Left Arm Pain, Tingling Fingers

[M.D. Holloway]

Went in for an MRI - MD id'd a "bulging disc", recomended PT. Went to a Chiropractor, x-ray revealed T1 grade 3 herniated disc. Holding off on an adjustment until I get it figuered all out - pain comes and goes but sleep is difficult. Hear about shots, traction and adjustments with all sorts of results. Any suggestions or positive stories? Please no negitives - that seems to be all I have been hearing.

[island911]

my experience; stay away from Chiropractors. . .find a good doc & PT.

your in Seattle now? I can recommend a one of each, here.

edit: Wife sez accupuncture for pain. (and she makes her living with internal medicine -- go figure)

[john70t]

For my back `sprain` I had a chiropractor, electro-muscular stimulation, drugs, a few phys therapys (stretching, weights), posture training. Nothing really helped the incapacitating spasms and the first two even made them worse.
Acupuncture was the only thing that, but that took a few months to really kick in. Whatever is making the muscles think that tweaked is normal has to be corrected-one side stretched and the other strengthened. Just forcing it into alignment probably wears down the lump that keeps it there.

Europe has got a new non-invasive(muscle sheath left intact) artificial disk replacement thats supposedly gotten good reviews. We might get it later. Fusion is the quick-n-dirty-n-cheap solution on this side of the pond.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Saw a news report about the disc replacement prosthetic. Seems promising and I believe (don't quote me) that FDA approval is months or even weeks away rather than years.

Don't fuse...bad news.

[tabs]

Find a good PT...take Ibprophen...to ease pain and to reduce inflamation...I don't like Chiros...Oh and lay on your back for a couple of weeks. Let yourself heal as naturally as you can...you'll probably have to baby your back for the rest of your life..but thats the price of getting older..

Oh BTW...I have had alot of back pain...thinning discs...a little thing like takeing a golf tee out of the bag on the first hole...sprung the back.. Or simply opening refrigerator and looking in it... On the other hand I have been able to lift rocks and heavy furniture without a problem...except a stiff back the nexxt day..

[DonDavis]

This is too complicated to discuss on a BBS so I'll try to be brief.

I know what you are feeling and am somewhat qual'd to tell you a few things on this topic. My lower left leg is numb as I type this. I would never see a Chiro for this. Find a good Physical Therapist and give it time. They are great at evaluating your body mechanics. They can identify what muscles are in need of strengthening to correct your spinal alignment. A Chiro can push bones around but that doesn't correct the cause. Time, poor posture and repetitive movements are some examples of likely culprits. Was there a specific incident that triggered this?

BTW, if the Chiro is telling you he can see the disc on an X-Ray, he's "full of it". The MRI would show that but not X-Ray. I work on those kinds of systems.

Be careful and don't rush into anything. With this condition you have some time to figure out the best plan.

Good luck and please let us know how it goes!

[john70t]

One other thing that helped was laying on a hard floor with knees bent and trying to gently get the the llower umbar spine to touch the ground. Ibuprofren, hot baths, losing weight, warming up all work well too. Constipation and stress can show up as pain as well, but without total replacment, the body is its own best healer.

[cmccuist]

I "bulged " a disc (lower back) doing a doing a 450 lb squat and finished it off later that day with a 485 lb dead lift. It refused to heal. I had the MRI to confirm. Went to physical therapy and it worked wonders.

I was skeptical at first, but those people were miracle workers. They had me lay on my back on a heating pad with legs bent for about 10 minutes. Then there were a specific set of stretching exercises followed by some ultra sound machine that was uncomfortable, but effective.

What happens is that when there is a problem with a disk, the muscles around the disk clamp down to stabilze the area which doesn't allow the disc to return to its proper shape. That's what I was told anyway, DonDavis sounds like he would be better able to explain.

Good Luck!

[Burnin' oil]

Everyone (practically) has a bulging disc and most people have no symptoms. There is a significant possibility that your pain and the disc bulge are unrelated. Conservative treatment is usually successful. Injections provide temporary relief, if any at all. If the nerve root is compromised, chiropractic care will not help. As DonDavis says, you can't detect a disc herniation with x-ray. Good P.T. will probably have the greatest benefit. Good luck.

[Bailey]

I had a ruptured disc, L3 I think. Tried PT, shots, time and rest with no success. Had surgery 2+ years ago after seeing a neurologist. This is important I think as prolonged aggrevation of the sciatic nerve can lead to long term harm and a dropped foot (nerves take a very long time to heal). Pain, tingling and numbness in leg and foot went away immediately. I aggrevate my back every once in a while and need to be super careful for a day but being more careful in general has allowed me to live with no restrictions. I work out, run, do yard work, pick up and play with the kids, do DEs with my 930, did a 14 story bungee jump wrapped by my ankles etc., all with no problems. I think the advice above is good. Take your time, seek alternatives to surgery, but if you are like me, I refused to limit my activities at the young age of 39 so I went for it and it has worked out. I did find the best surgeon I could. Dr. Neuman at New England Baptist in Boston performed it. He was Larry Bird's neurosurgeon.

