HELP!!!!!!!!!!! terrible arm pains and only 26 years old!?

Question

For the last couple of years I've had arm pains, but they were maybe once a week, but now thier every day. they start with my shoulder then goes all the way to my fingers. my arms feel very weak and when i prop them on any thing they go to sleep. I can't even mop without them throbing. it's scarying me because it's affecting my every day things I need to do and i have three children to take care of. Could this be a pitched nerve?

it's in both arms

Answer 1

Pinched nerves RARELY happen. That term is medically incorrect and inaccurate. However, nerves can become entrapped or compressed by tight muscles, ligaments or tendons.

I am a pain relief specialist and see this all the time. May I share my thought with you?

There are simple causes and solutions to what you're describing. First, look at your posture and everyday activities as the most probable culprit. Do you slouch? Are your shoulders rounded forward and in towards your chest? Is your head jutted out in front of your shoulders (your ears should be directly over your shoulders)? Do you work at a computer frequently? Do you tend to carry your children on only one hip and not the other?

These poor posture/slouching positions or overuse conditions usually get diagnosed by doctors as TOS (Thoracic Outlet Syndrome) and cause shoulder pain, numbness or tingling in the arms, pain in the hand or wrist (a.k.a. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) and pain in the neck and upper back. You do not have a disease or "pinched" nerve, you have a muscle imbalance problem. The muscles on the anterior (front) of your body are tighter than the muscles in your back and shoulders; this causes your whole torso to roll forward and "collapse". Whenever a person moves into an anatomically improper position ("slouching") for long periods of time the end result is ALWAYS pain. In my experience, the vast majority of pain symptoms are caused by problems in the muscles such as being weak or overly tight. When you get the muscles re-balanced using massage, stretching and/or execise the pain usually resolves quite rapidly.

If you have any or all of the postures/body positions I've listed they are causing your symptoms. Notice that the symptoms are not the issue, it's what's CAUSING the symptoms you need to correct. Slouching postures squeeze on the nerves and blood vessels that exit from your neck and control your arms. This structure is called the Brachial Plexus. This not only closes off, or impinges, these structures but keeps the back and neck muscles chronically tight as a compensation. Most Americans are chronic slouchers for many reasons: we sit too much; we don't get enough exercise to keep our muscles strong and balanced; many people "carry the weight of the world" on their shoulders due to stress; many people drive in their car or work on computers many hours a day. All of these, in addition to past injuries, leads to slouching patterns and pain.

The simplest advice I can give you is to seek out a structural massage therapist such as a Neuromuscular Therapist or Rolfer. These professionals are highly trained to identify whatever is causing your pain, correct it with massage, stretching and other techniques and teach you self-help to control it.

A good Yoga or Pilates instructor will also be able to help you to identify and correct poor posture habits through stretching and exercise.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
HELP!!!!!!!!!!! terrible arm pains and only 26 years old!?
For the last couple of years I've had arm pains, but they were maybe once a week, but now thier every day. they start with my shoulder then goes all the way to my fingers. my arms feel very weak and when i prop them on any thing they go to sleep. I can't even mop without them throbing....

Answer 3

I'll be 26 in just a few days, but I've had arthritis since I was a child. You symptoms sound a lot like some that I've had over the years, and personally I would go seek a physician's counsel.

Answer 4

Unless you are taking opiates, I'd advise a one month trial of of low dose Naltrexone. It's a prescription medication but it's very inexpensive.It helped me with Lyme alot. There's a book you can get on Amazon called The Promise of Low Dose Naltrexone. It helped my pain and my immune function. I nolonger need to take antibiotics.

Answer 5

It could be- it might also be poor circulation. Does it happen with both arms? Does moving them around vigorously cause the problem to clear up when this happens? Any number of factors might contribute to this- definitely get a check-up.