Trapped nerve in back, anyone experienced one?

EdBray

EdBray

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Edward Bray
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I have been to the Doctors with a pain in my back (near to my shoulder) and also in my right arm around the elbow area and my right thumb, index finger and middle figure have all lost some feeling on one side.

The Doctor suspects it is a trapped nerve in my neck area and as I am a diabetic the Doctor is arranging for an MRI scan to be done but she suspects that it may potentially be a long term thing with little hope of it repairing itself anytime soon, although they do have some concerns about the numbness in my fingers as I am a diabetic.

The pain is incessant (I have been given two types of pain killers and also a muscle relaxant) and can only be described as like having a severe toothache in my arm and back and every so often it spikes with a more severe sharp pain. Sleeping has become difficult as when you manage to find a position that is a bit more comfortable and fall asleep as soon as you move in your sleep you are immediately awoken with a jolt of pain again. Sitting for more than a few minutes means that I have to stand and then standing for too long is the same. I am getting extremely frustrated by not being able to find a comfortable posture.

So my questions are:
Do the symptoms I have described fit with those of a trapped nerve?
If this is a trapped nerve and is a long term thing, how did you cope with the constant pain? (the pain killers just subdue it a bit).
How was it resolved?
 
I read some good stuff on trapped nerves/routes of tendons etc and pains in arms/fingers etc. It seemed to suggest that massaging certain points relieved the pain quite a bit. I did something to an arm so my hand was numb and weird. Drove me nuts for ages but there was a pressure point on the elbow that stopped the pain!

If it shoots along all the way down to your hand it might be the soft bit under the back of the skull that would need a gentle press.

I'll see if I can find the original site. Found it. I started reading the thing on massage for migraines http://saveyourself.ca/articles/perfect-spots/spot-01-suboccipitals.php which led onto lots of information about muscle and nerves and the way they are routed. http://saveyourself.ca/tutorials/trigger-points.php

There's also a very good book by Brad Walker called the Anatomy of Stretching. It has gentle stretches for pulling everything back into place.
 
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Grim to hear about your pain, it's murder
I had major pain in back and legs, have done for years
After trying the NHS route (I still get regular accupuncture) I tried an osteopath or two, now got a regular Wednesday appointment as it has transformed me
Don't know if it'll work for you, or if you've tried it, but it's the only thing that has ever really helped, I just had to find the right fella, the drugs just don't work for me
 
Ed, I totaly sympathise mate, I had the most agonising ten days of my life with the same thing, a trapped nerve in my neck. Doctors just prescribed pain killers and anti infamatories etc . Nothing was working had no sleep like you for the same reasons,as soon as you move an inch the pain wakes you up.
In desperation I went to an osteopath.

24 hours later all gone.

The thing is, they are trained to visualise the problem on the inside and know what is going on mechanicaly. I would strongly, strongly recommend you see a good osteopath as soon as possible mate.

Best of luck Ed.
 
Thanks all for your comments. Will look into visiting an osteopath.
 
Suffered this once years ago, unbearable pain, so you have my sympathy too. I've found the best long term solution has been to just keep active. I do a load of stretches and sit ups every morning and since I've been doing so I've never had a reoccurance of any serious pain at all, get a mild twinge every now and then especially if I've been out with a full camera kit, but never anything that's put me out of action like used to happen regularly.

I can't imagine your new Fujis are doing you any favours!
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
Suffered this once years ago, unbearable pain, so you have my sympathy too. I've found the best long term solution has been to just keep active. I do a load of stretches and sit ups every morning and since I've been doing so I've never had a reoccurance of any serious pain at all, get a mild twinge every now and then especially if I've been out with a full camera kit, but never anything that's put me out of action like used to happen regularly.

I can't imagine your new Fujis are doing you any favours!
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Don't say that :eek: it first came on a couple of hours after my last jaunt out with the Fuji, 3 Backs and 4 lenses.
 
I had a trapped sciatic nerve many years ago and you have my deepest sympathy pain like that is agonising,the NHS were not a lot of help to me but a couple of trips to an Osteopath cured it so hopefully they can do the same for you
 
Not a trapped nerve, but I had a disc related problem after I sneezed of all things! In absolute agony for a month, off work and totally imobile for a week.

It's still causing problems 9 months later. I could hardly walk on Saturday after covering a football match.

You certainly have my sympathys. I found painkillers and trying to keep mobile (even if it really hurts) is the only thing that helps me. If I stay still too long I start to seize up!
 
I suffer with a trapped nerve in my lower back from time to time, I have found going to the gym helps keep it at bay.
 
