United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Ginger Oil recipe is found here:
http://www.injurednewborn.com/maia/ginger.html

http://www.cellstim.com/research.htm

http://www.scrip-inc.com/itemdetail.asp?KeyValue=01-774

I wanted to post this as a new post and forgot! lol lol

I guess I'm a bit preoccupied today...
this is microcurrent...it is what our kids do - called TES. Dr. Pape took the microcurrent machine and gave it safety features that are special for a child so that they could sleep with it and that is the BMRNT2000 unit that kids like Maia use.... anyway I put up some stuff about it and also a pretty cheap unit $89-

I think it's something you should check out - it increases circulation, relieves pain...it's not a new theory or unit...it's just regular estim done at a very low level...less is best is the theory.

I have ordered a different unit that does 3 diff kinds of stim and I'll let you know what I think of the concept. I get this treatment now at the chiropractors office - (interferential stim) and he does it with hot packs and it does feel good - even if it's for 1/2 hour, it gives me a break from the pain.

anyway...
-francine

No needles or blood pressure due to poor circulation and risk of infection.

O.K. after reading all the good answers I still have a duh kind of question.....Why can't they take blood out of the leg? I mean I think it would be easier to draw blood from your leg than your arms!!! I think they may just always do the arms because that's what MOST of the population does.....well....people with a BPI aren't most of the population so they should do it different!!! I always insist on the immunizations for Jameson to go in the leg or not at all! We even had a doctor tell us that the I.V. could go in the leg if really neccesary...it just makes it hard to go to the bathroom..etc...
How do they take blood pressure on someone with no arms? I'm sure it can be done on the leg....I think it just comes down to fighting for your rights again....or having a doctor that you don't have to fight.
T.

I think it comes down to nobody wanting to hear about BPI. You've had it since birth-you're still alive--don't go whining about it now. There are a lot worse conditions than yours.I have never found anyone else that is non-bpi that wanted to discuss how it impacts ones life. I have had an IV in that arm, though and it didn't seem to hurt it.
I was looking at some old pictures this morning. Funny--I never thought the arm was that noticeable--but with the bent elbow, it really stood out. When I was little it was the days of polio,and I remember the ohysical therapist telling me I didn't have naything to cry about--a lot of kids couldn't walk--and to quit whining--Erb's didn't hurt. I can still feel the anger and humiliation--guess that's when I stopped talking about it. Pat

Just thought I might add my bit here, as someone with a right TBPI and maybe with a slightly different slant on this; I personally have never had any problems with medical staff taking blood or whatever from the 'good' arm. I've also never had any negative reaction when I have insisted they take blood from somewhere else..like the ankle or groin. Having had it taken in the past from both areas, believe me, taking it from the arm is MUCH prefferred!

I have always wondered about the blood pressure question; whether it would be different on either side, so one day recently at clinic appointment, I aked one of the nurses to take the BP on both arms and compare the results, and it was very interesting..there wasn't a lot of difference, but the bp on the right (BPI arm) was definitely higher.

We both expected it to be lower, because it is reasonable to assume that because of the possibility that the vascular system nerves weren't functioning properly in a person with a BPI; in theory, the strength of the arterial pulse would be weaker.

Then we thought, "hang on a minute, this theory won't hold up because the bp test measures ARTERIAL and not vascular pressure;" in other words, from blood pumped straight from the heart, which is not affected by damaged BPI nerves. So, that produced a theory that the bp readings should have then been almost identical....

..BUT we had another theory...if the arteries in both arms were both getting the same blood pressure (pumped straight from the heart...maybe slightly less on the right arm taking into account that the heart is a little farther away from the right arm...) then the blood pressure has to seem to be HIGHER because in the damaged arm, the wastage in the upper arm muscles where they put the bp cuff, would allow the pressure to be detected more easily than on the unaffected, more muscular side.

The pressure of the artery would be felt more strongly in the damaged arm because it doesn't have to be detected through dense muscle.

After all that, we had a cuppa tea, and decided that the last theory was probably a safe bet. We were fed up by then anyway trying to work it out!!

Not sure if this theory will always work, particularly for someone who has had a BPI from birth and may have immature or smaller arteries and veins in the affected arm. What I say is, if in doubt, just use the unaffected arm for tests, shots etc.

I have always wanted to know what muscles I am using to move my arm as the Dr. that did my EMG told me I used " other" muscles to compensate to make the arm move. It shouldn't be a big deal that I want to know. It's my arm and I'm interested! If the deltoid, biceps and triceps don't work--what does????? I can move my fingers, lift the arm some sure wish I could see a real live movie of the innerworkings of the arm,hand and shoulder as compared to the " other " arm!

I'd have thought the pressure on the bpi side would be higher, because of the smaller blood vessels causing constriction....less room for blood flow=higher pressure. I thought the smaller blood vessels were due to my not using the arm, but I think someone posted that it was because of the nerve damage itself. There's only one thing to do.....everyone get their blood pressure tested on both arms!
I too can verify that blood taken from anywhere other than the elbow crook hurts like hell......I'm RH negative and have had hundreds of blood tests, my arm gets like a junky's during pregnancy! No medical staff has ever questioned the need to use the unaffected arm only, and most of them did it automatically without me having to say anything. Mind you, my flail arm's pretty obvious....

It's all about the difference between taking blood samples, and taking blood pressure. Each procedure uses a different blood vessel; blood is usually taken from veins (vascular blood) and the blood pressure tests the pressure of the blood in the arteries (arterial blood)This is how I understand it anyway, and how the nurse explained it to me.

If you have a BPI, the nerve damage could have compromised the autonomic nerve system which regulates the blood vessels along with other things. It seems reasonable to me that someone with an OBPI, particularly if it has never been treated in any way, could have an immature vascular system, and both tests could be pretty difficult...the bp one in particular might produce some varied results....but this may not be the case always with someone with a TBPI.

It again probably depends on the amount of nerve damage, and whether the autonomic system was/is involved. Along with other things, lifestyle and SMOKING!could influence a bp reading from an adult with a TBPI anyway. In my case, I think my arteries at least(!) are working pretty well in my BPI arm since my pulse rate at the wrist is exactly the same both sides, and the same intensity, although the veins that I can actually see are definitely a lot smaller and thinner.

I guess its all just another facet to this bl*ddy injury that no-one really has the complete answer to.