Over the last year or so we have been asked if having a vaccination can bring on shoulder pain or upper arm pain. I decided to have a look into this and found a great bit of research on the subject.
The quick answer is No. There is no evidence that injections in the deltoid muscle (upper arm muscle) sets of shoulder pain except for 2 very rare possibilities.
- The person injecting went right down to the bone and hit the periosteum, which is the membrane that surrounds the bone. This can bring on deep bone ache.
- The person injecting hit a nerve. You would know if this happens because you would get nerve pain and other symptoms like numbness or pins and needles.
The conclusion of the research is that if you do develop shoulder pain after vaccination this is most likely coincidental. If you are unlucky and this is the case for you it’s probably best to come in and have your shoulder/arm checked out.