I think I would see a neurosurgeon at least. Probably go to the BPI specialists from there. I wouldn't wait too long as yes it can be permanent or worse if it is not taken care of in a reasonable manner. Usually seems 6-9 mos is best.
Also wondering what excersizes you are all doing to strengthen all the deltoids. Dustin's are very weak so any help would be appreciated.
Sue
recovery from nerve damage
-
Christopher
- Posts: 845
- Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 10:09 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Date of Injury: 12/15/02
Level of Injury:
-dominant side C5, C6, & C7 avulsed. C8 & T1 stretched & crushed
BPI Related Surgeries:
-2 Intercostal nerves grafted to Biceps muscle,
-Free-Gracilis muscle transfer to Biceps Region innervated with 2 Intercostal nerves grafts.
-2 Sural nerves harvested from both Calves for nerve grafting.
-Partial Ulnar nerve grafted to Long Triceps.
-Uninjured C7 Hemi-Contralateral cross-over to Deltoid muscle.
-Wrist flexor tendon transfer to middle, ring, & pinky finger extensors.
Surgical medical facility:
Brachial Plexus Clinic at The Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN
(all surgeries successful)
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
~Theodore Roosevelt - Location: Los Angeles, California USA
Re: recovery from nerve damage
Stacey
Where abouts do you live now? You need to see a specialist as soon as possible to prevent your injury from becoming permanent. You should check the medical resource link on this site, but if you let us know what your nearest major city is, maybe someone on here can recommend a specialist to you. Most doctors and even specialized neurologists don't have a clue as to deal with this type of injury. Most respond "let's just wait a few months and see what happens". By that type you've gone past the point of no return and no surgical repairs are possible because the muscles are too far gone. If I were you, I'd get on this pronto. Current surgeries from the top specialists are happening at 4 months max in best case scenarios. Best of Luck!
Christopher
Where abouts do you live now? You need to see a specialist as soon as possible to prevent your injury from becoming permanent. You should check the medical resource link on this site, but if you let us know what your nearest major city is, maybe someone on here can recommend a specialist to you. Most doctors and even specialized neurologists don't have a clue as to deal with this type of injury. Most respond "let's just wait a few months and see what happens". By that type you've gone past the point of no return and no surgical repairs are possible because the muscles are too far gone. If I were you, I'd get on this pronto. Current surgeries from the top specialists are happening at 4 months max in best case scenarios. Best of Luck!
Christopher
Re: recovery from nerve damage
Stacey,
I had a horse riding accident 10th Jan 06, and dislocated my shoulder, fractured my humerus and crushed the brachial plexus nerves - although this was not diagnosed until later.
My first op at my local hospital put my shoulder back and pinned the humerus. At the time I could not move my hand or arm and was in constant pain. When I complained of this I was told it would improve and get stronger pain killers. To cut a long story short I got myself referred to another hospital and it was found that the pin used to fix the fracture had just sheared through the bone and therefore my humerus was still broken. I had to have another op to fix this and they did a exploration of the brachial plexus and then discovered my nerves were being compressed between muscle, so they fixed this problem. It might be a silly questions but has your shoulder been re-x-rayed since the op as I wonder whether the pin has sheared through the bone like it did mine. Also whilst they did the op did they have a look at the nerves to check whether they were still intact?
4 months on I have some movement in my arm and hand, and I have been told that I should make a full recovery by September/October. It would have been a different story if I did not get myself referred. If I can be of any more help just let me know.
Liz
I had a horse riding accident 10th Jan 06, and dislocated my shoulder, fractured my humerus and crushed the brachial plexus nerves - although this was not diagnosed until later.
My first op at my local hospital put my shoulder back and pinned the humerus. At the time I could not move my hand or arm and was in constant pain. When I complained of this I was told it would improve and get stronger pain killers. To cut a long story short I got myself referred to another hospital and it was found that the pin used to fix the fracture had just sheared through the bone and therefore my humerus was still broken. I had to have another op to fix this and they did a exploration of the brachial plexus and then discovered my nerves were being compressed between muscle, so they fixed this problem. It might be a silly questions but has your shoulder been re-x-rayed since the op as I wonder whether the pin has sheared through the bone like it did mine. Also whilst they did the op did they have a look at the nerves to check whether they were still intact?
4 months on I have some movement in my arm and hand, and I have been told that I should make a full recovery by September/October. It would have been a different story if I did not get myself referred. If I can be of any more help just let me know.
Liz
Re: recovery from nerve damage
My son injured his axillary nerve a year ago (May 2005) playing baseball. The original diagnosis was a partial dislocation of his left shoulder (he's right handed) with a stretched axillary. Two orthopedics said the nerve would gradually recover on its own. It hasn't. The deltoids are totally atrophied. The strange thing is he has almost full mobility with his left arm and played high school basketball last year despite the problem. I'm not sure what to do. One doctor said "do nothing" and leave well enough alone. Another recommended trying a nerve graft, even at this late date, with a what-have-you-got-to-lose theory. Anyone have any advice?
