Arm Numbness

[KnickNut3]

Hey. About a week ago I got a little numbness on the little finger side of my palm, and it went away after a little while, so I just assumed I leaned on the wrong nerve. Since then it has become more frequent and bigger--I woke up with my arm numb from having it above my head when I slept, and today seems to be the worst yet with tingling that comes and goes. It seems to be worst when my arm is bent as well as when it's above my head (it was terrible trying to do crunches), so it must be something wrong in my elbow and/or my sholder up toward my neck.

I'm sure I just have a nerve out of alignment or something. However, I'm at college and won't be able to see my chiropractor or someone who I know can help. Anyone an expert on this and have some suggestions? Thanks...

 

[iamme]

does your college have an on-campus health care clinic? mine does and the rates are very reasonable for students.

 

[meltdown75]

give yourself a stranger.

 

[Literati]

I have that exact problem right now. I've located the nerve.

I don't know what to do about it so I'm just leaving it. Somedays it's fine, other days I can't feel my hand.

And then, as suggested, the best thing to do, is give yourself a stranger.

 

[KnickNut3]

Originally posted by: meltdown75
give yourself a stranger.

LOL I guess that'd be giving myself teh best of a bad situation.
Then again, it's most numb when my arm is above my head, so I'd have to get into an interesting position.

I'll try to get into student health (I mean, we pay like $900,000 a year for it), but usually that's a bureaucracy. Hopefully not. If anyone has any self-remedies, though, I'd appreciate teh help.

 

[Dessert Tears]

It's probably the ulnar nerve. It would be carpal tunnel if the other side of your hand were numb. Try googling for your symptoms, you might find something that's more precise.

The most common point of trauma or RSI to the ulnar nerve is the elbow (think funny bone). I had a lingering problem and made it much worse by terrible computer ergonomics. Avoid flexing your elbow if possible. I was worsening it every night while I slept, so I got an elastic elbow support to help keep it straight. See a general practitioner as soon as possible, since you're almost certainly going to be referred to a neurologist. See the doctors even if it clears up on its own, and have a good description of the symptoms ready.

 

[jst0ney]

Originally posted by: meltdown75
give yourself a stranger.

:thumbsup:

 

[casimec]

Not an expert, but, are you leaning your elbow on (a desk or table)?
Check here.

 

[KnickNut3]

Thanks for the useful responses (didn't see them until now).

You actually both hit the nail on the head. I have ulnar neuritis, which is probably from leaning on my desk the wrong way. I was just perscribed to take some ibuprofen to calm the inflammation to help it heal. Since I sleep with it bent a lot, I'm just using a ruler as a makeshift stint for now to keep it straight. I'll look into the padding to help (hopefully if I just train myself a couple weeks to keep it straight, I'll get out of the habit of putting my arms above my head).

Thanks for the help!

 

[Dessert Tears]

An elastic support is $10-12 IIRC in the pharmacy section. It's much better than a metal ruler duct-taped to your arm, pens duct-taped together, or chopsticks and an old sock. The chopstick/sock apparatus worked well, except that it would hyper-extend my elbow overnight. I could never train myself to cut out bending entirely.