I have recently been feeling some numbness in my right arm and hand. It’s been going on for about 3 days and has gotten so bad that at night it wakes me up sometimes. It feels like it is asleep, but the numbness doesn’t go away for like 10 minutes. I also lost strength in that arm, mostly grip strength. Any ideas what it could be? I went to my doc today and he thinks it might be a pinched nerve in my neck. I got my spine X-rayed and am having a nerve test next week. He also told me no heavy lifting. I’m currently in a cutting cycle and am having good results in strength and fat loss. It really ticks me off that I can’t do any lifting or boxing for 2 weeks. Any ideas on what I can do to keep active? I was thinking of sprinting or jogging. Any help would be appreciated.
you have a subluxation in your spine (twisted vertebrae) pinching a nerve causing a referral pain in your limb. Very common. Can be fixed by a chiropractor in 2 minutes, physiotherapist in 2 hours, or a doctor in 4 years. I’d go with the chiro and do stretching exercises to avoid it in the future.
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I read an article on ART (maybe here on this site, I forget) in which the ART expert said there are about 7 different places between the back and the wrist that can each cause your symptoms. (Actually, I sometimes have the same symptoms.) So it might take a while to find the right spot and get it fixed. In my limited experience, most “standard” doctors won’t really know what to do for your problem. A chiropractor or ART specialist might be necessary. You might also try a deep tissue massage on your forearm to keep the myofascial membranes (is that the right name?) from sticking together.
I found that wearing a wrist brace at night and icing down my forearm seemed to help. Also, don’t sleep on your side which can compress the shoulder joint. Hope this helps until you get it fixed.
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I had something similar about 3 years ago – had numbness/tingling in my left hand – plus grip strength plummeted. As it turned out I had injured my ulnar nerve in my arm. I basically had to give it a total rest for 2 months. Doctors weren’t sure if I had injured it during weight-training or had hurt it on the job (apparently it is similar to a carpal tunnel syndrome – i.e. bad form on using keyboard at work). They gave me stretching exercises to do – for the wrist, etc. I took the 2 months as time to work on my legs – when I came back, upper body strength had not deteriorated too badly (to my surprise).
Thanks for the answers. It seems to have gone away and I have regained all my grip strength back. Hope this is just temporary.