotics, after questioning me about any cuts, gum infections etc.. There was nothing obvious, but the antibiotics did the trick.
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ju ju i mentioned infection to the gp so he took my temperature and said no, do always have a high temperature with an infection ?
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Not always I think. Are your glands up in your neck or under your other arm. If glands go up then they go up all over and not just in one place.
Have a bath and that may ease things or start to bring them to a head.
Honeyb
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honeybun, no the only swelling is under the left arm, i will go and have a bath and like you say keep a hot flannel on it to see if it does bring anything up, ie boil etc.
I do keep thinking i may have done some damage wearing that particular bra for the whole day when i knew it was hurting stupid me :sigh: but i would have thought there would be a red mark or bruise if there was any damage
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Could it be a hair follicle infection?
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clkd, both myself and other have examined the area closely and cant see a thing except for a bit of puffiness, i just said to him iam going to lie flat on the floor and i want him to look closely again its so uncomfortable and i know its going to be the same in bed tonight at the min i have a heat pack under my arm and have it resting on a pillow as it hurts to put my arm by my side :( it does feel really tender and bruised, i never bruise easily but i am sure there would be a bit of redness if it were a boil, cyst, hair follicle or where the bra wire was pressing heaven knows
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Try putting a pillow down your side and rest your arm on it. It will keep your arm level with your body and that may help you get some sleep.
It may just come nothing but keep an eye on it.
Honeyb
x
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honeybun, i have to sleep with a pillow between my knees to help with the back pain so i know what you mean, i will need one of those body pillows soon ;D it was a chiropractor that told me to sllep with a pillow between my knees and it does work. kerrie
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ju ju i mentioned infection to the gp so he took my temperature and said no, do always have a high temperature with an infection ?
From my experience you can have an infection with no raise in temperature. I hope you get this sorted soon. If it persists go back to the doctor.
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So stop prodding it! It may have begun with an itch in the night which has made the area slightly puffy. Better today?
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i really havent prodded it clkd, there is nothing to prod its just puffy, i have been taking paracetamol every 4 hours and i know when they have worn off its so tender, if my arm is by my side it feels like there is a golf ball there but as i say when i put my hand over it (gently) its just puffed up and it feels like bruised and tender, ive had a heat pack on it and going to soak it in the bath again later and maybe if its a boil or cyst it will start to come up, i saw the gp on friday and he said it it persists come back, not sure how long i should wait :-\
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A week - unless it gets more swollen - is the pain relief helping?
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If it doesn't ease up soon then go back to your GP.
Sorry to hear it's no better. It least if you knew what it was you could treat it.
Let us know how you get on.
Honeyb
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pain relief is just taking the edge off but i can still feel it :(
honeybun, when you had a cyst was it visible from the start of the pain or just when it came up ?
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It was red and puffy for about a,week before all of a sudden a distinct lump appeared. It came quite quickly to a big head after that.
I should have gone to my GP and had it looked at so please don't go by what happened to me.
I am really bad at going to the doctor and to be honest it was a bit daft as I am sure I could have got rid of it much quicker if I had.
Honeyb
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honeybun dont mind going back to gp, just thought i would see if anything comes to a head as it were its just so sore and i cant see anything at all, which like you say makes it worse as i dont know what iam treating,, i will give it a couple of days and then make another appointment kerrie
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Hope it feels a bit better in the morning.
Honeyb
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its so tender, if my arm is by my side it feels like there is a golf ball there but as i say when i put my hand over it (gently) its just puffed up and it feels like bruised and tender
Reading this i just wonder if this is related to your lower back pain ? - I have pain in the pelvic region and have been seen by an acupuncturist. She found sore 'trigger points' in parts of my body far away from the site of the pain - some of these sore points were in the muscles around and under one arm. When she pressed on these points they were very sore.She explained that it is the muscles reacting to a pain site elsewhere.
There is an explanation of trigger point on wiki.
Just my thoughts - nerve pain does funny things.
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hi hattie, i was just thinking this morning is this muscular :-\
i had an mri scan in feb, but i wont get the results till i go back to the pain management clinic in july, they got it the wrong way around apparently, when i was sent to the pain clinic the specialist assumed my gp would have had the mri scan first, but he hadnt so now i have a long wait , they have prescribed meds for the pain in the meantime for lower back pain which is felt in my groins but wont take them until i see what the scan revealed, i know that may seem silly but i have bad reactions to so many drugs in the past, that iam loath to rely on them. I get by on paracetamol and using heat packs on my back for now.
In my original post i did explain that just before this started, i was stood for sometime in my sons kitchen taking the weight off my back by leaning on my arms and wonder if there was a connection, but i would have thought this would have gone by now as that was 10 days ago :-\
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Kerrieann
I saw an acupuncturist,who was also a trained gp, linked to my pain clinic. Not that they told me about her ! i found her on the web and read that she practised at the clinic. You can have 6 sessions on the NHS if you are interested - i just asked and they let me have them. I went to her privately for more sessions as well but gave up by joint agreement when she was no longer able to help me further with the main pain problem.
I found that a lot that she said made sense in a 'whole body' context, whereas the pain clinic just give you meds. She found sore trigger points along my inner thigh as well all down to my foot - all part of the spleen channel.
I don't know but leaning on your arms may well have done something - my sore points around the armpit are now much better but it took some time and i still get the odd twinge. Why/how they have gone i really don't know.
Don't blame you for holding back with any meds for now - i am taking Nortriptyline which dulls the pain and was on high doses of gabapentin for a time as well which made me fuzzy minded. Once you are on these drugs the pain clinic leave it up to your judgement as to how well they are working.
Hope that your MRI result makes things clearer for you.
Take care. X
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hattie, i did have acupunture last year through a chiropractor and it did help for some time, but then the gp sent me for physio, which i dont think helped me and then on to a pain clinic, so i left the chiroprator whilst i went through the nhs channels as the chiropractor was costing quite alot, BUT i would find the money and go back to her if all else fails, as iam only able to walk a short distance without pain and at 57, i dont want to be like this.
The prescription i have is for gabapentin and amtryptoline i think its called but i know they are very strong meds so iam wary at the moment to give them a go.