Right Arm Pain & Potential Heart Connection: Seeking Medical Advice

Question
I am a 46 yr old female.  For the past 2 years I have had pain in my right shoulder to my elbow and my left wrist and knuckles and thumb.  I wake at night because I cannot lie on my right side. My Dr. gave me some exercises to do but this did not help much.  Had accupunture and that helped but as soon as I stopped pain came back.  My mother died of heart disease in her 50's.  I have heard that arm pain and heart issues are connected.  Do you think I need to worry about this.

Answer
the connection with shoulder arm pain and the heart is fairly specific.... it is in the left arm, a vague pain running down the arm, usually associated with other heart symptoms- shortness of breath, chest pain.

Yours does not sound like heart related at all, this is much more musculoskeletal......


You need an arthritis workup, but the easy way to dispel thoughts of heart disease is to do a stress test.