8 replies to this topic

[cprahl]

For the last couple months I have noticed that my fingertips on my left hand have felt a little like pins and needles. Not all of them but 3-4 fingers. I know with my scoliosis i put alot of pressure on my left arm and pushing chair I rub my arm bad. Could I have damaged a nerve in my arm to cause this. What else cause that feeling in your fingers.
Thanks any help would be grateful. I also notice when I bend over I get this like tickling feeling in the back of my head. Its really weird.

[ems]

hmm.. I;m just having my second ulnar operation in my elbow because of nerve damage.. I lost hte feeling and musles in my pinky finger and ring finger.. half my palm.. and down the back of my hand and over the wrist.. my index finger didnt have grip either..

Get it looked at now please!!!! Because I waited till I'd lost all function and feeling and I ended up having an operation I could have done without....I had to have repair, and today I went to the Hosp for an update appointment, and hte operation has to be re-done and now put under a muscle instead to stop it moving as the last op removed all the soft tissue in my elbow and the nerve has now stretched and is popping over my elbow bone!

Ulnar nerve damage is ver very specific though.. Look up the Ulnar pathways on google.. I;d lookinto carpel tunnel too btw..

There are stretching excerises you can do with your arm and your hand if it is that.. and carpel tunnel.. and I wish I'd known before I left it to * get better on its own!*

It was diagnosed visally as well as with ultrasound and electro conductive studies where they can pinpoint the exact location of the damage on the nerve. It took them all of half an hour to dianose an book me for the operation..

But really really.. I wouldnt wait .. please go and see your neurologist!!!

Edited by ems, 28 April 2009 - 05:57 PM.

[Ches]

Did you break your neck? When you put your heads down, do your fingers tingle more? Sounds like what I went through, it was only temporary... and I had broken my neck.

[Anderzip]

Yeah. Get thee to a neuro! Are you SCI as a result of trauma? I was injured in an mva 32+ yrs ago and have a syrinx (?) in my cord as an added extra. Free too! It's like a cyst and if left alone keeps growing and putting pressure on your cord. I've lost temp. sensation in my rt arm, amongst other things so had a shunt put in about 15 yrs ago which pretty much stopped it.

Recently though I had symptoms pretty much like yours especially when I moved my head in certain directions and was starting to get tingles in the fingers, pain in forearm and a few others. So, had an MRI which showed the syrinx getting bigger but also that I have a deteriorating disc @ c6/7 which is putting pressure on the nerve root. Not good! So, I had a CT guided steroid injection last week to try and shrink the disc. Seems to have done the trick so I'd recommend it. Doesn't work for everyone though so make sure you have the best neuro advising you and the best radio dude doing the injection as the usual risks apply. Not a pleasant procedure either. "Just lie still for me for an hour while I stick this loooong needle into your spine through the front of your neck ...". Still get the heebies thinking about it. But it was worth it.

Get it checked out asap! If not attended to could leave permanent damage. I let the syrinx go, although I didn't have a lot of choice as no one seemed to know anything about them at the time. At least until MRIs arrived. It's soft tissue so pretty much couldn't be imaged easily. Seems they're pretty common post trauma. Didn't sign on for that one!

Enough babble. Just do it! Now.

Cheers

Edited by Anderzip, 29 April 2009 - 02:01 AM.

[Ben]

Anderzip, on Apr 28 2009, 07:56 PM, said:

Yeah. Get thee to a neuro! Are you SCI as a result of trauma? I was injured in an mva 32+ yrs ago and have a syrinx (?) in my cord as an added extra. Free too! It's like a cyst and if left alone keeps growing and putting pressure on your cord. I've lost temp. sensation in my rt arm, amongst other things so had a shunt put in about 15 yrs ago which pretty much stopped it.

Recently though I had symptoms pretty much like yours especially when I moved my head in certain directions and was starting to get tingles in the fingers, pain in forearm and a few others. So, had an MRI which showed the syrinx getting bigger but also that I have a deteriorating disc @ c6/7 which is putting pressure on the nerve root. Not good! So, I had a CT guided steroid injection last week to try and shrink the disc. Seems to have done the trick so I'd recommend it. Doesn't work for everyone though so make sure you have the best neuro advising you and the best radio dude doing the injection as the usual risks apply. Not a pleasant procedure either. "Just lie still for me for an hour while I stick this loooong needle into your spine through the front of your neck ...". Still get the heebies thinking about it. But it was worth it.

