Question

cervical spine   Dear D. Ron,

I have had bad arm pain for almost two years now. It started when doing chin-ups in gymnasitics training. I felt a light sharp pain in my biceps near the bone. I went to 2 doctos, but it didn't got any better, even with rest. It got worse, leaving my arms in pulling pain after pulling exercises like pull-ups, rope climbs, and even uneven bars. Push ups and tumbling are usually fine. I hardly ever feel it in everyday exercises, just sometimes when I push against something in a certain angle of the arm I feel the ulnar nerve near my bone in the upper arm. I also feel it when throwing a ball, like we need to do in handball or in shot-put! Then it feels as if my ulnar and medial nerve are pulled out. But it never reaches my fingers, and it is not a sharp pain and I also don't have tingling, numbness, swelling or redness.

And then it sometimes hurts above my medial epicondyle somewhere in the connective tissue.
If you look at this picture, it is at the "medial brachial cut".
https://www.google.at/search?q=medial+brachial+cut&newwindow=1&espv=210&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=JSs1U66RCufX7Ab26IE4&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=892#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=MPgYFneeyU-XPM%253A%3BM9FvnxZqTPEH1M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fupload.wikimedia.org%252Fwikipedia%252Fcommons%252Fthumb%252Ff%252Ffa%252FGray812and814.svg%252F512px-Gray812and814.svg.png%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fen.wikipedia.org%252Fwiki%252FMedial_cutaneous_nerve_of_arm%3B512%3B508

This is even worse then the pulling pain in the whole arm. It flares up for some seconds, especially after a workout, and is a very unpleasant burning and pushing pain !

I have been to 5 specialists so far. I got diagnosed with bicep tendonitis twice, tricep tendonitis once, Vit D deficiency once, and I got no diagnose at all once.

I am really desperate.
I recently had an appointement with another specialist. He said it might be the cervical spine and a disc herination at C6 or C7!

I had an x-ray and an MRI. It shows that there is no herination and everything is fine, but my cervical spine is too elongated (I hope this is the right word for it, I can't find it in the dictionary and I am from Austria!). So ideally, it would be rounded a little, but mine is really straight. At C6 and C7 it shows some light "bumps" between my vetebraes, and the docotor said this is causing the problem. I will attache a picture of the MRI!

Do you think this is possible? He ordered physcial therapy. I am a student in Vienna and I also study sports. Everything is very expenisve for me and I have already been to physio therapy last year but it didn't help.

I wanted another opinion, because here in Autria I have to pay about 130€, which is about 190$ for one appointement and then the doctors take 5 minutes to make a quick diagnose :(

So do you think this may cause the problem? And if so, will physiotherapy help or should I visit a Chiropratic?

Thanks in advance!

Answer
Hello Katharina.
Sorry to hear about your arm pain symptoms. This must be totally frustrating not knowing what the true cause of the problem is. After reading your question I can share your concern. Obviously I cannot make a diagnosis without having examined you. It is possible that there can be a arm pain caused by a problem with a disc. Often such causes are due to either bulging or herniated discs and sometimes due to thinning discs. More than that I can't say. I suggest that you find a reputable orthopaedic surgeon for another opinion.  If your pain began doing chin-ups and is aggravated by specific physical activities I wonder if you may have possibly either traumatized some arm muscles, tendons, ligaments or nerves.
I would suggest asking your local health professional to consider that. It is possible that an MRI on the arm may reveal important diagnostic information.  I suggest that you speak with a chiropractor and discuss this information with him/her.

I wish you success with your arm problem,
If you wouldn't mind, could take a moment out to rate my answer and consider nominating me expert of the month.


Dr. Ron Nusbaum