Lately, I have noticed an almost constant discomfort in my left shoulder and upper arm - even though I haven't been doing any arm or shoulder exercises (It isn't extremely painful, but rather annoying actually). I've noticed in some other posts that there are others having this same issue and I am wondering if any of you know what causes this and what, if anything, can be done to make it go away.

Lately, I have noticed an almost constant discomfort in my left shoulder and upper arm - even though I haven't been doing any arm or shoulder exercises (It isn't extremely painful, but rather annoying actually). I've noticed in some other posts that there are others having this same issue and I am wondering if any of you know what causes this and what, if anything, can be done to make it go away.

When were you banded?? For abdominal surgeries, they pump the cavity with air to lift the skin and underlying tissues (fat) up away from the organs to have access to work. Post surgery, depending how much air they are able to extract, will cause pain first in the upper abdomen, then under the sternum, ribcage, and eventually it moves up to the shoulders, primarily the left.

The only way to relieve this is to get up and walk. as much as possible.

My daughter is a Nurse practitioner and she explained this to me.

It should only last a couple of days, no longer than a week, typically. If you were banded way before that, then your pain is unrelated to the surgery and maybe orthopedic.

I was banded on 12/2/10 so it isn't from surgery but there are several people on here who have experienced non surgical, non exercise related shoulder pain (Elfie, I hope you see this and respond)...

Hi Vickey,

Since you're so far past surgery, sounds like it may be phrenic nerve pain. When anything rubs against the diaphragm, it sends a radiating pain up the phrenic nerve. Some people get it when they overeat or just after eating, probably because they're shifting the angle of where their band is placed. I get mine when I'm lying down or if I can't sit straight up. Sitting in a car or plane seat is miserable for me because the curve of the seat puts me at the wrong angle even when it's straight up.

Some people say their pain goes away as they lose weight. I know of at least one woman who is 5 years post surgery and down to her appropriate weight and she still has the pain but said she'll keep the pain if the alternative is removing the band and gaining back her weight.

I had my surgery 15 months ago and it's been pretty bad all along but lately it's getting worse again. Plus I'm losing range of motion in my left arm because I've been limited in how I can lift it due to the pain. So I've made the decision to get my band out. I haven't decided yet whether or not I'm going to get a revision to the sleeve. That's a bit more drastic than I ever wanted to do so I need to think on it more. I just know though that I can't deal with this pain anymore and still have a life.

I haven't found anything that really works consistently but sometimes putting a heating pad, pain patch or even some camphor type muscle rub alleviates it. Not always, but sometimes.

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i seem to get that pain only when i've over eaten... i actually have it right now because i ate way too much at lunch.

it should eventually go away after the food passes thru the band.

Thanks for the info everyone. I am going to try to pay attention to when I feel the pain and see if it happens after eating or at other times too (I haven't really paid attention to the timing before)...I don't think I am over eating since I weigh and measure everything I eat but if the pain does correspond to my eating I may try eating a little bit less to see if that helps at all.