United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Has anyone out there had their pain go away from avulsed nerves? Please give details. thanks, Michele

I have C5&6 avulsed, however I do NOT have pain in that area. C5&6 are the shoulder and bicep area... my pain is in my hand, 1000%. It has been REALLY bad the last 2 weeks or so! Im dying... I am interested if anyone else with avulsions has had luck?

Courtney

from what I have read, re-enervation to the arm/hand can cause the pain to go away. Medications don't seem to help much if any. I just wonder if the people who stay active on this site are ones who continue to have problems and if the ones whose pain has resolved have stopped participating....

Michele,
I think you are correct, to a good degree. People with pain are subject to feeling 'misunderstood' by the general public and look for solace with those who 'understand' through common experience.

I know it is one of my biggest motivators for helping people that come here, looking for answers. Like you said, re-innervation and return of function has a tendency to reduce or eliminate pain.

I know that John Floyd, who was 15 at time of injury and had one of his surgeries at the Mayo Clinic at the same time I did, had avulsed all 5 nerves (I've got 3 avulsed) and he's pain free now. I've got more function than he does (due to severity of injury) but he's pain free (from what I understand). So why? I'm not sure, maybe age, I'm 20 years older, maybe not. Anyway, good luck.

Chris

Hi Michele,
My injury was not as severe and I am pain free. No avulsions so that made a huge difference. I still check in on the boards and participate where I feel I can contribute to help someone (even though I am pain free and not having many problems). I don't know why I still check... just feel the need to and maybe to help someone whose had a similar experience. I usually don't reply to people that have had severe injuries, as I don't know much about them and don't feel I can help very much. But just wanted you to know there probably are some people that do still participate even when they are pain free.
I wish you luck and hope that you will one day be pain free.
Michelle

michelle

please tell me about your injury...

how it happened and how recovery went


thanks

Jason

Dustin is pain free. From what we have read here I thought he was very lucky. He had no avulsions but has no funtional use of the arm. For a few months post accident he would have occasional pain. He would say it feels like it is reattaching. But these were few and didn't seem real bad. Never had to have meds for it. At Mayo they told us that they felt that sometimes when the nerves were damaged they would grow like weeds. When they were growing all over they would send messages that weren't "right" and this was causing pain. Just thought I would mention how the Drs had described it to us. We keep active to see if others have ideas, exercises ect that we can adapt to his situation. I am so hopeful when I see improvements in others. Though there are times when we both feel depressed at the little movement in such a long time. It helps when I see that others are still improving and in relation Dustins injury is new.
Sue

I am Michele's son. I had a brachial plexus injury october 19th of 05. I had avulsed nerves from C5 to T1. I have been in almost constant pain since I woke up from my coma. I've been on opiates and most every other medication. I had a nerve transplant surgery in late February of this year. My pain is often so severe I cannot function. I also had a traumatic brain injury and the pain distracts me from my rehabilitation. I have not been able to get a referral for an appropriate pain consultation. Does anyone know of what to do to get my doctor's to pay attention? Thanks, Sam

Hi All,

I will write a separate post on this. but I'm a 24 yr ubpn pain sufferer and until 2.5 years ago had no relief from the pain. I tried everything over the years and then went onto methadone and it put a blanket over the pain. It also put a blanket on my life. Felt numbish, constipated, stomach problems and so on. Not right away but after several years.

Then, 4 months ago I started LILT therapy, laser treatment that breaks down scar tissue and lets the nerve endings heal. In that time I've reduced the meth more than half and hope to be off by Christmas.

The pain is not gone but has reduced a great deal. The spasms are shorter and less intense and the constant one is down so far I forget about it.

I saw it an article on back pain and talked the therapist into trying it. Here a site that explains the therapy. It may not work for everyone, but it works for me: http://www.chronicpainsolutions.ca/services.htm

Henry

Hi Jason,
I was injured during a c-section to deliver my daughter on 5/10/04. During surgery my arms were tied down at a 90 degree angle. While they were stitching me up I was straining my neck up and over my left shoulder to watch them clean up my daughter. Being in that position for an extended period of time seems to be the cause. And I could have a possible narrow passage way for the nerves in that area which may be why I was injured but it hasn't happened to other moms who have done the same thing. (But I do have to say thank God this happened to me and not my daughter. I'm very fortuante that I was the injured one and not the other way around. I can't even imagine.) I noticed shoulder pain almost immediately followed by numbness in my fingers a few weeks later. And so on from there, pain - terrible pain and weakness, couldn't lift my right arm no bicep function. I took pain killers for 1-1/2 years and did therapy 2-3 times per week. I'm now pain free. Still have numbness and some weakness, but back to normal function for the most part. I do tend to notice I'll go back and forth using my right and left hand for various tasks. Considering the range of degrees of this injury, I would consider mine very mild, although I wouldn't have said that at the time I was in a lot of pain. It was really an awful experience as you know and that is the hardest part. I truly hope that you recover and get the help you need to cope with the pain. You seem to have a positive attitude and that is very important! I'm a pretty positive person myself and I think that helped me get through the rough times. By the way, I live in the Dallas area.
Lots of luck!
Michelle