I realize there are a lot of new folks finding this website because of a mis-administered COVID-19 vaccine. To begin learning about shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA), feel free to begin with the intro page here. My personal journey through SIRVA is written up in several posts and please also see the other guest blog posts to hear other stories.
This post is a look at new articles published about SIRVA in the last few months, both in the medical literature and in the news. This includes the first articles I’ve seen about SIRVA cases specifically from the COVID-19 vaccine. All of the journal articles get added to the collection on the Resources Page. As always, if I’ve missed anything, please let me know!!
SIRVA in the News
In great news, the Department of Health and Human Services decided to keep SIRVA as part of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP):
Legal Examiner: Shoulder Injuries to Remain Eligible for Vaccine Payment Program
An opinion piece in the a local paper from a SIRVA patient who advocates for getting your COVID-19 vaccination:
Northside SUN: Opinion: COVID Immunity Worth the Pain of Sore Shoulder
A news piece on SIRVA from the COVID vaccine:
An article about preventing SIRVA:
Pharmacy Times: Safeguard Patients During COVID-19 Immunization Campaigns
And another similar one about safe injection:
ISMP: Prevent shoulder injuries during COVID-19 vaccinations
New SIRVA Research
A few peer-reviewed articles came out this spring. Also, I was researching infections from vaccination (which may have happened to me), and which is not always described as SIRVA exactly, so there are a few older articles (which are new to me) about septic symptoms post-vaccination.
As always, most of these are behind a paywall. Usually I’m able to get access to these journals, but this time I couldn’t get all of them, so if you happen to have access and can send me pdf’s of the last two articles so I can keep my collection complete, that would be awesome!! The rest I have. And please see the Resources page for a lot more papers.
Walker 2021: You know where you can stick that … or do you? Where to inject the deltoid and why
Thanks very much for creating this site. First, I have to say that I wasn’t even going to get the shot. But societal pressure pushed me over the edge. It’s hard to know how many of us are out there, doing daily battle with pain, trying to find a doctor who’s even heard of SIRVA. My second try was a D.O. who diagnosed “impingement of the shoulder” and possible bursitis, but stopped there. However, he said there is no way of knowing if it was caused by SIRVA. (My first doctor said it was probably a pulled muscle.) I’m still searching, and it’s exhausting. I only wish I’d known how it could have been prevented.
Hi Patricia,
Yeah, finding doctors who have heard of SIRVA is a huge part of the battle. I hope you find someone good. I have a page dedicated to talking to doctors about SIRVA…you can find the link under All Blog Posts.
It is really too bad when we get injured for doing the right thing (i.e. getting vaccinated in the interest of public health), but hey, at least we were doing the right thing. I got SIRVA from a flu shot and never regretted that I was getting flu shots, just that, like you say, I wish I’d known it could be prevented. Best of luck.
Thank you so much for your site. I (and everyone else) thought I was bonkers or just some old lady with an age related issue, when I kept complaining about continued shoulder pain after my covid-19 injection. Now I’m armed with information that I can use to help my situation. At the very least, I don’t feel like I’m alone. That in and of itself is a huge relief. More important even than any treatment.
Thanks so much for the kind words Toni!
Hey Amy,
What do you think would be the best way to educate Doctors and nurses about SIRVA. My ortho Dr had never heard of it. I’ve mentioned it to several nurses as well.
Maybe a nonprofit that ensures proper training or refresher courses on shot location? Just thinking about it in NC
Ashley, I dunno, I think all of us are on a one-man or one-woman mission to teach every doctor/ortho/PT/nurse etc about it, but it’s sure not the most effective way!! Love your idea about a nonprofit to educate. That’s a great idea.
Has anyone recovered from sirva? I’m 17 months in and feeling hopeless. Wondering if I should just give up treatment and accept this pain for my life.
Hi Jen
I suffered with the pain for only 6 months. I opted for surgery. Best thing ever. Recovery was slow with lots of physical therapy appts. My bad shot was Nov 13, 2019. I had surgery June 2020. I would say I’m 99% better. Sometimes it aches but never hurts.
Hi Ashley,
We’re do believe my wife has SIRVA related to 2nd COVID vaccine with a flare up after the booster. She has significant pain unresponsive to NSAIDS, celebrex and steroids. Ice helps a bit.
What surgery did you have that helped you so much?
Thanks so much.
Lee
Hi all! My wife is just now in the process of hopping around different orthopedics to find viable treatment for SIRVA. So far the best doctor relationship we have come across has no previous experience with treating it. Is anyone aware of any services in Florida with experience in treating this injury?
I got jumping around on your blog and was wondering why no one had commented since like April. Then I noticed I had gone to the March posts, so I want to re-post what I just did, but at the right place:
I received my Covid shots in March of this year. The first shot (Pfizer) was fine, no real pain at all. Three weeks later I got my second and within hours my shoulder started hurting and hasn’t stopped. It is a little less now than at first, but still painful and a loss of strength above shoulder level. I was wondering what was going on, but this explains it totally. I was sent a couple of links about SIRVA, and doing a GOOGLE search I found this. Thank you so much. I will set an appointment with my doctor and see what she says. I have also been hesitant about the booster shot because of the pain from the second one. This really helps.
Keep up the good work.
Are the SIRVA survey results published anywhere on the site? Thank you so much for everything that is here, but I’m interested in knowing what has worked for people, and I’m not finding that.
Sorry, Christy, no, but I’m working on it, and will be enlisting my mom (a retired PhD social scientist with extensive experience analyzing survey data) to help. I’ve been quite busy at work lately and unable to devote the time to it I would like—but hopefully that is going to change soon! I’m so grateful to everyone who’s taken the time to fill it out, and I want to make it useful to the world.
With that said, most people still fill it out early, when they’re first looking for information rather than recovered, and also, folks who heal quickly tend to disappear rather than report back. So there are some unfortunate flaws in the methodology, which I don’t know how to get around.
Cheers,
Amy
Hi Amy,
Like everyone else, found your site while desperately trying to determine what happened to me. I read about Dr. Bodor here and wondered if you have seen his zoom Q&A posted 11/05/2021?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaHaCaS3IK0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdBkN1O26qw&t=38s
One of his answers actually gave me hope. That is, even someone suffering for years still has a chance to be fixed. I’m only 14 months in (10/05/2020), but sadly, expect this to go on for a while. He also provided some other resources to participants in various parts of the US and UK.
Thank you for starting this site,
Jim
Thank you so much for creating this site. I got my 2nd covid booster on 4/14/22 and have been in agony for the past several weeks. I’ve seen 4 different doctors so far and whenever I mention that this started after the shot, they all glaze over and insist that it couldn’t be that and that I must have done something to cause it. It’s been very frustrating, between that and then the insurance company delaying getting necessary imaging. I go on Monday for the shoulder MRI, finally, and it’s likely that I’ll need surgery for a torn rotator cuff in the near future. What a nightmare!
Hi Georgann,
I got my bad shot exactly a month ago and have been in excruciating pain since then. I have had so much trouble getting my doctors to believe the severity of the pain and problem at hand – do you mind sharing what types of doctors you saw? Were they regular physicians or orthopedic surgeons, etc.? I am feeling hopeless and I don’t know who to contact and would really appreciate any advice you have! Thanks so much!