I am an adult male, 51 years of age. I suffered an injury to my cervical area last March 11. I had spent the last four months moving many things including books, magazines, computers, furniture etc. I felt a strange twinge in my neck on the 11th and four days later I was in excruciating pain from my neck down my left arm, elbow, and hand.
I had surgery in June to remove a herniated portion of my c6-c7 area. The procedure is called left c6-7 posterior forminotomy/diskectomy with decompression of left c7 nerve root. Two and one half months before the procedure I began to lose sensation in my left thumb, index and middle fingers. My muscles began to atrophy in April. Four months after the procedure my left pec, triceps and forearm are badly weakened and atrophied. My left thumb and index finger are numb, cold and stiff, I cannot bend them. Since the operation my middle finger is somewhat numb, my middle, ring, and little fingers catch at the lower knuckle.
The pain is gone from my neck, and arm/elbow, but I have radiating/shooting pain in my left thumb and index finger. My other three fingers have joint pain. Though exercising by myself and with a PT, my left pec, triceps, and forearm have shown little improvement.
The consulting experts think it could be a brachial plexus injury, but I had none of the injuries that you list to that area. All that I do know is that the nerve was badly compressed in the c6-7 area. I do not remember blunt trauma to the BP area.
One specialist does not think this injury is tied to the c6-7 disc problem and is even suggesting that I might have diabetes, which could cause the BP injury. To my knowledge, I am not a diabetic, though I will test for this week.
The symptoms for my pec, arm and hand began approximately two weeks after the injury. An attending ER physician gave me a brief strength test in early April and already detected a loss of strength in my left hand and arm.
I have just completed my third EMG and the attending nuerologist states that he saw little improvemnt from an earlier test in July. My first EMG was in April and showed some deterioration, my second was in July, one month after my surgery and this finally pushed my Workmans Comp doctor to begin sending me to a hand specialist and neurologist, plus a host of others too numerous to mention.
I am very concerned about future prospects for my left arm and hand. Is there anything more I should do? Can anyone shed some light on this or refer me to someone who can? Anyone know of an expert in the Denver area? The pain in my hand is pretty bad sometimes.
Thanks