I have experienced the same symptoms, numbness/ heavyness in right arm. It feels like a blow torch is held on my shoulder :( After I had my son it felt this was, went away after infant stage...so i thought it was bc i was holding a baby all the time, then 3 yrs later another baby...same thing, now she is 3 and i have pain everytime i get stressed. Had an MRI everything came back fine. I think the doc thinks I am lying...I cannot pinpoint an exact point of pain, it just hurts in my shoulder and down my arm at times!! I want answers too...I also had a never test(which is painful)...no nerve damage. I was put on Gabapention it seemed to help a little but made me extremely tired....This pain comes and goes :(
Hello. Well the last couple of days my shoulder has really been bothering me. The other day it ached from my shoulder all the way down to my fingers. It was a heavy/numb feeling. Scared me the way it felt. My fingers were very cold, anymore ideas?
Thanks. You sound like you know a lot about this. Are you an MD? I have a TB test every year at work. It's a requirement. Test is always fine. I have also noticed it gets worse when I am under a lot of stress. Which seems to be all the time here lately.
No, the question has not been answered or solved.
You should have had an MRI a long time ago. Yes, the doctor should have ordered an MRI of your shoulder and your cervical vertebra to rule out spinal stenosis.
One simple test which should have been performed is the so-called "axial traction challange."
While you are having pain the skull is pulled axially upwards. If the pain diminishes at once we have defined the problem as a pinched nerve in the cervical area.
What you have is referred pain. The referred pain is called a dermatome. If I was examining you in person by knowing precisely where the pain is I would tell you what "nerve" is pinched.
If you have in fact had an infection, it may not have been resolved, but only encapsulated. It may be necessary for you to undergo additional treatment with anti-biotics.
While rare, tuberculosis has been known to lodge in the joints and produce these symptoms. So you should have a TB screen. Contrary to popular belief TB is not a lung disorder.
There are specific exercises to help with this problem which can be taught by an experienced physical therapist.
Generally non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (i.e. motrin/ibuprufin) are prescribed.
Thank you for your comment. I think it is a nerve also, but can't help and get scared sometimes. I really feel like to doctor should have ordered an MRI of my shoulder and not my neck. I wonder how long this can go on? The rest of my life?
hello dear Spropst,
To me it looks like pinched nerve problem more than anything else.Due to this you had pain and discomfort. Cold weather aggravated this condition as all the muscles,incold climate, are in a state of more contractility(less length) than normal, which can increase this condition. Where as in summers, the length of each muscle fibre is normal, so space is adequate.
I would advice you to do a nerve conduction velocity study, which will help you more to know about the region where the nerve is being pinched.
Co-incidentally as this condition was healing, die to cold weather, you might had developed sub-normal bacterial arthritis, which was not allowing the pain to subside. And after taking the tetracycline, it also subsided, thus making you full pain free.
Hope your question is solved,
keep asking more and more questions,
regards
abhijeet