Shoulder, Cervical Spine and Inner Elbows?

Question: Shoulder, Cervical Spine and Inner Elbows?

Hey all, i don't want to seem like im putting everything in one post, but thought all the above may be connected so wanted to provide as much information as possible to help get some possible diagnosis's that i can suggest to the doctors for treatment, feel it isn't down to me to be doing the work, but im tired of poor healthcare treatment and can't live like this no more.

Let's start from the head.

My cervical spine must of started to hurt me a while ago, near the beginning of this year, incredible amount of weakness and pain in my spine, despite having 2 clear x-rays i haven't had any other help on. I think it could be stemming from my shoulder dysfunction.

I don't know how it started as it wasn't a result of any trauma or direct injury, this is far fetched but the only possible cause i can think of would be when i was at the gym and performing a back squat, when i reached the top of the motion, the bar jolted a bit and caught me on the neck, wasn't too painful but i knew my technique altered a bit so i stopped the exercise.

I keep getting headaches from the pain, my posture has improved a lot but the pain is still there, so perhaps this wasn't the cause. I have done strengthening exercises suggested by a PT and i have made alterations to my day to day life such as sleeping with 1 pillow (even bought a memory foam pillow for this purpose) and sitting with a pillow support etc. It's still weak and painful though. My neck honestly feels so weak that if i was to get hit with a full power punch that it feels like it would fall off.

SHOULDERS;
I definitely have some dysfunction here, as Ive been looking into things more and more Ive noticed the bulk of the problem is around the AC Joint and clavicle region. Where my upper arm (humerus) connects to the shoulder socket and where the spine of the scapula is, there is some tightness and restriction there. An example, if i were to lay face down with my knees bent and raise both arms overhead as if i were stretching my back, my arms at the upper area will feel tight and cause discomfort, as well as noticing a small "ball" feeling at the tops of my shoulder - AC joint?

Something else i should mention is if i were to do a triceps stretch with my arm overhead, it causes a lot of pain and discomfort in my neck and i find it hard to perform because of this reason just feels so tight and painful in this area of my cervical spine.

The pain in my shoulders can affect the whole function, but the most pain Ive recently been getting is around the clavicle and ACJ areas. If i were to run, which i haven't done for months because of other problems, it'll sometimes even hurt my clavicle. Same with parallel bar dips and skipping/Jump rope.

ELBOWS;
Now this has gone on for a LONG time, probably 9+months, more noticeable recently, even though i haven't been to the gym for MONTHS and have been resting pretty much doing nothing for a good amount of time. Now both the inner parts of my elbows hurt, which is where the bicep tendon is connected i think? I tested this by doing a curl motion using both arms (barbell curl) with a 10kg bar and my left elbow hurts, whilst my right one is ok. With that said, i was carrying my 7 year old cousin a few weeks ago, giving her a "piggyback" and although the load was being carried by my back, my inner elbows gave me tremendous PAIN. I didn't understand it, but it was really painful, if i were to carry my 5 year old brother who is probably around 20kilos, my elbows will hurt in that area too. It's really frustrating just to do simply tasks like those without pain.

With all this said, my left elbow is worse on the lateral aspect too. Sometimes i wake up in the morning and my elbow is stiff, i find it hard to fully extend my arm and sometimes have to force the motion to get to full elbow extension, this makes me elbow feel tender. It also clicks during movement, i know this doesn't always mean there's a problem, but tenderness is normally associated with it. So that's bad.

Even day to day activities like carrying the grocery bags will cause discomfort in my clavicle's.

I have tried Rehab based movements like light external rotations for my rotator cuffs and strengthening my low and mid trapezius areas, but im still left with pain in the affected areas.

My shoulder blades also stick out a little, kind of like a winged scapula condition, but not as severe, for this reason i have been working on some small acessory exercises for the scapula depressors, and scapula retractors as mentioned above but no real change as of yet.

With relevance to the AC joint, if i raise an arm overhead, it feels like muscle covers it up and that provides tightness, i have tried doing pec minor stretches by that doesn't seem to help either.

What can you guys suggest? Who should i ask the GP doctor to refer me to - they don't want to anyway. But they can't seem to help there selves. If need be, x-rays,MRI'S where would i need them, what areas? I personally think i should be referred to a specialist such as a chiropractor, orthopedic doctor, or osteopath for physical exam and evaluation but they don't seem to be willing to take up my suggestions. If i could go private, id be there in a heat beat, but im really struggling with bills right now as i can't work due to this conditions and i am claiming support allowance which isn't enough to support me and therefore living off savings which are really low now! So need to get some serious help and fast, what can you guys suggest to me?

Thanks!!

P.S Here's an image;
http://i52.tinypic.com/o09ky.png

Asked by Problem Child - 4 answers - 37 weeks 1 day ago