SEVERE elbow and arm pain
 

Hi. I have been dx with TOS but am so reluctant to accept. However everything else has been ruled out. Pain in both elbows and from my elbows to my hands has reached the untolerable level. It is constant. The only relief I get is when I lay down. Now getting the burning on the side of my neck too.

Is this severe burning pain a common symptom? My chiropractor has kept my shoulder and neck pain now under control.

I am truly at my wits end! Will have to stop working soon if I can't get this pain under control. From what I read here, surgery is not the answer.

i have had severe burning but it was related to doing a certain movement (this is all me guessing) which irritated my brachial plexus

id have a really really bad episode of it for a day and then mild-moderate sx for weeks and weeks after that would fade away until i tried something stpid again

Does it radiate from your elbow into your pinky finger (and maybe the one next to it?) It sounds like ulnar nerve entrapment at your elbow (aka cubital tunnel syndrome), a type of double crush nerve injury. Having thoracic outlet syndrome can make you more likely to get the ulnar nerve injury at your elbow, because the nerve is also being injured further up your body.

My very bad cubital tunnel symptoms resolved without surgery. (I still have TOS, however.) I think what worked was PT, meds, and -- above all -- stopping the activities that aggravated the symptoms. (I did have to stop working for a time, unfortunately. Actually, I really wish I had stopped sooner, my condition might not have escalated as far as it did.)

Good luck to you, and sorry you are dealing with this, I know it sucks.

If I had known more about chronic RSI & especially TOS - I would have changed jobs inside the company.
I just kept bouncing back to almost normal after PT and going back for more of the same work-- finally didn't bounce back too well..

Couldn't use my hands or arms for much at all during the worst time, they just would not function. Great fun at potty time...:o

If you can get job accommodations / ergo improvements /more breaks to walk around and keep blood flowing and loosen up the body...go for as much as you can get..


Has your DC adjusted your elbows, shoulder's , wrists ??
Does he do other modalities like a PT place would use?

like US, LLLT, infrared, IF stim?
translation below if needed -
ultra sound, low level laser, infrared light therapy, inferential or other electrical stimulation

mine uses all of those listed if the need arises.

I have an EMS stim at home, but now I think you can order IF stim without a drs note or signature online.
I wish i had gotten the IF stim type.
I also have a far infrared heating pad- this kind will penetrate much deeper into the tissue than a regular heating pad.
And it has positive cellular benefits more than reg heat pads too.

Sue , have you seen the pressure pointer chart that shows the referred sx of trigger points?
I wonder if those might be a part of the problem?
http://pressurepointer.com/pain_reference_chart.htm
http://www.pressurepointer.com/Users1.htm

I used tennis balls and other objects against the wall or even laying on the floor to get the pressure in the right places.
my dc did the ones in my scalene's & SCM as they are in sensitive areas.

i swore on 1000 bibles i had carpal tunnel once and it turned out to be some kind of tendon injury i think? it went away in 4 mos..if that gives you any hope

i also had pinched elbows for awhile that effected my ulnar nerve. that went away too.