United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I just wanted to share the information with others here that may be experiencing pain in their non BPI side due to overuse of that shoulder/arm.

I have used massage therapy for chronic muscle pain control for over a year now. It helps considerable to keep the muscles in my back relaxed and reduces the strain on them caused by the muscle imbalances all over my back, neck and shoulders due to my OBPI. (I have secondary scoliosis.)

I've also found that there is a technique some chircopractors use called A.R.T. (Active Release Therapy) that was VERY effective in treating a muscle impingement in my non BPI shoulder. I had been through pills, a visit to a shoulder specialist (ortho surgeon), physical therapy, regular massage therapy..... none gave me more than temporary relief from this impingment.

My chiropractor, recommended by my massage therapist, used the A.R.T. and was able to get into the joint itself and loosen the muscle. I was sore afterward for a day or so, but after six or seven treatments.... I no longer ached at the end of the day and I've not need pain control for over a month! He did in three or four weeks what I hadn't been able to do in 2 months of PT exercises. I am a total believer now!

Next, we are going to work on my BPI shoulder. I will let you all know if it helps with the tightness and pain that I have in it.

Lisa
40, LOBPI

Lisa,

Thank you for posting about the A.R.T. technique. A good friend of mine who suffers from chronic lower back pain has been having a similar procedure and swears by it. She has suggested I try to find a Chiro who utilizes this in hopes of helping some of my aches/pains???

PLEASE keep me/us posted on your results. I was always afraid to let anyone mess with my arms !!!

Tina 53
BiOBPI

Lisa
I hope ART works as well for you as it did for me.
I had a PT that took the courses and he was also a Chiropractor. I thought it was great and it helped with the contractions in both arms.

The unaffected arm contracts because it is limited to the length of the obpi arm most of the times when trying to work bilaterally.

Kath robpi/adult

Just to update everyone who is interested....

I am still seeing my Chiropractor - Dr. Alan Bee - for A.R.T. and have been almost totally pain free in my non-OBPI shoulder for over 4 months now! In addition to loosening the stressed and overworked muscles on the non-OBPI side, he's worked to loosen the bicep muscle in my OPBI arm. It has helped end the twitching I experience in that bicep that had resulted from lactic acid building up when the muscle WANTED to be used, but wasn't getting used.

I've also started in physical therapy to help strengthen my back muscles on that side in order to avoid future impingements in the muscles of that shoulder! (A lot of it focusing on retraining myself not to "hike" that side like I do my OPBI shoulder. This is mostly a "sympathy" motion and the result of 40 years of habit!)

Dr. Lee Barnes, my physical therapist, is AWESOME. She is an M.D. who had PT training after becoming a doctor. It is a whole different perspective on therapy! In addition to the work on my "non-affected" side - if such a thing can exist with a OBPI! - she helping me develop some stretches for my affected bicep. While we'll never be able to straighten my elbow or allow me to stretch that arm unassisted over my head, combined with the loosening that Dr. Bee is doing, it has greatly improved my assisted range of motion and reduced some of the general aching I experienced in that arm.

I've been fortunate to find doctors that would work with me and research my condition if they weren't familiar with it. I consider myself very blessed to have found them!