New Member

[EricaW]

Hello. My mane is Erica and I have a BP injury since birth I am 27 years old. I can't move my hand are fingers but I have some movement of my arm up and down. I've always had pain through the years but the last five have been really bad. I've had x-rays but doctors say I have arthiritis. I just wanted to know if anyone my age has ever felt this way. Its a sharp shooting pain from my shoulder to my thumb and sometimes I have had muscle spasms in back of my shoulder. Thanks

[Beckyerin]

My name is becky. I am your age,27. I too have developed pain in my right bpi arm in the last couple of years.I know alot about the anatomy of the arm and I think what happened to me is that nerve damage causes weakened, non functional muscles in the shoulder. The better functioning muscles pick up the slack, and after a while those muscles get overused and start to hurt.

I don't have arthritis but do experience muscle pain. I would suggest physical therapy, massage therapy, and moist heat.(I have tried all of these)

I go to a chiroprator who does something called active release therapy. It basically just intense massage but it has brought me significant relief. Better than everthing else I have tried. I also put heat on my shoulder and then stretch.
The shooting pains I do not have, but I know others do, you are not alone.
Becky

[EricaW]

Thanks for your response Becky. When I get my husband to massage my shoulder that doess help. I think I will check into the chiropractor. I just hope my insurance will cover it. Also I have tried heat it does help but only a little. I wonder if the doctor is right saying I even have arthiritis. I don't know. But I did find the doctor I saw when I was like 8yrs old and he treats adults so I made and appointment but its not till April. So until then I'll have to try to cope with it.
Thanks again
Not feeling so lonely anymore.

[Judy-T]

Erica,
Welcome to the boards. I am 45 robpi and experienced alot of pain when i was your age. I see that you live in houston. You need to go to the medical resource page and look for Drs. who specialize in bpi. There are a few in Houston.I would suggest that you see a bpi specialist, and maybe they can suggest something to do for the pain.
A couple of years ago ,I finally went to a pain specialst and am now pain free. There is alot of info on this site. Again, welcome to the board....Judy

[kissygoose]

Hi. I'm Christy, 33 LOBPI. While my injury is on the mild side I have the pain you describe. I'm currently on Lyrica for some of the neurological pain and Ibprofin for the spasms and muscle pain. The rest I just deal with because my drs. aren't very helpful. I know when I was in PT it helped a lot to calm some of the spasms.

[kamren]

Hi...I am 38, with a LOBPI. Like you, I have similar pain issues. I use massage, stretching, and pain relivers like the others. I haven't ever found anything that makes the pain go away, just eases it.

We were in the Houston area for 7 years, up until this last summer. There are some really great Drs there that specialize in bpi injuries.