| Author |
Message |
    
Daniel Mazur
Username: G4danny
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Friday, July 29, 2005 - 20:45: | |
I have a problem called 'cubital tunnel sydrome' - blockage of the
ulnar nerve in the left elbow region. I woke up one morning in February
'05 feeling numbness in the 4th and little finger and part of palm of
my left arm. So far, no treatment really helped, the numbness never
went.
I have seen no cause to it, but one possibility (not accepted as such
by western medicine): two days before this started I ate some meat
balls that turned out to be not at a proper condition for consumption.
I spent all night regurgitating and with diarrhea, simply experiencing
many signs of bad-food poissoning (it had happened o me before, so I
know, how it feels). As I mentioned, two days after this poisooning,
the numbness in my left hand fingers and palm set off.
Recently my Korean girlfriend took me to acupuncturists and I learned
about the connections among body parts and organs. As a result I
started to believe again in causality between the poissoning and the
numbness - poissoning affects liver and kidney the most and my arm
problem may be (to my untrained eye) a manifestation of some internal
damage.
Could you please tell me your opinion on this case? My body has more
problems than that, the weakest point (in the oriental medicine point
of view) being lungs, then kidneys, backbone,... But that will take
some time to adjust to normal. The arm numbness is more critical to me
as I need my arms functional for my work.
Thanks in advance!
Daniel
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Phil Macqueen
| | Posted on Saturday, July 30, 2005 - 00:17: | |
Hi Daniel, through Dr.Shmuel.
I am an acupuncturist in Australia and I read Dr.Shmuels forum with interest.
One thing to check in this case is the nerve outlet on the side of the neck for the Ulnar nerve.
Press on the side of your neck below the ear lobe and level with your Adams apple and again about 25 to 30 mm below that.
Check the Elbow problem side and the other side and compare results.
If the neck is sorer on Elbow problem side, then its probable that the muscles which come off the "Transverse processes" on the side of the neck vertebrae are tight.
These may be jamming (partly) the origin of the Ulnar nerve and thus causing the problem.
Not uncommon after a bout of vomiting from food poisoning.
If you were my patient, that is where I would look first.
Good luck and I look forward to Dr. Shmuels suggestion!
Phil Macqueen Brisbane Australia |
Daniel Mazur
Username: G4danny
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, July 30, 2005 - 01:22: | |
Dear Mr. Macqueen,
Thank you, I will ty to check that... As I am siting by the computer, I feel no difference in the muscle soreness on the two sides of my neck. My neck muscles are tense, but pressing them is not really painful on either side. Should it mak any difference if I do this check while lying down?
Since you mentioned the spine as a candidate for cause of my problem, I feel like adding the following information. As the problem started in February already, I have been at an orthopedist. He requested the electromyography and neural conductivity examination that had confirmed his diagnosis, the cubital tunnel syndrome. I have been given injections of som corticoids into the tunnel (one below the elbow in cranial direction, one above in the caudal dir.) two times (with 2 months span). These reduced the pain I was feeling around the elbow upon palpation, but did nothing with the numbness I feel beyond the wrist. Apart from the numbness I feel when the hand simply rests, the region hurts when I clap my hands (just the same way as when I hit the ulnar nerve path around the elbow). The distribution of the ulnar nerve retains some tingling feeling for a while after my clapping hands.
I have recalled, in the meantime, that when a similar poissoning accident happened to me some year earlier, there had been a short time, when I felt tingling in the left pinkie - essentially in the same region, which is now numb.
Back to the neck region of my spine. The orthopedist has checked it quite thoroughly himself and we found hothing painful around there. I understand that there are many people that experience my symptoms (numb fingers) linked to their spine. I haven't had my sine checked for spinal stenosis, I will keep it in mind as a possibility, but I would expect more than this solitary manifestation, should that be the case. I would also expect the symptoms to vary in response to the kinetic activity of my spine, to excercise, stretching etc., but none such thing has been observed.
Thank you all very much for giving my case a thought.
Daniel Mazur, Chicago, U.S.A. |
Shmuel Halevi
| | Posted on Saturday, July 30, 2005 - 08:00: | |
Hello Daniel and Phil,
What Phil has suggested is of course the first thing an experienced practitioner would have done. Yet, in my experience, if the neck region is not chronically sore (around the location that Phil has described), nor does it feel connected by pain or or tingling sensations to the problematic area in your elbow, the problem may, most probably, be localized, resulting from a congestion of muscles/tendons at the area of the ulnar elbow. This congestion/swelling etc., exerts a pressure on the nerves passing through this anatomical tunnel and giving way to the numbness (pins and needles) that you feel in your fingers and along the arm.
