United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Does anyone else suffer from pain as a result of their Erbs Palsy? I get it quite alot, my arm freezes and the pain varies in type (ie stinging, stabbing pain etc) After any sort of activity is the worst time for me and it usually begins in the tips of my fingers and travels up my arm. I was just wondering if anyone else with the same injury suffers from pain? Any help would be appreciated.

Sarah

Yes, all the time. The muscles in my shoulder will bunch up and will not let go. It is like they aren't getting the messages from the brain to relax. My upper arm almost constantly feels like it is one big bruise. I also get a numbing pain on the outside edge of my hand and along the pinky finger occationally. There is pain almost constantly, to the point that I am so used to some level of pain that I barely recognize it, unless I am thinking about it.

I think pain is a common problem for us adults. However, for me it is not continous. It is usually the result of some sort of physical activity, a dull ache that lasts for several days depending on what I'm doing at the time. Over the counter meds don't have much effect.

John P.

Thanks for replying guys. A lot of doctors don't believe it's possible for me to be in pain. It's nice to know htat it's not all just 'in my head'!

Hello Sarah,I agree and have similar experiences with pain as John does. Since finding UBPN and our message boards in 2003 I have learned & recognized that I have lived with pain all my life and never paid much attention until I was in my 50's. In the UBPN RESOURCES Link, I found helpful medical papers/reports That helped me know it is a LIFETIME Care issue for all of us, especially we who never had surgery or much intervention such as PT. I advise surfing the Medical Resources link; also, Kath(Kathleen) did have a Thread Topic on Pain andposted a questionaire a while back on this Adult OBPI Message Board, and a number of us adults posted on the topic.
Keep asking questions, Sarah, there is no such thing as a stupid question on these Boards. I personally love to share stuff.
Carolyn J
Age 66 and LOBPI

Sarah, Yes I agree with you as well. I am 33 with LOBPI. I had surgery over a year ago with Dr. Nath. My arm still hurts me all the time. It has really been putting a kink in my neck. Literally! I live in Montana and as soon as the weather gets cold it seems to only get worse. I wear my tenz unit from time to time to help ease the pain. It gets very frustrating at times. So, let it be known that you are not alone. I always feel like people think I'm making it up or something. However, I'm 33 and I'm tired of walking around like I'm 60. I can only imagine what it'll be like then.
Hang in there.