Shoulder/neck pain with walking

Hi all!  I am 2 weeks post op. I have been walking little by little but the last few days I have been walking about 30 minutes. Heres the problem, when I am walking I get horrible pain in the tops of both my shoulders and up into the sides of my neck. It feels like someone is trying to rip the tendons out. I have tryed everything from putting my arms above my head to not swinging them when I walk, but as soon as I stop walking the pain stops. I thought maybe it was left over gas from surgery at first but now wondering if those are muscles I just havent used. Not sure. Anyone else experience this or heard of it? Thanks  Rachael

Hi Rachael, You may be inadvertantly shrugging your shoulders when you walk.  Some people do that when there is the possibility of pain in other areas (ie your tummy) as a way of protecting themselves.  I would so some deep breathing, and think about gently holding your shoulders down when you walk.  Again, breathing is key.   Good luck to you. -L.

Thank you Laura, I will give it a shot tomorrow. I really wanna walk 30 minutes a day and this makes me not want to get out there. I will breath.  Rachael

It sounds like gas pains.  I personally am a non-op, but I had two cesaeran surgeries and had horrid gas for a few weeks after both times.   Also, 30 minutes sounds like a lot at this point - maybe cut back to 15 minutes, or do two sessions of 15 minutes. I'm sure you cleared this with your surgeon, right? I did experience sever pain between my shoulder blades when I first began jogging many years ago. The other poster mentioned this  - in my case, it probably was pumping my arms. My pain was so bad, i thought I was having a heart attack and nearly called 911.  It worked its way out eventually - just cramps i guess from underuse.   Maybe try warming up your arms by doing small slow cirles out to the sides for a few minutes, forward and backward.  Raise hands above your head, bend and gently pull your elbow downwarn - hard to describe this but your elbow shuld be above your head at this point and it should gently tug on the long muscles of your upper amrs. Good luck, i'm sure whatever it is, it will pass soon.  Hard to know if you should stop altogether or ride it out. The pain in your neck concerns me the most, you don't want to strain that area - a bear to heal!