I’m having a pretty serious problem right now and was wondering if aynone might have some advice.
Starting in mid-July I’ve been battling two injuries which have put my lifting career on hold. The first is a subluxated ulnar nerve, the second is a frequent, recurring stiffness in my left upper back around the scalenes and traps which is sending referred pain down my left arm and leg.
The first one is most likely related to an injury from lifting while only getting partial innervation through my left arm (because my back was shutting it down). Why my back is doing what it’s doing no one is sure. I’ve seen two neurologists, a rheumatologist, a physiatrist, an ortho and an ART guy all of whom cannot figure out what is wrong. Getting massages/ART plus hot showers and anti-inflammatories help but the pain relapses after about three or four days.
The combined problem of my ulnar nerve popping around my elbow and the referred pain from my back is making it so that my left hand is completely numb almost all day (being left-handed this is a detriment to more than just lifting).
I’d really like to know if any of you guys have had subluxated ulnar nerves and/or this upperback stiffness. I do have Crohn’s and Addison’s disease, but so far I’ve been told that this doesn’t look to be an autoimmune or hormonal problem.
Any help will be greatly appreciated. Whatever the case I’m going to do what I can to get back in the gym and finish what I started. But after three months of seeing doctors to try and figure this out I still haven’t gotten any closer to figuring out the problem. Instead I’ve just had to sit back and watch it progress to the point where I’m typing this message with one hand because the fingers on my left won’t move anymore.
So again, if you’ve got any advice I’ll gladly listen.
Actually no, a lot of stuff has been ruled out, but no cause (and so no fix) has been pinpointed. The numbness/paralysis has become more prevalent to the point where I’ve had to start writing with my opposite hand.
But all my doctor’s have done is run EMGs to confirm I’m not getting any nerve signal, they haven’t figured out where the problem is coming from.
I’m not sure how much longer the nerves in my hand and leg can take being shut down before it becomes permanent. Again, any advice would be more than appreciated.
I started getting ART in late July from Ming Chew in New York City. He’s a great practioner and was the first one to make the connection between the stiffness in my back and the pain/numbness in the rest of my body.
While doing ART on my back coupled with foam rolling and massages helped the stiffness/burning would relapse after about a week. For a couple days I’d be free of any pain in my back and my arm and leg would feel great. After that I could literally feel my traps tightening up day by day until they just got completely knotted up. I kept on doing this for about a month before my ART guy told me I’ve got figure out what keeps making this come back.
I’m getting some x-rays of my lower back done to see if this isn’t some positional scoliosis. If it is that then that would make sense for why it’s gotten so bad since I had to stop working out. Front and back squatting three times a week was probably helping to keep my spine straight without me even intending that.
Oh yeah, I did get a 3-tesla MRI of the upperback/cervical spine area which came back completely clean of any impiginment or sign that the nerves leading into my traps or scalenes were under pressure, so that’s why my doctor’s are now looking in other places (autoimmune disorder, scoliosis etc.). I’ll still ask about the disorders you mentioned.
The combined problem of my ulnar nerve popping around my elbow
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Hi Sergius,
In '98 I had an operation on my left ulnar nerve which was sliding around my elbow when I bent it. It had been torn out of the “tunnel” that it usuallly sits in to go through the joint. I didn’t lose feeling like you had, although it did become a bit “tingly” on occasions. However if I didn;t do anything about it it would have become worse.
I went to an orthopedic surgeon who had to detach the forearm muscles, loosen up the ulnar nerve so that it could be moved to a safer place and then the muscles were reattached over the nerve to lock it in place. I was in a plaster cast for about 1-2 weeks and then a fibreglass one for a few more to allow the muscles to reattach.
Deep tissue work ain’t going to fix this one, you need surgery if you have the same problem that I did. You will be out of action lifting wise with the arm for a number of months and then have to gradually work your way back into it, but if you want to have the arm working it’s a sacrifice you will have to make.
Yes, I’m thinking that for my arm problem surgery may be necessary, although I’m hoping that the back part (which is aggravating it) will be something that can be fixed with less invasive techniques. My ortho is saying he wants to do a submuscular transposition. Is that what you got?
I’ve heard some say that having the nerve moved can result in a loss of feeling around the elbow area. Did you get this? And I’ve been told that the procedure also results in getting an indentation
where the nerve used to be. Have you noticed this, and if so how prominent is it?
[quote]Sergius wrote:
My ortho is saying he wants to do a submuscular transposition. Is that what you got?
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Yep, that’s the one!
[quote]Sergius wrote:
I’ve heard some say that having the nerve moved can result in a loss of feeling around the elbow area. Did you get this? [/quote]
Let me just say that I don’t have a “funny bone” on my left arm anymore! Which isn’t too bad, I can knock my elbow and not spend the next five minutes hopping around in pain, LOL! That’s the only difference I have noticed.
[quote]Sergius wrote:
And I’ve been told that the procedure also results in getting an indentation
where the nerve used to be. Have you noticed this, and if so how prominent is it?
Thanks
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I’ve got about a 10cm long scar on the inside of my elbow, so it’s not too visible and fades with time. There is a slight indentation where the nerve used to be, nothing really to worry about.
As with all surgery your main concern will be getting ride of scar tissue and freeing the joint to move properly. Mine has pretty much been OK. I don’t do a lot of isolation arm work in the gym, but at present I am actually doing a 12 week arms program with lots of tricep extensions. These are about the only form of exercise where I feel that something is different with one arm, but it’s not enough to cause problems. I don’t feel it on presses.
Hope this helps,
Ben
PS: Just think about the fact that you have a loose nerve moving around, I don’t think there is any other option than surgery as damage has occurred to the body’s structure that no external rehab is going to fix. Take the plunge and get it fixed to minimise the amount of time before you are back to full strength.
I actually had to wait for 6 months because I needed to use both hands due to the fact that I was in the middle of a really busy time at uni and needed to wait until the year finished. It was unavoidable, but it meant I wasted 6 months that I could have spent building up strength in the gym again. So take the first opportunity to get it done.
Thanks for all the advice, Ben. I’ll be seeing my hand ortho tomorrow to talk about the surgery so knowing all this helps.
One final question when you say it feels different during extensions do you mean there is pain or one side is stronger than the other or is it just that the different position of the nerve causes the exercise to have a different sensation in each arm?.
I realize I pretty much have to get this if I want to continue working out, but I wasn’t sure if it would mean certain movement would end up being contraindicated down the line.
[quote]Sergius wrote:
Thanks for all the advice, Ben. I’ll be seeing my hand ortho tomorrow to talk about the surgery so knowing all this helps.
One final question when you say it feels different during extensions do you mean there is pain or one side is stronger than the other or is it just that the different position of the nerve causes the exercise to have a different sensation in each arm?.
I realize I pretty much have to get this if I want to continue working out, but I wasn’t sure if it would mean certain movement would end up being contraindicated down the line.
Thanks again,
Sergius[/quote]
No pain, just a slightly different sensation. There may be a slight strength difference, but my left arm is my non-dominant arm anyway, so this could be the reason.