I have a pretty typical case of postural TOC caused by a life-time of sedate computer use. One of the things that I find really helps is just lying on the floor where I spread my shoulders and move my head into a neutral position, gravity seems to do a nice job of slowly stretching the neck muscles.

One thing I've noticed though is that if I put my hands just above my head and spread my shoulders it really stretches out my arm and shoulders, but after about 30 seconds I get a sudden rush of quite severe pins and needles. So far I've only been able to hold it for a further minute or so after which when I got up the ends of my fingers and especially my thumb felt a little numb which lasted a good 5 minutes.

I was reading that pins and needles is a good sign as it means the blood is flooding back into areas it previously found hard to reach, but the slight numbness I get afterwards is concerning me. The above shoulder stretch feels really good but I'm unsure whether to stop it, just do it in bursts, or if in fact it's doing a lot of good so should continue to hold it for as long as I can.

Any advice? Thanks.

When I put my hands/arms up over my head for a minute or so that is what cuts off the blood flow to my arms, I get tingles then pins & needles after I lower them.

I wouldn't over do or push though it, possibly go just to the point of that sensation and back off, but do that smaller stretch more often.
Like find a neutral position for your arms that causes none of this effect and use that as the starting point , then slowly progress as you can slowly moving arms to the next position. But only if no increase or symptoms.


Have you seen /tried this -
[EAST Test or "Hands-up" Test
The patient brings their arms up as shown with elbows slightly behind the head. The patient then opens and closes their hands slowly for 3 minutes. A positive test is indicated by pain, heaviness or profound arm weakness or numbness and tingling of the hand. ]

photos mid page here-
http://www.nismat.org/ptcor/thoracic_outlet/index.html

I don't think pins and needles or the numbness are a good sign in this case. The position you describe aggravates my TOS symptoms. I find this to be a "safer" stretch and a way to locate your correct postural positioning:

Stand with your hands at your sides, keep your arms at your side and rotate your thumbs away from your body while squeezing your shoulder blades together (stretching the arms, shoulders, and chest). Your shoulder posture should automatically correct. Hold this shoulder position when you bring your hands back to neutral to locate your ideal postural position.

Thanks guys that really helped. When I do it feels like a really deep stretch so I'll continue to do it but more gently in future.

And you can find youtube vids and articles on this if you search the web for "brugger relief position/pose/exercise". There are some variations that you can play with.

But nothing wrong with being on the ground either. I'm a computer case too and I do this every freakin' day. When I do the overhead stretch (while laying on my back) I bend my elbows and this brings my hands in a bit.

I think the way you are doing it @hellodarren1 could be overstretching your muscles, nerves, etc.

Also, if you are a computer jockey, I recommend that you get the "3 Minutes..." by Weisberg and also "Pain Free at the PC" by Egoscue. These have additional stretches to align your body and other useful information about sitting posture, etc.

Good luck.

ive wondered about this too

since my hands are numb ALL the time, would it be any different

i generally think its a bad thing.

however, ive noticed..if i use my hands too much and then stop moving later on..lying down position etc. THEN it tingles. like there's a delay.

its interesting the amount of tingling ive experienced lying down, youd think that would be an ideal position

I think tingling and numbness are symptoms than can be managed. However, if you start to experience any loss of strength I am of the opinion that it is time to start exploring surgical options. I started consulting surgeons after I started having problems opening water bottles and jars which my wife could open easily. My grip used to be very strong as I could palm a basketball with either hand.

i get fatigued VERY easily which is why i type so slowly

but losing coordination and strength is scary. i actually do lose coordination of my left and it happens once or twice a week after the same sequence of events. so like...ill walk to my car, after getting off work, ill be driving and then i notice it. then it goes away.