Get it checked out asap! If not attended to could leave permanent damage. I let the syrinx go, although I didn't have a lot of choice as no one seemed to know anything about them at the time. At least until MRIs arrived. It's soft tissue so pretty much couldn't be imaged easily. Seems they're pretty common post trauma. Didn't sign on for that one!

Enough babble. Just do it! Now.

Cheers

I had the same problems. The skin came off my two small right hand fingers just like a burn. What it turned out too be was tennis and golfers elbow in both arms. It was cutting off the blood too my hands and they came up with a few streches and sent me on my way. Of course this was after a few painful tests. they thought i had a bad heart, bergers something etc...

[Bob C]

cprahl, on Apr 28 2009, 01:40 PM, said:

For the last couple months I have noticed that my fingertips on my left hand have felt a little like pins and needles. Not all of them but 3-4 fingers. I know with my scoliosis i put alot of pressure on my left arm and pushing chair I rub my arm bad. Could I have damaged a nerve in my arm to cause this. What else cause that feeling in your fingers.
Thanks any help would be grateful. I also notice when I bend over I get this like tickling feeling in the back of my head. Its really weird.

It could be carpal tunnel syndrome that is common among manual wheelchair users. You really need to get this checked out by an orthopedic surgeon or other specialist who is knowledgeable about hand/arm/nerve injury.

[sonia929828]

cprahl, on Apr 28 2009, 10:40 AM, said:

For the last couple months I have noticed that my fingertips on my left hand have felt a little like pins and needles. Not all of them but 3-4 fingers. I know with my scoliosis i put alot of pressure on my left arm and pushing chair I rub my arm bad. Could I have damaged a nerve in my arm to cause this. What else cause that feeling in your fingers.
Thanks any help would be grateful. I also notice when I bend over I get this like tickling feeling in the back of my head. Its really weird.

I know the feeling, not fun. I'm 6 days post op on carpal tunnel surgery on my dominant right wrist. So far so good. You should look into it. I've needed help, and chose to use non narcotic pain meds and I feel pretty good. I thought the docs were crazy when they suggested the surgery. Ask yourself this, "do you want to be down for a few weeks to recover, or do you want to lose all function in your hand if you don't take care of it?" When proposed to me in that way, duh, the answer was clear. BTW, 20 years post injury...

[Lucydog]

Could be just a trapped nerve. Ive been having physio for the last month and it has helped a lot. The guy has been pulling my head (sounds drastic) doing a traction manourvre, it hurt like hell the first tiem he did it, but I guess its rereasing the nerves as it has improved a lot from 4 weeks ago.

[rjwheelz]

ems, on 28 April 2009 - 05:48 PM, said:

hmm.. I;m just having my second ulnar operation in my elbow because of nerve damage.. I lost hte feeling and musles in my pinky finger and ring finger.. half my palm.. and down the back of my hand and over the wrist.. my index finger didnt have grip either..

Get it looked at now please!!!! Because I waited till I'd lost all function and feeling and I ended up having an operation I could have done without....I had to have repair, and today I went to the Hosp for an update appointment, and hte operation has to be re-done and now put under a muscle instead to stop it moving as the last op removed all the soft tissue in my elbow and the nerve has now stretched and is popping over my elbow bone!

Ulnar nerve damage is ver very specific though.. Look up the Ulnar pathways on google.. I;d lookinto carpel tunnel too btw..

There are stretching excerises you can do with your arm and your hand if it is that.. and carpel tunnel.. and I wish I'd known before I left it to * get better on its own!*

It was diagnosed visally as well as with ultrasound and electro conductive studies where they can pinpoint the exact location of the damage on the nerve. It took them all of half an hour to dianose an book me for the operation..

But really really.. I wouldnt wait .. please go and see your neurologist!!!

Hi Lucy,

It took ages for me to get this diagnosis in NZ but I finally realised through my research and seeing a very good specialist that I have this condition in my right and left hand and arms. Mostly in my right side thou. Did you go for the operation and was it successful? I am looking at the operation but the first specialist I saw said I will need to be at home for 8 weeks for each arm to recover well after the procedure. My general doctor has sent me to another surgeon and specialist to see what they say as he had a patient where the operation went wrong and they ended up lossing the use of their hands as a result. I am a little freaked out at going through this ordeal but I would love not to have this numbness and pain and be able to not think and feel it so I can feel better when out and about, i.e. at work or at home.

Would appreciate hearing from anyone else who had this procedure and what their recovery process was like.


Cheers

Richard