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.