Pain referral and massage therapy
 

Right, here goes. I'm a massage therapist and deal pretty much exclusively with injured people. Can anyone help me with a possible problem I may have come across?

My client. Early 40's, female, very very fit and healthy. No general signs of ill health what so ever.

According to client 7 Years ago c6, c7 'slipped disk'. Now, she didnt mention if it was just a bulge, partial or complete rupture and I'm guessing it's not always a complete rupture. She never had physio therapy or osteopathy.

She, to this date, had dull poorly localised posterior thoracic pain with, on deep inhalation, chest pain. Sometimes shoulder ache during the night. Along with this there is referral patern down the arm, mainly the tricep it would seem.. but again, it's very subjective it would seem.

Posture, a little rounded shoulder but no real excesive postural distortions.

On palpation it was easy to illicit pain on the referral side about 1cm lateral to c6 but not on the vertibra there may also be some atrophy in the supraspinatus but I may be imagining that... It could be me. Again, on palpation, I can recreat the arm referral pain by using deep static pressure in the supraspinus notch and right by the axilla.

What I want to know is, 7 years on, how likely is it to be bulging disk causing a problem? could the referral be from elsewhere? say the axilla or supraspinus region? I'm tempted to recommend a spinal specialist (I know one) but I'm not sure. Can I have some opinions please.

Thanks (in advance)

Not an expert
 

I had the pain referred down my arm,... little finger and the ring finger would go numb and finally got to where they were numb all the time. In hunting for the cause of it..I had surgery on a "ruptured disc" in my cervical spine. I've got a fusion in there now and arthritis on both sides of the fusion. It did stop the pain/lack of feeling in my arm and fingers. But I again had some symptoms almost a year later. I was sent to a Doctor of Physical Medicine, a physiatrist (I think that's right). They deal in the muscles, ligaments, etc. He found a small triggerpoint right under the shoulderblade next to the spine. Kinda just under the edge of the shoulderblade. He injected this spot with lidocaine and a small amt of steriod. It immediately released the hand. For years I had to repeat this. When I retired and stopped the repeditive work, I seldom have any problems from it and a good massage usually settles it down.

I know...long story, but I'm wondering if she does any repeditive movements that might cause something like that? Or could there be a tiny muscle that is knotted up from the ruptured disc injury?

Good luck.
Billye