United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

my right arm was always my "bad" arm when it came to drawing blood or getting a needle in for an I.V. i would always insist on my left arm to be used for that sort of thing. now that my left arm is so severely injured i am afraid to let anyone do ANYTHING on my left arm. is it safe to do an I.V. in my left arm? or a blood draw? my left arm has no feeling or sensation in it.

we were always told that because there is decreased circulation in the injured arm, it is high risk for infection
therefore - no punctures of any kind and be very careful with cuts and scrapes

also, we were told that bp isn't always correct on the injured side plus it may cause too much pain

with different things that Maia had over the years these ideas seem to be correct because any but or abrasion she got or burn - nothing healed easily and without getting infected first -- we had to always go to special wound care interventions (which at times included e-stim and the use of silver, etc.)

also, when doing some "alternative" interventions, the injured arm always gave a "crazy" answer (whether it was mechanical or energetic)

so -- anyway - that's our experience
-francine

I think the 'no procedures/shots' on the BPI arm is not necessarily always true, but in your case I would definitely not recommend it. With your reduced sensation, you might miss a vaccine reaction or developing infection and it just isn't worth the risk. Besides, because of possible reduced circulation, it might not still be your "good" arm for blood draws, etc. anyway

Kate

This topic has come up so often over the years.
There are no long range studies on obpi or the total impact on our body.
I am 70 years old an our doctors always said NO to needles, IV or bp on the injured side.
Considering the extent of my injury and my age the doctors at NY Hospital seemed to be ahead of themselves.
Most doctors were not aware of the sensory issues and did not give this type of advice... at least that is what many of the adult obpi shared.
Most adults have problems with pain, poor circulation in bpi arm.
When I had my stents put in, they used my left arm for both IV's and left leg for BP.
I would have a great deal of pain if anyone injected that arm or took bp.

When I was young any cut or even hang nails would get infected. I'm more careful now about injuring that side.

i went to a health fair yesterday and the nurse who gave me the flu and pneumonia shots told me it did not matter. i told her she was not going to touch my left arm. i got them in my right arm. well i know the answer now thank you all very much.

This is a good topic as I have always wondered that too (and just always forgot to ask). I remember at first when I was in the ICU, the nurses would give me my fragmin shots in my bp arm (wasn't known as a bp injury yet) After about a month they switched to giving me the shots in my belly.........and boy did I miss getting the shots in my arm since then I never felt them! One of the few benefits of the loss of feeling, lol It's so wierd how some areas are hypersensative, and some are totally numb.......
I know that with all the surgeries I've had they always avoided putting iv's in my bp arm, and for quite a while we even had to put the blood pressure cuff on my calf because there were too many lines going into my good arm. Can you imagine putting a blood pressure cuff on the bp arm? Ouch would be an understatement.
I never thought of infection risk being higher. I haven't had any healing issues with my bp arm, but I believe my circulation is surprisingly good in that arm, so perhaps that is the reason. I guess I have more questions to add to my post-it pad for my next appointment.

angelaw
i am happy to ask a question for you as well.
i am so happy that you have gotten some function back in your hand and arm.
do not come towards my bpi arm with a bp cuff or i will run like the wind.1/2 of my arm has some feeling in it but the other half has no protective sensation at all. i would totally freak out if someone gave me a shot in that arm.

one thing angela brings up is that some areas are super sensitive while other areas are totally without sensation. has any one heard of the ulnar nerve being damaged with no sensation whatsoever from the mid upper arm to the wrist but the pinkie and ring fingers hurt like h***? does not make sense to me that the fingers are painful but the arm is "dead" it seems like i have no sensation in the skin on my fingers but the inner parts of my fingers is what is painful. like i have an extremely tight rubber glove on. i am confused. is this normal for this type of injury?

I NEVER get a needle in either arm!

I get them in my hip, butt or thigh. My doctors said that every shot can cause your arm to hurt so why make the good one hurt.

As for the Nurse who told you it did not matter. I hate to say this but most medical professionals have very little knowledge about brachial plexus injury. Up until the last ten years very little publication and/or information has been studied on this injury. She should not have told you this as if it was sound medical advice or something she had a working knowledge of. I have been bpi all my life and have had many arguments with "medical professional" regarding BP, IV and needles. I knew what hurt and what did not hurt regardless of what they said.

I have numb spots and lack of feeling but that does not mean it's a good spot for a needle because the circulation is poor.
Change the spot for all injections and question anyone who speaks as if they are familiar with bpi. Ask them how many people they have treated. If you speak to a bpi doctor and he/she give you information is because they have experience but your average medical professional really have not studies care/treatment of bpi ....

One more thing...
No offense intended towards my nursing friends on these boards. They are all too familiar with bpi injuries but many never really knew the full extent of the problems bpi injured faced until they had to deal with it. It is not a subject that many nurses and/or doctors focus on until they specialize.

My daughter is a Cardiac nurse, but when she was in college we were able to get me very little information on Erb's Palsy/ brachial plexus injury.

I love nurses but like them better when they admit they are not familiar with bpi injuries. It drives me crazy when they tell me it's OK to stick me..... when I know better.

Kath