Severe Pain Redness Swelling Or Bleeding At The Injection Site
Mild to moderate pain, redness, or swelling can occur following tetanus vaccination.
However, if the injection site is bleeding or you experience pain, redness, or swelling thats so severe that you cant perform your usual activities, contact your doctor.
The CDC recommends that people of all ages receive the tetanus vaccine.
Get The Pneumonia Vaccine At Your Local Pharmacy
We have a pneumonia vaccination service offering Prevenar 13 for anyone over 18, as long as its safe for you to have. You can book your vaccine online or come into store and speak to a pharmacist first to check its suitable for you. This is a great option for people who want to get vaccinated but who dont qualify for a free jab on the NHS.
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Are There Any Other Options For The Flu Vaccine Besides Getting A Shot
In addition to the flu shot, a nasal spray vaccine is also available. You may see this vaccine referred to as FluMist or the live attenuated influenza vaccine .
This vaccine is sprayed into your nose. Unlike the flu shot, it contains active influenza viruses. However, these vaccine viruses have been weakened so they wont cause an infection.
Like the flu shot, the nasal spray has some potential side effects. These can be different in adults and children and can include:
The nasal spray vaccine is approved for individuals ages 2 to 49. Its not recommended for certain groups, such as pregnant people and those with a weakened immune system.
If youre interested in receiving the nasal spray vaccine, talk with your doctor about whether its a safe option for you.
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How Can I Alleviate My Arm Pain
Swelling, redness and soreness are common after the flu shot and can last 24-48 hours. “If you always experience soreness or swelling after a flu vaccination, take an ibuprofen about 2 hours prior to vaccination,” suggests Dr. Mora. “You can also try icing the injection site to reduce redness and swelling and taking another dose of ibuprofen to ease any soreness or swelling.”
Your Good Health: Shot For Pneumonia Leads To Pain In Arm
Dear Dr. Roach: I have a badly torn rotator cuff on my left shoulder, so that arm is basically a constant problem. In January 2017, my physician suggested that I would benefit from the pneumonia vaccine and that it would take two applications, one year apart, to complete. I agreed to have the vaccine, which was administered into my upper left arm. Ever since then, I have had pain in the muscle area and at times do not have use of that arm. I have talked with the nurse, the physician assistant and also with my orthopedic doctor about this problem. They all have given me blank looks and no answer to the situation. Do you have any suggestion or remedies for this? Should I have the second injection?
M.P.
I think the problem is the torn rotator cuff, and that it was exacerbated by your reaction to the vaccine.
The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that keep the arm in place in the shoulder during movement of the arm. If the rotator cuff is damaged, either by inflammation or from a mechanical tear, the arm will not move normally. Complications, including a frozen shoulder, are common.
I suspect that the temporary sore arm from a vaccine immobilized your arm long enough that you developed further inflammation in the shoulder.
Dear Dr. Roach: I wanted to know about the risk of cervical cancer with a partner who has HPV or herpes. Also, is there a correlation between either of these infections and cancer of the uterus?
Anon.
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First Why Does The Flu Vaccine Cause A Sore Arm
There are actually a few different things that can lead to you having a little arm soreness after your flu shot, infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, tells Health. For starters, the flu shot is an intramuscular vaccine, which means that it’s injected directly into a muscle in your arm.
“You just had puncture in your skin and muscle,” Dr. Adalja says. “That’s going to hurt and there will be some inflammation that occurs post-trauma to that muscle and skin.”
At the same time, there’s a localized immune response happening in your arm where the vaccine was injected, William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, tells Health. Meaning, your immune system jumps into action to react to the vaccine where it was injectedin your arm. “Your immune system is really starting to take advantage of that vaccine and working on it,” Dr. Schaffner says.
Add those two factors together and you can end up with a sore arm.
Why Are Cases Of Shoulder Injuries From Vaccines Increasing
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Elisabeth Cassayre got a shot at her local pharmacy, and the pain in her arm began that night. It refused to go away. Days, then months passed as she couldnt lift her right arm, couldnt hang up clothes, couldnt pick things up. I remember thinking: Ill never be able to make an apple pie for my grandchildren, says the retired schoolteacher.
Doctors now have a name for Cassayres condition: shoulder injury related to vaccine administration, or SIRVA, caused by a vaccine injected too high up on the arm. The prolonged pain and stiffness of SIRVA is distinctin other words, much worsethan typical soreness from shots.