Re: recovery from nerve damage
i had a deltiod injury bout 6 years ago and had little or no function of it. it took about 3 years to heal and i now have almost complete recovery of it except for the back /bottom small part so it can heal with time mine was a rugby tackle
Re: recovery from nerve damage
>I am recovering from nerve damage (axillary) which
> controls the deltoid muscles. I realize my situation
> is not as severe as many of you, but there seems to
> be a lot of similarities. The nerve was initially
> damaged during a shoulder surgery I underwent in Dec.
> of 02. I underwent a second surgery in June of 03 to
> try to fix the nerve that was damaged during the
> first surgery. The good new was that the nerve was
> intact and I did not need a graft. I am now in the
> process of slowly recovering. I seem to be getting
> good response from the rear deltoid, some small
> response from the mid deltoid and very little to no
> response from the front deltoid. But I am much better
> then I was before surgery as I can use the arm pretty
> good except for over my head. Has anyone else had to
> recover from a similar injury? I am wondering the
> time frames for recovery, how well you recovered, and
> what to expect. Any info would be helpful. Thanks.
> Chris
Chris- I have a recurring BPN of unknown cause. The most recent attack was to my right shoulder. So, I have a similar lack of function, but not due to a trauma. I am about two years into my recovery. I found that my strength to impacted muscles continued to decrease over the first year or so. Recently, I had about given up on any strength returning to my shoulders. I can only suggest to you and any others that are hoping for a return to function do not give up. If you stop trying, you may miss the return. If you miss it, your muscles may go beyond the point of returning. Suddenly I found that where I could not do even one 45 degree pushup a month or so ago, I have worked it up to 25, and I feel a lot more stability in my shoulder as those muscles get working again.
As far as using your arm overhead, do you mean just lifting it there, or actually doing something once it is there? Initially, I could not move my arm anywhere close to my usual range of motion. My PT gave me exercises including one that helped. You stand up close to a wall and try to lift your arm towards it as much as you can on your own. When you can lift no higher, let your hand walk its way up the wall, as you continue to approach it. Try to stretch it as much as you can through the pain. Hold it at the highest point you can for 20 seconds or so, and then try to lower it using muscles as you back away from the wall. Do this facing the wall, and perpendicular to the wall. When I did this, it gave me pretty good headaches afterwards. But, now I can lift my arm pretty much normally.
Good Luck
Richard
> controls the deltoid muscles. I realize my situation
> is not as severe as many of you, but there seems to
> be a lot of similarities. The nerve was initially
> damaged during a shoulder surgery I underwent in Dec.
> of 02. I underwent a second surgery in June of 03 to
> try to fix the nerve that was damaged during the
> first surgery. The good new was that the nerve was
> intact and I did not need a graft. I am now in the
> process of slowly recovering. I seem to be getting
> good response from the rear deltoid, some small
> response from the mid deltoid and very little to no
> response from the front deltoid. But I am much better
> then I was before surgery as I can use the arm pretty
> good except for over my head. Has anyone else had to
> recover from a similar injury? I am wondering the
> time frames for recovery, how well you recovered, and
> what to expect. Any info would be helpful. Thanks.
> Chris
Chris- I have a recurring BPN of unknown cause. The most recent attack was to my right shoulder. So, I have a similar lack of function, but not due to a trauma. I am about two years into my recovery. I found that my strength to impacted muscles continued to decrease over the first year or so. Recently, I had about given up on any strength returning to my shoulders. I can only suggest to you and any others that are hoping for a return to function do not give up. If you stop trying, you may miss the return. If you miss it, your muscles may go beyond the point of returning. Suddenly I found that where I could not do even one 45 degree pushup a month or so ago, I have worked it up to 25, and I feel a lot more stability in my shoulder as those muscles get working again.
As far as using your arm overhead, do you mean just lifting it there, or actually doing something once it is there? Initially, I could not move my arm anywhere close to my usual range of motion. My PT gave me exercises including one that helped. You stand up close to a wall and try to lift your arm towards it as much as you can on your own. When you can lift no higher, let your hand walk its way up the wall, as you continue to approach it. Try to stretch it as much as you can through the pain. Hold it at the highest point you can for 20 seconds or so, and then try to lower it using muscles as you back away from the wall. Do this facing the wall, and perpendicular to the wall. When I did this, it gave me pretty good headaches afterwards. But, now I can lift my arm pretty much normally.
Good Luck
Richard
Good Luck!!!
Richard
Richard
-
ThePhantom
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:50 am
Re: recovery from nerve damage
I was in a car wreck in jan 08, for the first 5 months i had slow and poor recovery an emg showed lil or no innervation through c5 c6. but now everything is jumping back to life. my improvment and decreased pain is so awesome there were alot of prayers and wishes for me so i know they helped. I hope all of you get better and i wish nothing but pain-free happiness for you all!