I was recently banded on 11/19/2010 and everything is going fine except my shoulder pain is unbearable. Has anyone else had problems with their shoulder/s. It is only in my left shoulder around the perimeter of the shoulder blade and where my shoulder meets my neck. It feels as if someone is pinching it or has a knife stuck in it. Any ideas as to what has caused this. I never had pain like this before my surgery.

I was recently banded on 11/19/2010 and everything is going fine except my shoulder pain is unbearable. Has anyone else had problems with their shoulder/s. It is only in my left shoulder around the perimeter of the shoulder blade and where my shoulder meets my neck. It feels as if someone is pinching it or has a knife stuck in it. Any ideas as to what has caused this. I never had pain like this before my surgery.

It is from the gas that they put in you during the surgery. They are unable to get all of the gas to escape and it most commonly gets trapped in the shoulder. I had really bad shoulder pain in my left shoulder. It lasted about a week. What really helped me was using a really hot heat pack... It really helped relax the pain. After about a week I never felt the pain again. Its completely normal and will go away with time.

So soon after surgery it could be the gas... but that should have been over by now.

I'm 3 months post op and STILL get that horrible shoulder pain. Did you notice that the pain is worse when you inhale or exhale? if so... it's something you'll have to work around. The band is placed really close to your diaphragm, and if you eat too much and irritate the band causing it to irritate your diaphragm you get that nasty referred pain in your left shoulder. I used to get it all the time, but it was a painful reminder that I can't eat or drink so much anymore, so I'm learning. The pain is awful, it made me wish I hadn't gotten the band for the longest time until I taught myself to STOP before I got too full... because it's not the same full anymore so it took me a while to recognize it.

you'll figure it out... but the shoulder pain is your body saying "Too much!".

The shoulder pain may also be your body's way of saying something is wrong. I'm over a year postop and I've had the pain since my surgery. It's gotten worse with each fill and really only hurts when I'm lying down or put in a position where I can't sit completely upright. It's to the point now where I either have to find the source of the pain or get the band removed because it's interfering with my daily life and with my sleep.

The plan is to go back in for a laparoscopic look at what is rubbing where and hopefully fixing it.

.

i was banded on the 19th too and i feel the same thing! mostly when i am laying down on my back trying to sleep and when i inhaile deeply. i thought it was from sleeping on my right side and my arm being in a funny position at night, but it is almost all the time now. I'm going to my post op appointment on the first and i'm going to ask my doctor about it then. i've also noticed that on the large insicion they made it is very hard directly underneith it and the hard area varies sometimes. i've noticed that it is sometimes an inch hard all around and other times it is about 3-6 inches hard around. i'm not sure why this is but it hurts.

Thank you guys for responding. You guys have posted a lot of information that is very helpful. It's sometimes good to know that I am not the only one that it is happening to! I go for my post op appointment on Thursday and I will be sure that I ask my surgeon about it ! I hope you all start to feel relief soon! If my doc tells me something useful to help with the pain then I will post it! Take care and thanks again!