Question
I have been trying to puzzle out what is going on with the numbness in my arms. My left arm gets numb even when I don't lie on it. It wakes me up at times and it can take a long time for the feeling to come back. It has gotten worse over the past few weeks from where it has been for many months. My right arm gets numb as well, but I notice my right hand going numb when I do things like typing on the computer or using the mouse for awhile as I am now. My hands tend towards being cold.

I did have emg's done on my arms. No carpal tunnel syndrome was found in my right arm (the dominant one). My PCP has yet to receive the report although I was told it would be sent.

I go for acupuncture weekly to deal with long-standing chronic health conditions. Recently my acupuncturist and I discussed how old injuries can be retained in the body long after they occurred and have apparently healed.

I'm 40, but when I was 12, I got what was apparently whiplash after a friend rammed me hard in a bumper car. The pain was in the left side of my neck towards the back. I hurt for a week and had yearly recurrences of the pain until about 13 years ago. The doctor 13 years ago prescribed 2400 mg of ibuprofen a day for seven days and afterwards PRN.

I've been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis recently and over the course of the past few years had to do water PT once for my neck as it got so stiff I could barely move much less sleep.

I don't have any fusion, but I wonder if the old injury in my neck coupled with the inflammation in my body could be causing c.r? The x-ray I had 13 years ago showed no impingement on the nerve.

Can c.r be the result of inflammatory changes in the neck coupled with the original injury? I have read that it can also be the result of wear and tear on the disks in the back.

Am I chasing a ghost? I really do wonder if I'm going to damage my nerves before anything can be done. I am loathe to even discuss surgery.

Any ideas? I want to find some answers to the numbness in my arms and hands. It would be helpful if you could point me in a useful direction. Thank you for your help!

Elaine

Answer
Elaine:

Thanks for writing!

It sounds to me like the old injury to your neck along with the passage of the years and the side effects of the ibuprofen are causing an irritation of the nerves coming out of your neck and down the arm.

By the way, it is impossible to look at an xray and say you do not have irritated nerves in your neck. Very often, the irritation is coming from a swelling (inflamation) which does not show on x-ray. What they meant was that the bones in your neck did not appear to be encroaching into the space where they thought your nerves should be.

The injury with the bumper car undoubtedly set you up for this.

The problem is that when a body is traumitized by such a jolt, it is not only the neck that is damaged. The shock wave from such a trauma will travel down the spine and damage the joint where your hip bone hooks to your back bone. I have seen it many times in my practice.

Regardless of the spondylitis, this situation can be improved.

You need to see a good chiropractor who can correct not only your neck but your lower back as well. I recomend you go to www.sorsi.com and/or www.icak-usa.com and look for a chiropractor near you. I am sure you can be helped.

Again, thanks for writing! I know you will be well soon.

Dr. Rozeboom