While very rare and still little-known, SIRVA cases settled in the governments so-called vaccine injury court have shot up in recent years. Under US law, all vaccine injury cases come before the Office of Special Masters of the US Court of Federal Claims, rather than the usual state or federal courts. Since 2011, the court has ruled to compensate 112 patients for SIRVA, with more than half those cases in the past year, according to an analysis in the Wall Street Journal.
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Preventing Arm Pain After Vaccines
There are a few other ways to try to prevent arm pain when youre about to get your shot:
- Request the vaccine goes in your non-dominant arm. This may help as you wont use it as frequently as your dominant arm and may not notice the soreness as much.
- Relax your arm before your shot. Injections into clenched muscles can cause more pain.
- You may be able to request ice or a numbing spray before your vaccination.
Although getting a vaccination isnt usually comfortable, its important to know that arm soreness is normal and usually goes away within a few days. If you have any questions and concerns about vaccines and their side effects, talk with your healthcare provider to get the best medical advice for you.
Good News: A Little Discomfort Is A Good Sign
The flu shot is made to produce an immune response, so soreness is a sign that its working, Nate Favini, the medical lead at Forward, told HuffPost. Your body has an inflammatory response, and thats what gives you immunity against the flu.
This soreness also means that your immune system is making antibodies in response to the virus it was just injected with, which protects you from the actual flu if you become exposed to it. But if you dont feel sore after your flu shot, that doesnt necessarily mean you got a dud injection or that your flu shot isnt working. You may have a higher pain threshold than you realize, or perhaps you were relaxed while getting your shot .
If your arm does really hurt for the next day or two after your flu shot, dont feel guilty about taking a day off of work or going easy on yourself because of the pain. The shot will help your company in the long run: One study found that people who got the flu shotreduced the number of workdays they would have lost due to flu-related illnesses by 32%.
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Pain Redness Or Swelling At The Injection Site
Pain at the injection site is one of the most common side effects from receiving the tetanus vaccine. According to the CDC, it occurs in 2 in 3 adults that receive the Tdap vaccine. This should subside in a few days.
If pain or swelling is causing you discomfort, you can take an over-the-counter pain medication such as ibuprofen to help.
How Long Does Arm Pain Last
For most people, arm pain starts within 24 hours of receiving a vaccination and can last for about a day or two. This experience can vary based on which vaccine you are receiving.
For example, Shingrix tends to cause more intense pain and lasts longer than other shots. Before receiving a vaccination, ask your provider or pharmacist how long arm pain typically lasts for that particular vaccine.
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Allergic Reactions To The Pneumococcal Vaccine
Very occasionally, a child or adult may have a serious allergic reaction after either type of pneumococcal vaccination.
Known as an anaphylactic reaction, this can cause life-threatening breathing difficulties.
Anaphylaxis is a rare, serious side effect that can happen within minutes of the injection. It’s very alarming at the time, but it can be treated with adrenaline.
The doctor or nurse giving the vaccine will have been trained to know how to treat anaphylactic reactions.
Provided they receive treatment promptly, children and adults make a complete recovery.
Allergic Reaction To The Pneumonia Vaccine
In rare cases, people have an allergic reaction to the pneumonia vaccine shortly after receiving their jab. This is known as anaphylaxis, and it can be life-threatening.
The good news is, all doctors, nurses and pharmacists who administer the jab are trained to deal with anaphylaxis. If you happen to have a severe reaction, the medical professional who gave you the jab will be able to carry out emergency treatment.
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Have You Received A Recent Vaccination To Keep Yourself Healthy Only To Feel Pain In Your Arm Or Shoulder
Like any medication, a vaccine can have side effects.
Some people do experience soreness or tenderness in their arm or shoulder near the injection site. Mild soreness at the injection site is considered a routine reaction to many vaccines. The soreness often goes away without further problems.
In rare instances, however, a vaccination can result in severe and longer-lasting shoulder pain and bursitis after vaccination. The pain can be accompanied by weakness and difficulty moving the affected arm. This kind of severe reaction is referred to as Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration, or SIRVA.
A More Surprising Reaction
Soon after the Moderna vaccine was approved in the U.S. last December, allergist and researcher Kimberly Blumenthal began receiving photographs of arms from colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The photos showed large red splotches around patientsâ injection sites. Some people had a second rash below the first. Some had red marks shaped like ringed targets. Some rashes appeared on elbows and hands.
After accumulating a dozen images, Blumenthal wrote a letter for the New England Journal of Medicine with the goal of alerting physiciansâand reassuring themâabout the potential for delayed reactions to the vaccine. Some doctors were prescribing antibiotics for suspected infections, but the pattern she saw suggested that antibiotics were not necessary.