[Evans, Marv]

Had the exact same symptons. Felt like an electric shock when I pushed myself up to get out of bed. Mine was a pinched nerve in the upper back more or less between the scapulas. Went through PT where they laid me down and put a devise on me that pulled my neck - supposedly to relieve the pressure. Didn't help. Went to a Chiropractor for three months. He promised he would be able to cure it for sure. Cost was $1,400. I'd go in three times a week & he would crack my neck & back (45 seconds), & I was out. When I went in for my last treatment, I told him the pain had really flared up and that his treatment hadn't done anything. He responded that it should have worked & that was the end of my Chiropractor experience. I just took ibuprofin & the pain came & went for about a year & a half & finally mostly went away. I can still feel it sometimes just barely if I extend my left arm out to grip the top of the steering wheel. Good luck. These things aren't easy to overcome.

[singpilot]

I used to wake up with numb fingers on my left hand when I slept on that particular side.

I found something that works for me.

I flip off every car with a Kerry-Edwards bumper sticker I see, and my fingers have never felt better.

I have no idea what I am going to do when the election is over.

Maybe flip off Kerry-Edwards on the TV when they are chastising the Supreme Court for 'stealing the election again'.

I know, I know, I wasn't supposed to be negative, but I couldn't help myself, and my fingers are feeling better already this morning.



Lots of good advice here, there almost always is, this is an amazing group.

[ronb]

There's an amazing protocol for passive stretches developed by physical therapist (and ex marine corp) Pete Egoscue. Check out website, www.egoscue.com, and also get his book, "Pain Free". It essentiallly helps you to realign your skelaton back to what the correct alignment should be. I had a severely herniated disk, incapacitating pain for several months until my PT suggested this course of action. I am now back to 2-3 hours of martial arts daily, 5-6 times a week, and biking. I have reccomended this book and website (and clinics - San Diego and Stamford Ct) to a lot of atheletes, and we've all had a lot of success. You have to do the excersizes every day for several weeks to start feeling a change, but you will. The excercises are very easy with quite long holds in the passive stretches (10-30 minutes for some of them) and it seems like nothing is happening, but suddenly you will feel muscles relaxing that you didn't even know you had. Oh - and ibuprofen.

Doesn't help with spelling though

[dad911]

http://www.egoscue.com (link above has a comma attached) Thanks for the link!

[M.D. Holloway]

Great insights. Thank you all. Sounds like the common concensus is to stay away from the back crackers. My co-pay is $25 each visit. He wants me to see him 25 to 30 times ($750 total), guess I could pocket that cash and save it for a short shift kit! I like the advice from Singpilot, problem is here in Texas you don't see a whole lot of Kerry Edwards stickers around (suppose I could apply the same therepy for pro-choicers? - that should bring through a round of hate mail!)

[M.D. Holloway]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by DonDavis
[B]This is too complicated to discuss on a BBS so I'll try to be brief.

BTW, if the Chiro is telling you he can see the disc on an X-Ray, he's "full of it". The MRI would show that but not X-Ray. I work on those kinds of systems.

I saw "something" on the X-ray at the T1, looked like a mass or something dark. The Chiro said herniated disc but you say he is full of it? I'm a bit concerned. I would like to know more about the inability of Xrays to show herniated discs.

Any other words from the air on this matter?

[Zeke]

I have a chiro in the family, but not nearby. I have a good one nearby. They both so not see the need for extended visits. 3 to 5 for each problem. I have had 3 frozen shoulders (yes, that would be the same one twice, plus the other one). PT took car of those.

You have to try different things.

BTW, the title of this thread is scary. I thought you'd be dead before I read it. My grandmother was. I don't fool around with pain in the left arm and tingling fingers after seeing that just once. I call the medics.

[rcm]

Lube, I have had minor back pain here and there. I find real good PT brings it back. None of the pain has been related or the same.

[RickM]

I injured my lower back when I was in my mid twenties when lifting a metal lathe. It was the lightning bolt from my lower back and right down my leg. That was two weeks out of work.
A year later a slight twist at the waist put me out of work for another two weeks. Chiros and "sports" doctors didn't help me.
Several years passed without a major incident but I did experience nagging, low-level pain quite often.
Then one day my wife tells me she bought a new matress and boxspring, on sale, for about $1700. I choked. Well, after two days my back felt like nothing ever happened to it. That was three years ago. I have not had one lick of pain since.
BTW, the current mattress is much softer than the previous. I think the "firm mattress is better for your back" advice is a myth.

[Zeke]

Rick, is that mattress a Tempurpedic or a clone? I have a clone and it's not as good as the real deal, me thinks, but it has been wonderful for the shoulders. Next step is to get the Tempurpedic.