May 25, 2012
Topics A-Z Heart Disease Neck and Left Arm Pain at Night
Neck and Left Arm Pain at Night |
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Dear Ask The Doctor: I have radiating pain (pressure) down my left arm into my hand. The pain is intense in the elbow. I also feel the pain on the left side of my neck near the clavical. I usually feel this kind of pain only at night. My dad and a few of his brothers have had to have surgery on their necks due to problems with their arteries. Dear Michael: The radiating pain in your left arm and hand as you described it might be due to a cervical nerve compression (C7-C8), but it would be important to rule out inflammation of the peripheral nerves at the level of the arm and hand, and also rule out a Rotator cuff tendinitis. In the younger patients, cervical radiculopathy may be a result of a disc herniation or an acute injury causing impingement of an exiting nerve. In the older patient, cervical radiculopathy is often a result of spinal canal narrowing from bone (osteophyte) formation, decreased disc height and degenerative changes due to aging process. The same described before for the cervical spine applies to the lower back in terms of cause of pain and numbness in the legs, same causes, different spinal level. The treatment strategy usually includes: physical therapy program aimed to reduce pain and inflammation, and the use of anti-inflammatory drugs (as ibuprofen), also a re-education of habits and posture of the patients to improve quality of life. Patients should be independent in a stretching and strengthening program and continue with these exercises under the periodic supervision of a physical therapist initially and then completely on their own. Patients whose condition fails to improve with a comprehensive rehabilitation program and selective injections should be presented with a surgical evaluation. Often, patients should show progressive improvement over the first 6-8 weeks with conservative treatment. If there is no significant improvement in this time frame, consider a surgical evaluation. |
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 10 May 2010 ) |
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