United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My 16 yr old daughter while in a p.e. class at school lifted some weights and herd/felt a pop in her sholder area, she said it felt like she hit her "funnybone" but it was located in her shoulder area. at that moment her arm from the shoulder down went (dead like) no pain, no fealing, no movement...this has "stumped" our local doctor, so we went to childrens hospital for testing and so far they have made us feel like she is fakeing an injury.... even though you can tie the arm in a nott, with out even a wimper, they have poked her with pins,hit her in every conceavable way! but "it doesn't fit the normal criteria" so she should seek some counceling to see if it is psycosemantic, the will schuedule some tests, but come back in three months if there is no change.... Please forgive my spelling, I am just very frustrated....If your arm gives way with a pop, then you lose all motor function and feeling.... dosent this warrant the thought of a injury, I am here to see if brachial plexus injuries happen in this way... please help a concerned Dad...

If you suspect that your daughter has a bpi injury you should go to a neurologist... she can have tests done to see if the nerve's are functioning.
EMG - Nerve conduction study.
It is important to treat this immediately.
Kath

Wow, that's scary. Every tbpi I ever heard of had accompanying severe pain almost from the outset, but there are around 60 different types of tbpi injury and the mildest ones I would assume wouldn't be as painful, for instance, when you wake up with a 'dead' arm, that is a very mild bpi. Kath's right, whether your daughter has a bpi or not, it sounds like some nerve/s have got trapped and she definitely needs to see a neurologist. Be VERY careful of anyone who wants to manipulate her arm/shoulder, especially when it's insensate-that could definitely cause a bpi or other nerve injury, that area contains a lot of important nerves and is easily damaged. Please let us know what happens & good luck :0)

Just found this link http://www.medmedia.com/lib9/111.htm after typing 'dead arm' into my search engine-there IS a condition called 'dead arm syndrome' which seems to be related to instability of the shoulder joint. There is quite a lot about it on the internet. I found lots of other links about it. Hope this helps.

Here's another website which might give you a clearer picture of what you may be dealing with..
http://www.kovacortho.com/ListOfItems.a ... ageID=1263

It would be a very good idea to contact a doctor or an orthopeadic specialist who is experienced in sports injuries, as soon as possible. What has happened to your daughter is more common than people realise, and from what I have read and studied, most of these kind of injuries resolve themselves with the proper treatment; (probably rest, followed by intensive physiotherapy) surgery seems to be very rarely necessary.

Jen makes a good point about not letting doctors who are inexperienced in these injuries pull her arm around too much, especially if there is any doubt that the shoulder may be dislocated.

Try not to worry too much...not easy I know when your own daughter is hurt...but find a specialist as soon as you can. Maybe the school knows of a good ortho or maybe your local football coach might be able to recommend someone...it would be somewhere to start looking anyway.

Let us know how you get on...

Liz B

Thanks for the info and concern, we are now in contact with childrens hos. in seattle and the nero staff there. tuesday morning the start testing, i believe an emg is first.I'll keep you updated.

I too had a popping sensation in my shoulder from heavy lifting about 2 years ago. It did not cause my bpi, but it did eventually cause a subclavian blood clot. The brachial plexus and the subclavian vein and artery run between the clavical and the first rib. My doctor said my firt rib or clavical may have shifted slightly from the heavy lifting (popping feeling), thus clamping the subclavian vein together resulting in the blood clot. I guess it's possibe for the brachial plexus to be damaged in this manner also. The irony is, I received my bpi during surgery to fix my blood clot. I wish you and your daughter luck.

Roy

hey snohomishbob
sounds like TOS [thoratic outlet syndrome] imho [in my humble opinion]. call DR A LEE DELLON at 410 467 5400 or 410366 9826 and ask crista for a phamplet on TOS.
dr dellon literaly wrote the book on peripheral nerve surgery and has been one of the pioneers of this surgery. lots of luck dave wilson