Unlike the rare and dangerous anaphylactic reaction that can happen immediately after injection, delayed rashes donât usually require treatment, Blumenthal says. In a biopsy of one patient, she and colleagues found a variety of T cells, suggesting a type of hypersensitivity. Delayed rashes are known to show up occasionally after other vaccines too, she adds, and they can be a sign of hypersensitivity or a normal part of the immune response. Researchers don’t yet know which is happening with the Moderna vaccine. In this case, they may appear especially common because so many people are getting vaccinated at once.
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Is It Normal For My Arm Muscle In My Shoulder To Hurt 2 Weeks After Flu Shot
I was happy to receive the flu shot this year, as I feel like it’s “doing my part” to stop the spread of the influenza virus. Plus, any inoculation that can either prevent, or lessen the symptoms, of flu is motivation to me!
I’ve received the flu shot annually, for the past 10 years. I have the typical soreness at site, possibly a little tired that evening. But that’s it.
This year…my shoulder muscle is still painful, so much that I can’t move my arm forward at shoulder-level, or lift my arm up over my head, without a sharp pain in that one muscle. If my arm is still, it does not hurt. It is affecting my sleep, as I am confined to sleeping on only my right side .
Will I Feel Pain Only Around The Injection Site
Most of the time, the pain or discomfort you feel after a vaccination is limited to the area where you received the shot. But muscle aches are also a possible vaccine side effect. These might feel similar to what you feel shortly before getting sick with a cold or the seasonal flu. This is different from injection pain, as this side effect usually affects your whole body instead of just your arm.
These aches are a sign your immune system is responding to and learning from the vaccine and can also be alleviated with your over-the-counter pain reliever of choice.
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What Is The Pneumonia Vaccine
The pneumonia vaccine is an injection that prevents you from contracting pneumococcal disease. There are two pneumococcal vaccines licensed by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States:
The Center for Disease Control recommends the PCV13 vaccine for:
- All children younger than 2 years old
- People 2 years or older with certain medical conditions
The CDC recommends PPSV23 for:
- All adults 65 years or older
- People 2 through 64 years old with certain medical conditions
- Smokers 19 through 64 years old
What Are The Important Side Effects Of Pneumovax 23
Common side effects of pneumococcal vaccine are:
- myalgia .
Clinical Trials Experience
Because clinical trials are conducted under widelyvarying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of avaccine cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of anothervaccine and may not reflect the rates observed in practice.
- In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlledcrossover clinical trial, subjects were enrolled in four different cohortsdefined by age and vaccination status .
- Subjects in each cohort were randomizedto receive intramuscular injections of Pneumovax 23 followed by placebo , or placebo followed by Pneumovax 23, at 30-day intervals.
- The safety of an initial vaccination was comparedto revaccination with Pneumovax 23 for 14 days following each vaccination.
- All 1008 subjects received placebo injections.
- Initial vaccination was evaluated in a total of 444subjects .
- Revaccination was evaluated in 564 subjects .
Serious Adverse Experiences
In this study, 10 subjects had serious adverseexperiences within 14 days of vaccination: 6 who received Pneumovax 23 and 4who received placebo. Serious adverse experiences within 14 days afterPneumovax 23 included
In this clinical study an increased rate of localreactions was observed with revaccination at 3-5 years following initialvaccination.
The most common systemicadverse reactions reported after Pneumovax 23 were as follows:
- asthenia/fatigue,
- myalgia and
- headache.
Post-Marketing Experience
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Add A Comment735 Comments
A few years ago I received the flu shot. Within a few days I was in severe pain and could not lift my arm. To make a long story short, after an MRI, It showed a tendon was almost completely torn in my shoulder from the injection. It was not the flu shot but an error in the way it was administered. Ive had to have 2 cortisone shots in my shoulder which really helped, but the orthopedic said it really needs surgery. Get an MRI as X-rays and ultra sounds probably wont show the damage. It took 2 months to finally get a diagnosis.
Thank you for sharing your story. Anon. The general consensus seems to be that it’s the placement of these shots that is causing the issue, not the shot itself .
I’m curious who administered the shot? A nurse? Did you get the shot at a drugstore/pharmacy?
Best,
In the past, I had always gotten my shots at the CVS Minute Clinic by a nurse, with no problems. The shot that created the problem two years ago was administered by the pharmacist because the Minute Clinic nurse had a long backlog that day. Yes, it’s not the ingredients that cause the problems, it’s when placement of the shot site is wrong. Wish I had known then what I know now.