United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I had injections directly into the brachial plexus and it turned out really bad! It confirmed my diagnoses which was the only good thing. Trust me when I say that is the worst thing in the world anyone could have done! If you would like a more graphic picture please let me know I can e-mail you a picture.
One thing the physicians who do these injections forget to mention is the temporary as well as the long term side effects to your body. If anyone has any questions I would be happy to answer you.

mindy, were your injections done by acupuncture physicians? just curious...

My injection was done by a "specialist" who was a neurologist, anesthesiologist,and I forget what else... The procedure was done by putting a pillow under my neck and tipping my head back. For me this was very painful because I have very limited movement in my neck (which hopefully will get looked at one day soon). They then basically feel around until they find the spot in your brachial plexus they want to inject into. They inject a cocktail of painkillers and steroids plus I don't know what else into the brachial plexus. The idea at the time was a good one I thought with the limited knowledge I had of my injury. Now I wish they would never have done the injections. One thing I learned is that these nerves run more than just your arm. After the procedure my left eye looked like it exploded and I could not see out of it for months. My eyesight has never been the same in that eye which is not good considering I cannot turn my head very much. My entire left side of my face literally was drooping like a basshound's face. My arm went crazy... I felt like an elephant was sitting on the left side of my chest so I could hardly breath. My heart was raising so fast I thought it was going to explode. It was awful! Most of these side effects did not hit right away it took actually about thirty minutes to hit me. By that point I was in the middle of rush hour traffic! Needless to say the person driving was freaked!
My situation is unique because it took me six months by the time I found this doctor and got diagnosed. By that point I would have done anything to get back to my normal life. In the state I live in the most anyone can recieve that is involved in an auto accident for lost wages is $250 per week and trust me you have to fight for what little in the end you recieve. My disability insurance refused to pay because they said this was covered under my auto policy. So financially by this point we were literally living on the money intended for my kid's college education. Emotionally I was a wreck because I am not the type of person to ask for help so this injury was beyond words. This "specialist" had only seen one other person in his thirty years of practicing medicine so he really did not know how to treat my arm. I am thankful to this doctor for my diagnosis because he finally gave me the knowledge that this was not in my head. That was August of 2000 and since then I have worked very hard at learning about my injury and have tried very hard to start over again.
Until a month ago when I found this site I had never even heard of someone having an injury like mine so it gives me a lot of comfort to share what I have experienced and found through my own research. Hopefully by sharing this experience somebody else will not have to go through what I did.