What does pain in hand starting from shoulder to elbow indicate?

Hi,

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I have thoroughly gone through your case and can well understand your genuine concern. Pain and limited range of movement of the shoulder joint can be due to various reasons like fracture of the bones forming the joint, injury to the joint capsule, injury to ligaments of the joint or any muscular injury or spasm or injury to any nerve supplying the joint. The other causes are frozen shoulder, less frequent use of the joint due to pain or injury or some chronic disease.

Your mother's symptoms appear to be like frozen shoulder where joint becomes stiff, painful and there is a limitation of the movements of the joint. Frozen shoulder can develop by less use of the joint because of pain, injury, after surgery, chronic diseases such as diabetes or stroke. Frozen shoulder is a self-limiting condition, it nearly always gets better with time. It is diagnosed by physical examination. X-ray can help to see whether symptoms are from other conditions like fracture or arthritis.

I suggest you consult an orthopedician. You can follow the mentioned instructions. Apply hot water bag over the joint for 15 to 20 minutes 3 to 4 times a day. You can give her some analgesic, anti-inflammatory medicine like any of the NSAID. Physiotherapy will definitely help. Gentle stretching. It can be prevented by gentle stretching of the joint and using joint more often. Check her random blood sugar. Some severe cases may require surgery also, so I suggest you take orthopedic opinion also.