I just completed physical therapy for a strained neck/shoulder and it worked wonders. It may not go away on its own if you irritated the nerves. Tell your doc to send you :)

I'm gonna get some Cherry juice. Also Ice makes your body think it is freezing and it will send blood to the area. Also, I don't know anyone's age but, the large tendon that runs up into the top of your arm where it fits into your shoulder gets hard and doesn't stay flexible and it hurts like crazy. Not much to do but get a new shoulder ugh!

I have had bursitis in my left shoulder. I waited a year to go to dr. After a steroid shot it got better but really got better after I had nose surgery (they shot me full of steroids for swelling). I had impingement in right shoulder and steroid shot helped but I have reinjured it several times over the last year and a half. I go later in the month for another shot in right shoulder. I also do manual labor on our acreage like cleaning out fence rows and lots of mowing. I am going to ask for physical therapy this time. I also use active - on roll on gel as needed. Getting older is definitely not for sissies. lol

I too have isues with my shoulders. I have an old injury in my right shoulder so I have limited range of motion. I overused my left shoulder and ended up with a torn rotator cuff. I had it repaired about 18 months ago. I am still doing the exercises from PT but have issues with my job (I am a bookkeeper on the computer all day long) and the muscles in my shoulders get so tense it wraps around my shoulder blade and goes up my neck at times just like shihtzulover. I have tried icing, some of those rubs for sore muscles, acupuncture, chiro, PT, massage, just about everything I can think of to get it straightened up. If anyone knows anything that will help in just daily routines I sure would like to know also. We have even purchased me an ergonomically correct desk at work and it doesn't seem to help at all.
Amy

I would take a few days off and give yourself time to heal. Trying to work an injured area really is not giving it time to heal. I know your anxious to sew but you are prolonging your recovery time.

make a rice bag you can heat up and use that on your shoulder about 1/2 hour before you go into the sewing room..leave it on if you have to, but get that muscle to relax!

You might want to take a few alfalfa tablets a day, it may help. It helps me tremendously. I take 5 a day.

Amy, you might want to try Mobisyl. Here is a link to it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008WFLP/
Check out the reviews. My 96yo mil uses it every day.

All of these suggestions are great, and may be what you need. As for me, I had a bad fall about a year ago, and ended up with whiplash and a concussion. The concussion cleared up, but it seemed the whiplash just kept getting worse, leading to painful knots in my neck, upper back, shoulders and upper arms. Everything was painful. I tried chiropractic, massage, pain relieving gels, sprays and creams, exercises, physical therapy, you name it. I was still in pain, and nothing seemed to relieve the muscle spasms and trigger points, making things like cutting fabric, ironing, sewing --- anything that involved using my arms and back -- just so painful. Finally I went on Amazon, and found a great deal on an ultrasound machine, and I've been using it ever since, along with my PT exercises. I can be in acute pain due to a muscle spasm, use the ultrasound on it, and the pain goes away. I've been using the ultrasound regularly, and slowly the knots are softening up, the spasms are releasing, all that "hard tissue" is softening up, and I can do more. I do my best not to aggravate it, and I know when I do. But the point it, it's the first thing that's actually making me better. I got the idea because when I got out of Graduate School, I had a lot of knots in my neck area, and a chiropractor I was going to used ultrasound on them, and eventually the knots just melted away. I never had another problem until this fall, which would be 18 years after I was initially treated, so 18 years without knots or pain. Too bad I've moved to another state, or I'd be going back to the same chiropractor!

Anyway, just a thought, and my solution to this problem. If you use it, make sure you follow the directions, don't use it over your voice box, or over any major blood vessels (carotid, jugular), don't use it in the lower legs if you have a history of blood clots, don't use it period if you are on blood thinners, and keep it moving. Start on low, and work your way up to high. Do low for most of your session, and short bursts of medium. As you improve, use it on medium with short burst of high. If it starts to cause discomfort, move it somewhere else! Don't use it directly over the spine, or over the brain = we don't want any scrambled brains here! Just take a few precautions like this, and you'll be safe. You want to work on muscles and ligaments, and nothing else. You can work right up to the spine, right along it -- just stay off the top of it. Any questions, PM me.