Anyone have random uncontrollable spasms- scapula, upper body
 

New to forum. Daughter is a 15 year old competitive year round volleyball player. Experienced worsening pain in shoulder over 5 week period, made with volleyball. Ortho doctors diagnosed brachial plexus disorder, scapula dyskensia, instability of shoulder joint due to loose ligaments. Referring to vascular doctor for review for TOS.

A symptom that the ortho doctors find perplexing are random spasms. A violent jerking of the arm, or upper body. Occuring either with use or for example when laughing or even yawning. I have not see any mention of this in the forums. Has anyone else seen this?

Other symptoms seem to point to VTOS - burning pain down arm, swollen bluish arm and hand when playing vb or when spasm. A bright red line appearing down her arm. Numbness and coldness of the hand.

Seeing 2 theories appear as to underlying cause - compression or scapula issues

I hope she stopped playing Vball..
VTOS can be more prone to clots, so I'd suggest stopping that activity until things are resolved.

The violent jerking of the arm, or upper body, might be related, or something else.
Has she ever had a concussion or hit/accident affecting the head/shoulders?

If so you might look into upper Cervical spine (atlas/axis adjusting)
www.NUCCA.com or Up C Spine

MDs rarely check this, it is more specialty chiropractic related..

Thank you Jo*mar. I spoke with a physical therapist yesterday by phone who said the same thing. It is possible. She suggested having the ortho take Xrays of her neck and spine. We are going in today for a visit and we will ask.

Most likely general x rays will not show much unless she has a severe issue.. like possible cervical rib or other anomalies.
Good to rule in or out before looking deeper.

Thank you Jo*mar. I wanted to follow up and share great news! After about 10 weeks of continued worsening of her condition, her condition improved spontaneously. I had read this could happen but had begun to lose hope. I never found a person for whom this had happened. She was doing her therapy at home, and something in her shoulder moved - she said "slid, popped, released", she felt a burning pain down the front right side, a numbness and then she a huge relief of pain. Her scapula now works almost perfectly. Both doctors (her ortho and her chiropractor/neurologist) are baffled. They are unable to say what caused it in the first place (labrum tear, neurological issue, long thoracic nerve issue - they just don't know) and they don't know why it got better suddenly. Neither of them can explain the spasms. She tested negative for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. To get better she did therapy at home or with a trainer every day - sometimes 3 times a day. She went to a chiropractor for about 9 visits who did stim, laser therapy level 4, gentle stretching of the front side or her body, and some gentle adjustments. We think the chiropractor was an important part to help get her body to relax, release the tightness, and to get it working again. They want her to take 2 months off of volleyball to strengthen the muscles around her scapula. Whatever did it, we are grateful and relieved. We hope this helps someone else.