Forward Head Posture

[trigeminalneuralgia]

Well, she didn't really have a choice. She does not like going to the doctor, and rarely goes, but her low BP freaked me out. I thought she was in heart failure. She didn't have a tilt test, but they did a full cardiac and kidney workup. Perhaps a visit to an endocrinologist wouldn't hurt now that you mention aldosterone. This may explain a lot. I don't know if I could get her to go, though. She complains about her cardiology follow ups.
I love caffeine, too! I've had to cut most of it out since it pisses off my jaw  . Turkish coffee was my favorite. Makes my head rocket right off  . Flushing minerals out is so not good for the body. I think you had mentioned somewhere else that minerals were underrated within the vitamin/supplement industry. I think that because of this, there is not much publicity, so people forget their importance. I'll have to ask her again, but I do think it was in the brachial plexus region. I don't recall if she had dizziness afterwards. I was in the U.S. and she was in Holland at the time. She did have extensive PT for about a year then was advised to move to a warmer climate, so she moved back to the States. Cold weather aggravated her shoulder. After therapy and moving back, she seemed fine. Every so often she would complain of stiffness and some localized pain, but a steam sauna and/or hot tub seemed to take care of it. She did little to zero PT here in the U.S. The muscle wasting is only confined to that small area between her thumb and index finger. The muscles appear normal along the rest of that arm. Very strange, though.
Depending on the degree of edema, this alone could put pressure on the nerves, I would think. Does your hand numbness coincide with arm edema?I would ask, just to rule in/out the unknown(s). This way you can focus on PT that is most helpful.

ha, interesting about the cold weather again!!  i'm glad i'm in atlanta where it's a sauna i guess.  i'm with your mom, i hate doctors.  i hate going to the doctor, that's why i kind of gave up and started reading about all of this myself. 

so with thoracic outlet syndrome they label it as vascular or neurogenic but i read this

The terms neurogenic and neurovascular are misconceptions. They are clinical terms. Nerves DO have a blood supply! (arteries, veins, and lymphatics)1 Image the artery and you image the nerve that binds to the artery for its nutrient blood supply. Research shows, compressing a nerve also compresses the blood supply.

is interesting to me


that's a good question about edema.  i would say my arms "swelling" is correlated with a heavy heavy feeling in my arm and then it goes dead/ hands get more numb (it's always numb tho) but that usually doesn't happen with tingling.  the tingling is totally random and drives me nuts.  i thought i could analyze myself in different positions and figure out what was causing it and it gave up.

pisses me off docs have said i have full range of motion i DO NOT
there are tehse exercises called nerve glides. i can sometimes do them now but i used to not even be able to straighten my arm at my side

a good indicator if you have "neural tension"/impingement (these can be very dangerous so you guys have been warned!)
median
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztm-k1AyHT8
ulnar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezg-4fzp_qE

the slump test, my pt does this and i bomb it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0gZg5bSJuQ

[trigeminalneuralgia]

(i actually started lifting weights last week, so if you guys notice i don't post for a month you'll know why!!  i'm in the hospital  )

[neferkitti]

ha, interesting about the cold weather again!!  i'm glad i'm in atlanta where it's a sauna i guess.

Ha! Yeah, Atlanta is pretty much one big ole' steam sauna. I suppose this is one of the best places to be with joint problems.

The terms neurogenic and neurovascular are misconceptions. They are clinical terms. Nerves DO have a blood supply! (arteries, veins, and lymphatics)1 Image the artery and you image the nerve that binds to the artery for its nutrient blood supply. Research shows, compressing a nerve also compresses the blood supply.
is interesting to me

