I am Faustina Johnson, a female in my early 50s. A full-time office worker; desk and computer. I am also a baking enthusiast.

Problem: I started suffering from a terrible shoulder and upper arm pain with stiffness in December 2024. The pain was extremely bad at night, awaking me up and causing sleepless nights. There was no relief from prescribed pain killers, nerve medication, and ointment. I was unable to use my right hand to lift, carry, or mix the ingredients when baking. I was given a physio plan from the NHS after a telephone consultation, which aggravated my condition, and I had to seek private face-to-face treatment in early 2025.

Diagnosis & Treatment: As I have used the Mitcham Physio before, with excellent results, I booked an appointment to see a therapist. I have forgotten his name, but he was a nice Indian gentleman. He examined my arm and shoulder and told me that I have been using the wrong muscles in my upper arm, possibly when baking. They are not very painful when in use during the day. When at rest, they can be extremely painful.

As treatment, he did some physical manoeuvring of my arm and shoulder combined with Ultrasound Therapy. This was done at every session. He demonstrated and gave me some exercises to do at home and follow up on every visit.

Results & Progress: The exercises were a game changer, as they targeted the muscles that were affected. The improvement was quite rapid; I started sleeping better after two sessions with less pain and relieved my dependence on pain medication. The Ultrasound therapy also helped a lot to stimulate and heal the muscles. The stiffness and pain were gradually relieved and by the sixth session, I had gained the full use of my right arm doing tasks that were impossible before. I still do the exercises as they relieve my shoulder whenever it’s achy.

Final Thoughts: Instead of taking pain or nerve medication for persistent muscle pain or injury, it’s best to seek face-to-face help. Telephone consultation and physio plan with the NHS Musculoskeletal can be detrimental as you are not physically examined and diagnosed. I was a victim of this, and it aggravated my injury. Doing the designed exercises at home is very important to your healing and progress. Surrey Physio, Mitcham branch, is my first place of call for any muscular pain or injury.

Kind Regards
Faustina Johnson