There is a saying that if you step on a dog’s tail, the bark comes out of the other end. Hmmm…
This is important to understand because if you have arm pain AND are treating your arm, you may be missing the cause.
Where Arm Pain Comes From
Very frequently, we have people that come to our office with pain, numbness or tingling into their shoulder, arm, or even all the way to their hand.
Arm pain causes can come from heart problems, the shoulder, and/or the elbow. It is best to be checked by a health professional to make sure you are getting the appropriate care.
Pinched Nerve in The Neck
One of the more common causes is a pinched nerve in the neck, which chokes the signals heading up and down the arm.
People who tend to get this are frequently under some type of repetitive stress. Stress, who has any stress? Folks who spend most of the day looking up or down.
For instance:
- plumbers
- electricians
- linemen
- weight lifters
- those that look down at theirs desks or electronics much of the day
Also, trauma from car accidents or whiplash can cause this to develop within days, but sometimes it takes even years after an injury to show up.
Symptoms can be constant or come and go. Frequently, the position of the neck can make the symptoms better or worse. If this is the case, then the neck is looking like the cause.
So, What Causes the Arm Pain?
Picture this…when you put two bones in the neck together they actually form a hole, or open space between them. Although they nestle together nicely along the outside edges, these holes are very important.
From within those holes, there are nerves leave your spine and travel to your upper back, shoulder arm and to your hand.
With plenty of room, the nerve signals pass freely. Misalignments, disc bulges, arthritis and inflammation can cause narrowing of those holes, which pinch or irritate those nerves, which in turn causes pain, numbness, tingling or even weakness.
If you bend your head to the side of the painful arm and it makes the pain worse, that can be closing the holes where the nerves leave, putting more pressure on those nerves.
If you bend your head away from the painful arm, or have your head lifted a bit off your shoulders, this can open those holes, relieve the pressure on the nerves, and make the symptoms better.
Give Us A Call!
Finding the cause. Matching the treatment to the cause. Get the pressure off those nerves to relieve the symptoms, not chase the symptoms around. This is what we do. We are here to help.
