The neck, shoulder and arm are prone to injury and pain. The causes can be endless and stem from a long list of possibilities. You might sleep in the wrong position and wake up with a cramp in your neck; be involved in an auto accident and experience whiplash; or experience a spasm while dancing that causes pain if you move a certain way. It might happen quickly or over time. Even stress or bad posture while working on a computer can cause injury.
One of the most common complaints is that of a pinched nerve. Your Brachial Plexus is made up of nerves which come out of the middle and lower neck and upper back and branch off to supply different areas, especially the shoulders, arms elbows, wrists, hands and fingers. Depending on which nerves are affected you may have various symptoms. If the nerves going to the shoulder, arm and hand are affected you may experience pain, tingling, tightness, weakness, pins-and-needles or other symptoms in those body parts.
What causes the nerves to get impinged or “pinched”?
Many things can cause this condition including long-standing spinal stress, old injuries from childhood, new injuries from sports mishaps, car accidents (especially whiplash), arthritis, sleeping in an awkward position and even chronic emotional tension.
Different problems are experienced depending on which nerves are involved. There may be neck stiffness or pain that radiates to your shoulder and elbow and down to your arm, wrist, hand or finger(s). Occasionally there is clicking or pain in an extremity but not neck pain. Sometimes there’s no pain but numbness or feelings of heat, cold or swelling. There can be pain in one area and numbness in another; or muscle weakness or spasms.
Because of the complicated way nerves interrelate, conditions such as headache; migraine; facial pain; dizziness; limited, painful or stiff motion of the head and neck; throat conditions; thyroid; nasal problems; and low back pain can be caused by brachial plexus damage.
Other Conditions
Whiplash is a common complaint in our office. This is often the result of a car accident. Whiplash can result in acute or chronic neck pain which takes months to improve.
Degenerative disorders such as osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease directly affect your neck, shoulder and arm areas.
Neuritis, bursitis, neuralgia, rheumatism, frozen shoulder, fibrosis, sprains and strains are common terms that refer to neck, shoulder and arm conditions.
Chiropractic care is essential for anyone with shoulder, arm, elbow and hand problems to relieve nerve stress and permit the spine, as well as the rest of the body, to function more normally.
If you are experiencing any of these problems give me a call at 317-272-4100 for a free consultation.