Question
I am 9 months pregnant.  The added weight to my chest has given my upper back some pain for months, but other than that I have had no injury.  For a few weeks now, I have been woken up at night from tingling pins and needles feeling in both arms - like they had fallen asleep (only once did it happen in both arms).  About a week ago, I was sitting on the side of my bed getting ready to call it a night, when my the left side of my neck, shoulder blade area in the back, shoulder, and entire left arm tensed up, cramped, and I experienced shooting pains, tingling, numbness - everything at once.  My husband massaged it and eventually the pain lessened, but continued more mildly all night.  Over the past week I have had the muscle pain lessen, but the pain in my neck - right on the bone, shoulder blade, shoulder joint, and elbow (the part between the joint and the crook on the outer side) have continued to hurt severely. The pain keeps me up at night and does not lessen no matter what I do.  I cannot find anything to relieve the pain even a bit.  The back of the shoulder and top hurt - not the front or under part.  There is also shooting pain up and down my tricep and the part of the arm next to it (above where I described on the elbow).  Ocassionally, I feel a mild tingling and numbness in my hand and fingers, especially when typing or doing some other small movement.  A small area of my arm beneath the elbow hurts - like I hit my funny bone - but the pain is constant.  Cold air seems to irritate the neck, shoulder , and elbow.  Also, I have noticed when I walk I hear a soft noise coming from my neck or upper back area.  Almost like very fine sand or salt is being shaken just slightly.  A light, higher pitched, soft grind type of noise.  I went to the doctor and he thought maybe a blood clot or nerve injury.  They checked for blood clots and did an EMG to check for nerve damage.   Neither test found anything.  Does the negative result on the EMG mean I don't have a herniated disc in my beck?  I thought this was a possibility because I two in my lower back and one in the upper back from a car accident about 4 years ago and the symptoms seem similar - yet different.  Since being pregnant, I have reinjured one of the lower ones - I know because I felt it and later I was getting a massage and the therapist said something felt out of place.  The doctor doesn't want to do any scans or x-rays while I am pregnant.  So I was wondering if the EMG could tell the same thing - and if it could determine whether or not I had a herniated disc.  The doctor did  not seem to suspect it, so I am not sure if he is looking for that or not.  WHat else could it be?  I have looked everywhere and found nothing to match my symptoms.  The doctor doing the EMG said maybe I slept on it wrong!  Even though I was fine all day and it began hurting suddenly in the evening.  I haven't slept on it since it began hurting.  As a matter of fact, the pain is so intense I haven't slept much at all in th epast week.  I get up half way through the night and cry - not just from the pain, but the frustration and the helplessness I feel when I try everything and nothing will ease the pain and I am so tired but can't sleep because the pain is too great.  I have passed a kidney stone and this pain ranks right upo there with it - so I can't imagine I just "slept on it wrong".  Please help with any ideas you can.  Does it sound like a herniated disc?  Something else?
Thanks,
Jennifer

Answer
Dear Jennifer,

You don't need to have a herniated disc to have these symptoms; muscular contractions in your upper spine and neck are sufficient to cause the nerve impingements that would cause your symptoms.

You said you had a car accident; it's typical for the muscles of the back and neck to go into contraction as a reflexive response to the sudden movements of the incident.  The muscles in contraction are prone to contracting further from minimal stimulus, such as the added weight from your pregnancy, causing the surfacing of symptoms.

You need some training to recapture control of those muscles from the protective reflexes keeping them tight.

May I direct you articles on whiplash and completing recovery from injuries at somatics.com/page4.htm.

Your problem isn't difficult to clear up; you just need the right approach.

with regard,
Lawrence Gold