EdBray said:
I have been to the Doctors with a pain in my back (near to my shoulder) and also in my right arm around the elbow area and my right thumb, index finger and middle figure have all lost some feeling on one side.

...

So my questions are:
Do the symptoms I have described fit with those of a trapped nerve?
If this is a trapped nerve and is a long term thing, how did you cope with the constant pain? (the pain killers just subdue it a bit).
How was it resolved?
Click to expand...

I had similar sounding symptoms when I managed to turn my head sharply and caused an impact on my spinal cord high in the neck - referred pain down my left arm (you can see where this is going, when I got to A&E) all the way to my fingertips.

After a week of it getting no better, I spent all day at A&E having a battery of tests (including telling me that I wasn't having a heart attack and I wasn't pregnant - which came as a relief as a 35yo male). Sent away after a Chernobyl worth of x-rays with a bottle of painkillers (which were entirely useless).

Went to work the next day and a work colleague pointed me in the direction of an osteopath. He talked to me about the problem & pain and wrote down what he thought it was on a piece of paper - then invited me to look it up.

Some neck-stretching later and the pain went for the first time in a week.
 
I have occasional sciatic nerve problems following lower back injury from a cycling incident.....osteopath helped a little but it's never been cured.
Like many things, it will depend very much on the individual case.
As others have found, keeping agile does help.
Remaining in one position for any length of time generally does nothing but agravate the problem.
Hopefully following more investigations, you may be able to obtain suitable treatment to completely cure the problem or at least dramatically reduce the discomfort without the needs of loads of drugs.
Good luck.
 
I've suffered on and off for the past 5 months with pains as you describe, doctor eventually referred me to a physio who has given me various exercises, initial pain is almost gone but I'm now suffering from the pain from the exercises to cure me, the physio insists that this will get better as my muscles and posture improve, good luck.
 
Thanks for all your comments, still in considerable pain even with the painkillers, will get out and about this weekend and see how I feel afterwards.
 
Can only echo what others say about seeing an osteopath. I have a bulging disc which every now and then hits a nerve.
The first time this happened the doctor had me on pain killers and valium, none of which had any impact, and the spasms in particular were agony.
Hobbled to osteopath (luckily very close as could not physically get into car) and virtually danced home. (Well, not quite but I could stand upright, walk not hobble, and sit and lie down without agony!)

A
 
I absolutely sympathise with you Ed as I've been having upper back pain for the past month or so, but nowhere near as bad as yours. I had tried to pin it down to an event, but all the things I could think of were more likely to have aggravated it rather than actually caused it. The suspicion is a trapped nerve and the advice I've been getting is to get along to an osteopath, so I'm reassured by others on here with tales of success. My fingers are firmly crossed that you get some relief soon.
 
EdBray said:
So my questions are:
Do the symptoms I have described fit with those of a trapped nerve?
If this is a trapped nerve and is a long term thing, how did you cope with the constant pain? (the pain killers just subdue it a bit).
How was it resolved?
Click to expand...

Yes, the symptoms you describe could be attributed to a trapped nerve, but it could also be a muscular spasm that's occurring, which may have been caused by you carrying your camera equipment as you mentioned later on in the thread - hence your GP sending you for a MRI for investigation.

I injured my arm a few years ago and that also caused the type of pain you describe in my upper back, neck and shoulder areas - the initial pain killers prescribed were of little/no use as most GP's assume at first the pain is muscular/inflammation, eventually after trying various treatments I was changed onto a neuropathic type painkiller which has eased the pain some what. However it still flares up following activity, stress or for no apparent reason.............

Once it flares up, for me there is a tendency for other surrounding muscles/nerves to go into tension, which can further aggravate the original pain - to try and break this cycle I use deep breathing and other relaxation techniques, but it can be difficult to overcome/ignore the pain especially when it wakes you from sleeping and several years later it still is continuing.

But we are all different and treatment will therefore vary for each individual, I hope in your case, the pain subsides soon. :thumbs:
 
Thanks all for your experiences and thought,
 
I feel for you, I've had problems for years with my middle back and right shoulder blade area,hope you get it sorted ASAP



Sean
 
Emma1 said:
I suffer with a trapped nerve in my lower back from time to time, I have found going to the gym helps keep it at bay.
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I agree, get to a gym and gently stretch out the area where the trapped nerve is. I find slow wide gripped pull ups work wonder for releasing trapped nerves, even if you can't pull yourself right up just going through the motions slowly holding the position then gently lowering usually helps. Several repetitions per day will release the nerve. Painkillers will only mask the pain not cure the problem.
 
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