This is interesting to me, too. Those on the other side of surgery may notice that after the initial/major swelling subsides, numbness waxes and wanes with day to day variations in swelling. For instance, when sleeping flat a couple/few months out, I noticed that when swelling increased so did numbness. I've been wondering about blood supply, as well. Had a conversation with a PA the other day about the pros/cons of icing a wound (or broken jaw) as opposed to leaving it be or applying warmth to increase circulation. She seemed to be a fan of heat in terms of increasing blood supply and inhibiting infections to a wounded area, but she really didn't have a good explanation for icing other than a reduction in swelling. This reduction would theoretically allow for blood to flow unimpeded. I should probably start a new thread on this  .

there are tehse exercises called nerve glides. i can sometimes do them now but i used to not even be able to straighten my arm at my side
a good indicator if you have "neural tension"/impingement (these can be very dangerous so you guys have been warned!)
median
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztm-k1AyHT8
ulnar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezg-4fzp_qE

Do the median and ulnar exercises help your arms at all?

[neferkitti]

(i actually started lifting weights last week, so if you guys notice i don't post for a month you'll know why!!  i'm in the hospital  )

Please go easy!  You mentioned somewhere that you tend to over do it. Building muscle should be a gradual thing if there are skeletal/joint issues involved. Let us know if you improve with this.

[trigeminalneuralgia]

Sooooo. Lol

There was this one weight lifting exercise I did.  Bent over rows and I believe it made my pecs tighter.  I started to lose coordination in BOTH my hands the next few days.  I stopped this and it mostly went away. Which leads me to believe the nmbness is more of a shoulder problem than neck problem

The ice vs heat is fascinating.  Then I've read you can do BOTH to really get circulation going.  My experience is with strange nerve sensations burning etc I always enjoy ice and never heat.  If my problem is purely muscular then heat (which is never). I think my trauma is all nerve related so I always ice

[trigeminalneuralgia]

I noticed when I take a hot bath my hands get more numb...maybe this is separate...raynauds?

Also ditto on sleeping.  My hands sometimes tingle the most when im lying down.  Side sleep the edge of my shoulder on the top will get cold and more tingling bc everything is squished?  The better I sleep the worse my nerves feel that morning.

This is all getting better but still nowhere near normal

[trigeminalneuralgia]

Do the median and ulnar exercises help your arms at all?

back when i was really traumatized, like the nerves and tissues etc.  they made me worse now i think they make me better.  i can do them without my hands tingling afterwards!!!  i just feel this deep pull in my wrists.  anyone on the comp a lot shoudl do these gently i think just as a preventative thing

[neferkitti]

Sooooo. Lol

There was this one weight lifting exercise I did.  Bent over rows and I believe it made my pecs tighter.  I started to lose coordination in BOTH my hands the next few days.  I stopped this and it mostly went away. Which leads me to believe the nmbness is more of a shoulder problem than neck problem. Then I've read you can do BOTH to really get circulation going.  My experience is with strange nerve sensations burning etc I always enjoy ice and never heat.  If my problem is purely muscular then heat (which is never). I think my trauma is all nerve related so I always ice

Hey, glad that you're alive and not hospitalized! Was beginning to worry.

Glad to read that your hands have improved. As bad as your condition is, I would rather the problem be in the shoulders than the neck. Spinal injuries can lead to all sorts of serious issues, it seems. I will have to try to ice/heat combo for circulation. It couldn't hurt at this point.

[neferkitti]

I noticed when I take a hot bath my hands get more numb...maybe this is separate...raynauds?

Also ditto on sleeping.  My hands sometimes tingle the most when im lying down.  Side sleep the edge of my shoulder on the top will get cold and more tingling bc everything is squished? 

Do your hand and/or feet ever turn deep red (or purple)? I ask because a doctor that I was looking into has a condition called Erythromelalgia. It doesn't really sound like you but thought it wouldn't hurt to throw it out there. It's a neurovascular in nature and tingling/burning sensations are common with this.

[trigeminalneuralgia]

im glad too.  my first rib elevates though which freaks me out.  i can't figure that out.  if my pt is correct in saying that it's going up and down depending on my activity or if it's always elevated or always down.  yesterday i overstretched and i swear it's up.  making me neurotic. 

my biggest neck issues are at the base of my head.  my head feels like it weights 400 lbs ever since i injured it. 

