I was hit by a car and have questions about pain
 

Two weeks ago today I was walking home from a day on the beach and a car came out of a hotel lot and hit me. I was knocked on the ground right out of my flip flops. It appears most of the damage happened to my left side. She hit me on the right so I fell to the left. Thankfully, I had a pack on my back that I think saved me from hitting my head.

I am currently in a severe flare up. I have PN and fibromyalgia. It is so bad that they gave me a minimal script for Percocet that I did not fill until the other day. I have taken three over the last three days. I can't tell you how unusual this is for me. Never have taken them.

My questions are how long do most flare ups last. Also, My left arm up to my elbow and my hand is in pain when I move a certain way. I followed up with my doctor yesterday and have started a steroid dose pack. I had x-rays yesterday. This may sounds crazy but I swear I feel pain off and on in the right arm in the same areas. Is this even possible or is it just coming from the flare up. I know sounds nuts, right?

Any information you can offer would be helpful!
Thanks!!:confused:

That sounds awful! Another injury on top of your current problems would have the potential to set off a major flare up! I hope the steroids help quickly!
I am currently going to physical therapy for pain in my left upper arm. I quickly built up muscle, but the pain is still there and seems to be nerve rather than injury related- the new normal is that I can't fasten my bra or pull over a top without sharp pain. What is relevant to your situation is that I seem to have a milder "shadow" type of pain in my right upper arm. Not as bad, but similar.
I think with PN there is an underlying pull toward making everything more or less bilateral.
Hoping to hear from others on this idea.

I am so sorry you were hit by a car!

I do think that there are neurons called mirror neurons that reflect bilateral pain.

When I had my big toe nail removed, recently, my other foot hurt all night too! (everything has simmered down, now, after 2 weeks of upheaval). Oddly, when I had that surgery in the podiatrist's office, the next day my left HAND was terribly swollen, and continued until now. This might be due to HAE (angioedema ) which was reactive to the trauma and needles.
I found it very strange, because I didn't do anything to that hand to make it so swollen.

The RSD patients on our RSD forum talk about "spread" of their RSD (CRPS) to the opposite side of the body.
In fact there is now mirror therapy that some try to lessen this.

I also used to think that the inflammatory substances released from an injury can enter the blood stream and light up another location! Those with autoimmune tendencies, can then create antibodies to these nerve by products, and then THAT proceeds on its own to attack normal tissue elsewhere.

Hi, I am sorry about the pain in your left arm. Hope it improves.

I am glad to hear that the PN may cause the pain from the injury to become bilateral. I actually thought I must be imagining it!:)

That's not what mirror neurons are, or do. Mirror neurons (and they're just a controversial theory at this point) mimic actions of another individual -- not bilaterally within the same individual.

Not sure what the correct term would be; not finding it at the moment.

Doc

Thanks Mrs. D. As I said to Suzanne I'm happy to know I am not imagining the pain. They do think that my PN may be autoimmune related. Mirror neurons make sense to me. Interesting concept. :)

I agree that your hand swelling was due to your angioedema. I believe any injury or trauma can cause swelling in another area of the body when a person has angioedema. Everything is so complicated with these diseases. It's enough to make your head spin.

Yes, it can be confusing, that is for sure. And when this happens, it is also frightening.

This is an interesting evaluation and explanation of "mirror therapy" for pain treatment:

http://www.bodyinmind.org/is-mirror-...re-directions/

This is a definition of mirror neurons:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neuron

Here is an interesting article I found with a keyword search:
"mirror neurons pain"
http://www.livescience.com/1628-stud...feel-pain.html

It just may be that overly sensitive empathic people may have an exaggerated perception of pain as well.

I agree with that! ;)

I think there has been an error; that's the same link as above, and it is a description of mirror therapy -- not mirror neurons.

There are many articles about mirror neurons -- it seems to be a hot, albeit controversial, topic

mirror neurons

That article sounds a lot like what used to be called "sympathy pains".

Doc

Thank you for pointing that out....

I had two windows open, one a wiki and one from the body/mind link. I'll fix it now.;)

The wiki goes into criticism of the the validity of of mirror neurons too.

Yes, the Wiki page is the link I originally posted describing mirror neurons, and the criticism therein is one of the reasons I mentioned the theory is controversial.

Doc