I would like to hear from other hikers who have backpacked with shoulder problems. While I have no plans to do any serious (read: lots of weight) backpacking until I can at least sleep without the prescription pain meds, I'd like to hear about how other hikers handled these types of problems.

My deal: I hurt my shoulder early in the year, went to the emergency room and then an orthopedist. My shoulder (right one) hangs significantly lower than the uninjured one. I had x-rays at the hospital. The orthopedist basically gave me a bunch of drugs and did nothing else. When I was still in pain 4 months later, he gave me a cortisone injection, which killed the pain for about a month. I'm a counselor at summer camp, and during the summer I was taking large amounts of drugs just to be able to sleep without excruciating pain. I saw a physical therapist while there who suggested that I may have either torn my rotator cuff or partially torn my trapezius muscle. Obviously, now that I'm back at school, I'm looking for a new orthopedist who can hopefully solve some of the problems, or at least tell me what is wrong.

Anybody with similar experiences? Let me know...