Do your hand and/or feet ever turn deep red (or purple)? I ask because a doctor that I was looking into has a condition called Erythromelalgia. It doesn't really sound like you but thought it wouldn't hurt to throw it out there. It's a neurovascular in nature and tingling/burning sensations are common with this.

no, thank god!  the burning has mostly stopped.

side note.  so this feeling i have around my bp area, i've gotten it in my lower body too ..to a lesser degree when i did a foam roller stretch and i went too low on my back aka lumbar spine.  my calf muscles started feeling FUNKY and i have small calf muscles so i know it's nerve-related.  that's how my armpits and side of my neck/levators etc feel all the time.

i am trying to correct my hips too.

work is freaking me out.  so stressed.  wah. 

[trigeminalneuralgia]

felt this was appropriate

http://www.sofmmoo.com/english_section/3_dorsal_thoracic_pain/ais_levator_notalgie.htm
 
thoracic pain can trick you!

The cervical spine may be the source of many pain syndromes, including : neck pain, headaches of cervical origin, cervical radiculopathies, upper thoracic pain and even shoulder and elbow pain. This paper deals with the referral of cervical pain to the upper part of the thorax. The major point is that in this case, the pain is felt at the thoracic level and not in the neck (or at a lesser extent). The clinical experience leads to the description of two different syndromes (in fact, very closed one from the other): the Splenius Cervicis syndrome, also known as interscapular pain of cervical origin and the Levator Scapula syndrome.
The unexpected referral pattern is due to the distribution of the nerves and to the presence of two particular muscles the Splenius Cervicis and the Levator Scapula), which seem to transmit the pain to their lower attachment.

[trigeminalneuralgia]

Thus, in these cases, the Levator Scapula syndrome could be regarded as a C4 or C5 radiculopathy.

i have really really painful levators.  i hope its just my shoulders being weak and not referred pain from my neck


another thing i read recently, on pt forum (yes they do exist), is that trying to strengthen your upper body when you don't have proper thoracic mobility is a very bad idea.  you need to make sure you have good mobility. 

[trigeminalneuralgia]

this is blowing my mind, it's about thoracic outlet but could apply to any nerve folks

Release Phenomenon

-during daily activities, the
brachial plexus is being
pulled down
-when a nerve is very slightly
stretched (8% beyond its
normal, resting length)
venous pooling occurs
around the nerve
-this inhibits blood flow to
the peripheral nerves
Release Phenomenon
• In sitting and standing,
the nerves are under
tension, due to the
effects of gravity
• When the person goes
to bed, the tension on
the nerves is gradually
released

At the moment the
normal function
returns, (typically with
sleeping at night),the
axons fire and
patient’s experience
parasthesias

[trigeminalneuralgia]

i tried doing push up plus again, this is a very popular exercise for scapular instability and it sucks ass.  it flared me up.  i actually think it elevated my ribs, but i'm not entirely sure.  my pt keeps pushing me into these, so we're going to have to have a little talk when i go back on wed.


pushup plus:
at 4:45
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mve_pIrXGyo&t=4m45s

dr. osar actually shows a really strong guy who can't do the exercise, it looks painful.

he says its all about motor control, not strength

i think the exercises which are benefiting me the most are CABLE ROWS and regular pushups against a sink (if i do these on the floor my pec muscles kick in too much)

[trigeminalneuralgia]

feeling down about all this

went to pt to ask about lifting weights or some kind of machine exercise and she said no.  she would only trust me to do cable rows on a machine, my body cant handle anything else.  so maybe ill buy some cheap row machine
everything now is being blamed on my big transverse process in my neck.

i feel like if i just do what she says ill NEVER gain any muscle in my back.  especially since i hate the push up plus and she's run out of exercises to give me. 

next week i guess ill ask her what her long term plans are for me as far as my shoulders are concerned.