Question
Hello, I am a 37 year old fairly healthy male.  I recently began taking a course for 2 weeks where I was looking down quite a bit studying from a book and taking notes.  A few days into the course I started to get pain in the top of my back/lower neck and what seems to be a corresponding tingle in my right hand.  The tingle was limited to my hand only and seemed to radiate from the middle finger although today it seems to be mostly my baby and ring finger.  However the falling asleep feeling in my hand is not really my main worry as my neck/back area feels sore almost always, as if I have pulled or strained a muscle there.  My doctor tested for carpal tunnel and did not believe that was the problem.  I went to a physio and he thinks its carpal tunnel with some strange back problem and I saw a chiropractor also and he thinks it is a pinched nerve with some back injury.  As you can imagine I am still a little confused.

I am using heat pads and trying to stretch but it does not seem to be getting better.  It has been about 2 weeks and the symptoms are not getting better.  Ibuprofen seems to help a little bit.  The tingling seems to get worse when I am in bed.  (I am a back sleeper), but the main concern is the neck/back pain which makes everything hard to do.

Would you have any ideas? or things I could try to isolate the problem.  I have been doing some neck stretches but they do not seem to do very much.  The feeling/pain is as if someone took my head and pushed it down while I was looking at my shoes.

Thanks

Dave

Answer
Hello Dave,

    The nerves that innervate the arm and hand come out of the lower neck, pass through the shoulder and down to the hand.  There are several areas where impingement can occur.  With pain in the neck and upper back the impingement may be in cervical or upper thoracic spine.  A thorough exam would be able to determine the location.  You may want to ask your doctor of Chiropractic to explain their exam results with you in more detail, adjustments will help relieve pressure on the nerve and reduce tension in the spine.  Nerves can be very slow healing if they are bruised or pinched, even when the pressure is taken off it may take a month or more to restore normal sensation.  Soft tissue treatment to the neck and upper back may also help reduce tension around the nerves for a faster recovery.  You may also want to switch to icing, heat will bring more inflammation and swelling to the injured area.

Have a great day,
Dr. Brendon O'Brien D.C.