Injections can be uncomfortable at the best of times, but some people experience a little more pain when they get a vaccination.
Injections should ideally be placed 2 - 3 fingers width from the acromion (see red sections on the skeleton).
A shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) is caused by the injection of a vaccine into the shoulder capsule rather than the main shoulder muscle, the deltoid.
When this happens, an inflammatory process occurs and causes damage to the musculoskeletal structures, including the bursae, tendons, and ligaments.
The main symptoms include persistent shoulder pain and a limited range of motion, mimicking frozen shoulder.
The key to distinguishing SIRVA is that the symptoms typically start to show within 48 hours of vaccine administration and that it does not improve with over-the-counter pain medications.
Fleur had the pleasure of helping Karen earlier this year who had a SIRVA that had been ongoing for over nine months. With some gentle stretching and strengthening, Karen regained the movement in her shoulder and couldn’t be happier to be back to her daily routine.
“Thank you for ‘curing’ my SIRVA. I’m practically a year on from when it first started and when it continued into 2019 I believed that I would just have to live with this pain and inability to do certain things. You changed this. Thank you so much for researching it and providing me with such simple yet highly effective stretches. I still do these to the timings of my electric toothbrush daily. I cannot thank you enough - my arm is practically back to normal xxx”
If you experience any discomfort and loss of movement in your shoulder this flu jab season, please get in touch - SV can get you back on track.
Please contact our expert team on 020 3797 3070 (Loughton clinic) or 01279 933305 (Harlow clinic).
For more information about shoulder injury related to vaccine administration, please click the following link: