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Shortly after Thanksgiving I noticed a slight twinge in my neck, shoulders and back when I leaned forward or other position changes. One the way home from work the 2nd day, I noticed the tips of my fingers on my left hand were numb (thumb, index, and middle finger). The next morning, I was in excruciating pain every time I tried to turn my head or move my arms. By the time I got to work I was in tears and unimaginable pain. The pain felt like I had hit my funny bone but I felt it throughout my entire left arm and it was a constant pain that increased even more when I would try to move my head. Also, the numbness started moving up to my wrist.

I went to a chiropractor and they were able to reduce the tingling/ numbness (it had been slowly progressing up my hand and was at already up to my wrist) back to the 3 fingers and I was able to sit without constant pain. They said my fourth rib was out which was causing the muscles to tense. Then I went to a masseuse and they were able to get the shoulder/back/neck pain to stop. By that night I had a bruise from the top of my arm all the way down to my elbow. The pain in my hand still hurt so I went to urgent care (around 7 pm) where they stated that my fingers' numbness were due to carpal tunnel syndrome, my back pain was more than likely either psychosomatic response to depression or a strained my rhomboid muscle. By the time I was at urgent care I was having muscle spams in my back and arm. They gave me a steroid shot and a special splint to wear on my wrist in the evenings.

The splint made the pain worse and caused pain in my forearm. I went to my primary doctor- they said it definitely was something going on in my back and that I might have carpal tunnel syndrome that was made worse by the back/neck pain but it wasn't the origin of the pain. They had me get x-rays of my shoulder, neck, and upper back. The x-rays showed that I have early stages arthritis in my neck and back but didn't show anything else out of the ordinary. I was prescribed prednisone and a muscle relaxer. I was given a referral to a neurologist for a nerve study. The nerve study results showed no nerve damage, it is not carpal tunnel syndrome, and it is more than likely a pinched nerve between my C4 and C6.

My 3 fingers still feel like they have fallen asleep and are just waking up....it's a constant tingling feeling and when I touched anything I have sharp pain like being shocked and I can't feel anything else because they also feel numb. Sometimes it will get really bad and it feels like someone hit my fingertips with a hammer.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had this experience. IF you did, what helped them? Or if anyone can recommend some exercises or really anything that could possibly give me relief.

I'm pretty sure there is some kind of compression of the vertebrae in neck area. I can feel a sharp lighting like pain travel down my neck, arm, and ending at the tips of my fingers.

I have been told an assortment of things of what I can do going forward for relief: get an MRI, surgery, physical therapy, massage, chiropractor and/or even pain management.

The bills are racking up (I don't have "insurance" it's a medical expense sharing plan ) and I am tired of being in constant pain. I do take muscle relaxers every night... it doesn't stop the tingling but it prevents it from getting worse again. I'm exhausted and tired of being in pain. Any suggestions/recommendations would be greatly appreciated/ helpful.

Hello, sorry you are in pain. My daughter has had the same thing but her problems came from a car accident where she was T-boned and her car rolled numerous times. She's had the numbness and tingling and neck pain. Her hands were totally numb and tingling at times and primary care doctor thought it was carpel tunnel syndrome too.

Finally they sent her to pain management where they did procedures on her twice to locate the pain areas. Then yesterday she had what is called a radiofrequency ablation for neck pain. You can google it or see it on Youtube. The procedure was done after they put her under and only took 15 minutes and then 30 in recovery in the outpatient part of the hospital. She had tears of relief after the procedure and said she couldn't believe she was pain free after all these months.

I'm by far from a 'medical person' but I am so relieved they are able to help her. The procedure was painless, even afterwards and she was able to resume normal activities. The Pain management doctor who done the procedure said sometimes they have to do it about once a year. Her problem was almost exactly where you described yours as being.

Maybe Tushnurse has more info because like I said, I am the LEAST medical person in this forum. I hope this helps and you can get some relief. I was so accustomed to seeing my daughter rub her neck, a look of pain on her face. It's such a relief to see her pain-free.

A good acupuncturist might help. Look for someone with a background in Chinese or Japanese studies.

Jeaniegirl,

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and share your daughter’s experience with me. I"m glad to hear that she was able to find relief. Did she do the pain management first or after the surgery?

I have been told different thinks by different doctors. The neurologist recommended physical therapy or more testing that might even lead to surgery. Chiropractics said. need come to them to them more often.

[This message edited by courageous at 6:28 PM, Sunday, December 24th]

Did she do the pain management first or after the surgery?

Courageous, she had two sessions (out patient in hospital) where she was lightly put to sleep and they used pain management injections to identify the areas of pain. Therefore they were able to pin-point the problem areas to use in the needle therapy this past week. Simply put, the pain management doctor told me it's 'vibrating needles' that brought the relief. Your problems sounds exaxctly like her problems were. Google radiofrequency ablation as there are good videos on yourtube explaining the procedure. She is SO happy to be painfree and the tingling and numbness gone. I wish you luck.

Posting as a nurse with back issues. The nonessential tingling is definitely following a nerve path. So I would encourage you to get the MRI as it can identify tissue issues bs bone. Nerve compression spots need to be identified to be able to treat. I would also encourage you to avoid surgery at all costs. There is a phenomenon that occurs when you have surgery and hardware that allows the disease to progress to the next vertebrae either above or below. Which in turn leads to more surgery and more and more. That's why often you will see a person ha eultipleback surgeries and the hardware is quite delicate and cN break.

That said pain management can do d9fferent things than surgery. 1. Steroid injections which can last as long as 6 mos. 2.nerve radio frequency ablation which basically cook the nerve endings and stop the pain messages . 3. A variety of other treatments.
What often works is a combo if injections and PT to strengthen the muscles supporting that area of the spine so that the nerves are not being compressed.