Left arm/middle-back recurring aches

K

kaylan b

New member
Hi all

I know how unbelievably stupid this is going to sound - but please hear me out, and if I'm honest I'm SLIGHTLY embarrassed about writing this, but as they say "you gotta do what you gotta do!"

When I was 10 (so over 6 years ago now) we went to my dad's company's annual summer BBQ at a pup about half an hour from our home... lovely day it was, and being the typical kid I was back then I wanted to get on the bouncy castle that they had there!

I'm one for being a bit clumsy, I have mild Aspergers and let's be honest - the mild dyspraxia can be a bit of a problem and you guessed it I ended up alllll over the place on that bouncy castle...

Needless to say, I got knocked over and that was that really. I landed with my arm up behind my back in a really odd way and the sudden impact and strain from where it bent around my back as I fell back caused me some significant pain!!

It was also the summer holidays. Basically, I couldn't sleep with the pain and ended up in A&E where the doctor did announce that he was surprised by the amount of damage I'd done considering I'd only fallen down on a bouncy castle!! Some torn ligaments and a fair few (very badly) pulled muscles and some bruising... nothing broke, fortunately.

Anyway. SORRY FOR THE LONG-WINDED NATURE!! Basically, more and more recently I've been getting some mild-moderate aches and discomfort in my arm at various points where I *killed it* and also a bit in my back just as that's where it extended to...

With my right arm, nothing!!

Another thing I've noticed is that when I clench (or attempt to clench) a fist with my left hand it feels weak and like I have to squeeze REALLY hard but with my right it feels really strong and "normal" I suppose you could say. I require less effort to straighten out the fingers on my right hand as well...

I have also had some "twitching" in my left hand but that was a one off and has stopped...

It's just a constant dull ache, it's really irritating as it makes me feel like I am being restrained from typing and playing guitar (even though, I do both on a daily basis relatively trouble free)

ANYWAY sorry for the length

Anybody have any advice on what might be up with it and what I can do to prevent it from being such a pain in the...arm!
 
Try taking 600MG of Ibuprofen!(Advil) if it doesn't help go see a doctor and from there they can tell you where to go.

600Mg of Ibuprofen/Advil is prescription dosage.
 
it really IS amazing what seemingly innocent things we do while we are young, can really do some damage to our bodies in some way. been there done that one myself, i was a huge tomboy.

when you did the original injury,did they actually do an MRI to check for the full extent of your damage? or was this just a "hands on" type of exam done just running your arm thru various movements(ROMS)? if you have not ever had an MRI done on that shoulder area,it really does need to be done now. what you are describing could be tendon damage or even some level of nerve damage or impinging of a nerve up there too.

from your description(nothing broke?) it sounds like they may have only done bascic x rays and nothing more? that whole area up there, called the "rotator cuff" has alot of tendon that can be torn or damaged too. i had a full tear in the very top tendon that runs across from the base of neck on over to the very top of the humorus(top of shoulder bone),and my symptoms were alot like what you described here. the fact you are still having pain and the 'grip' loss needs to just be looked into. you just need some folllow up type of real deep scan done to really know for certain that this is not a much deeper type of injury.

i would get in to at least see your primary doc at this point and see about getting that MRI done. you really DO need to know how extensive that overall damage actually is at this point,espescially if this was never MRIed before. i was just kind of shocked at all the overall damage i had done to that rotator area over the years when my MRI was done. you can still be able to 'use' that arm and hand even with damage to the tendons up there, trust me. just see your doc who will also run you thru those ROMS to see how well it moves. hopefully he will send you for that deeper look MRI. i wish you luck with this and do hope things are not too bad up there. please let us know what you find out,K? FB
 
Thanks for the responses, all.

I've been given prescription doses of Ibuprofen in the past for other problems that fortunately have been cleared up by those however the arm/middle lower back troubles I posed up here have never really been affected much by the Ibuprofen as such.

I certainly don't know what to think at this point. I didn't have an MRI, you're right, they did take an x-ray which showed no breaks and the A&E doctor did get me to do ROMS.

I'm not sure this fully explains the kind of heartburn-like ache in my lower-middle back though.

If it means anything, I also work at a Supermarket 12 hours per week on checkouts. The pain is much worse after doing this... and I have indeed over the past few months moved to a memory foam mattress. The fact is though, whilst I sleep better at night, it makes no odds during the day. :(
 
ermmm I experience the same ache in my left arm sometimes. I met a physio-therapist once that said sometimes people sleep with their head pressing on their left arm like a pillow and sometimes this blocks the blood supply to the nerves and causes some damage and a little pain. I'm not saying this is the case for you but I thought I would mention it because it might be something quite simple like this. Hope you find the answers anyway
 
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