The cause for this phenomenon is in most cases an over exertion of this area's muscles in hard work, bad writing or typing habits, pulling/climbing ropes, milking goats - you name it. Another possible cause is a direct blow to the region, twisting arms (like in martial arms) and the like. It is very unlikely to be the result of food poisoning, especially if the onset of the pain/tingling is abrupt and not gradual.
The solution, of course, is by acupuncture. You may be needing some 10-20 acupuncture session by a very experienced specialist. A very good needle technique is needed for the treatment of this disorder. The treatments must be 4-5 sessions a week. Less frequent than this may not help.
Hope you can find someone reliable in Chicago, and best luck to you. |
Daniel Mazur
Username: G4danny
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 01, 2005 - 16:51: | |
Dear Dr. Halevi,
thank you for your opinion. The 'bad writing and typing habits' may well apply to me, as I am typing a lot, using a computer an a daily basis. In a way I may be in danger of having the same problem with my right arm. When trying to do push ups, I feel pain in both my elbows. Someone suggested I get a bandage on my elbows, particularly for the excercise, but bandages (especially the tight sports ones) made my numbness/tingling problem worse, not better.
Last week, a technique of blood release (punctured skin, blood sucked out using underpressure, I don't know the proper name of this approach) was applied to my neck and the left elbow. I cannot expect anything change after one session, I think, but could you give me your opinion on this method?
Back to your suggestion of treatment, may I ask you, what the region of the needlework would be? What are the points to use in order to release tension of the muscles and tendons around the elbow? |
Shmuel Halevi
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 02, 2005 - 21:15: | |
quote:Someone suggested I get a bandage on my elbows, particularly for the excercise, but bandages (especially the tight sports ones) made my numbness/tingling problem worse, not better.
In the first place, you'd better not practice push-ups nor other excercise that apply force on the elbows. The bandage issue is very clear, as I have mentioned previously. The whole problem is basically attributed to excessive muscle/tendon pressure on the nerves passing through the elbow's tunnel. Applying extra pressure there by a tight bandage may only aggravate the problem.
As for the blood letting procedure, it could have been appropriate if you also had localized pain at the base of your neck or shoulder. Since you do not have it, I don't think this might help in your case. It is, BTW, entirely different from what Phil has suggested. By Phil's suggestion, this area could be acupunctured in order to enhance the circulation in the elbow region by using distant points belonging to the meridian that passes through the elbow. Cupping, or blood cupping, of that area is effective only if that area itself suffers from stagnation, which is obviously not the case with you.
quote:Back to your suggestion of treatment, may I ask you, what the region of the needlework would be? What are the points to use in order to release tension of the muscles and tendons around the elbow?
I would suggest concentrating on the elbow area for the main points and using distant points on the same meridian for the secondary points. Still, needle manipulation and technique is of prime importance here, sometimes more important than the choice of this point over the other.
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Daniel Mazur
Username: G4danny
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 09:06: | |
Dear Dr. Halevi,
Thank you for your opinions and suggestions. When it came to push-ups (I tried only once or twice since my trouble began), I felt it myself that I'd better not practice them. My personal experience with an elbow bandage also told me it was not a way, so I stopped wearing then soon enough.
Coming back to the elbow localization vs. neck blockage, I personally feel that the problem lies mainly in the elbow region itself. My work strains the arm/forearm muscles regularly in such a way. Furthermore, I noticed lately that I strain my left-arm to extension a lot, when driving - and while living in the USA I drive a lot... and there are other activities one just must do that strain the arm. Add up my restless sleep through which my arms regularly end up in strange crooked positions, the arm muscles and tendons are not getting virtually ANY time to rest...!
To the discussion about the neck region, I do experience a rather stiff neck occasionally (right now, for example...:-)), but I have observed no evidence that it would be related to my chronical problem. I have been told by the accupuncturist I visit, though, that there are cases, when people feel numbness in various fingers without registering any pain around the neck and still a blockage in the cervical area gets proven to be the cause. I hesitate, therefore to refuse the blood cupping (thank you for teaching me the correct expression) procedure point-blank. My doctor applies it, after all, along with some acupuncture, so I think I just need to suggest to have the sessions more frequently than now (i.e. more than once a week).
I will report here in due time, how things proceed - and hope it will be a good news!
Thank you again!
Daniel |
Jan Jedryka
Username: Jan
Registered: 06-2007
| | Posted on Saturday, June 16, 2007 - 01:00: | |
If I were you Daniel I would get a chart of the acupuncture points of the hands and have a friend with very strong fingers press quite strongly each and every point. Use a chopstick if you like. Any "ouch!" spots are to be thouroughly massaged untill the "ouchness!" disapears. Do both hands as often there is disruption to the meridian flow on the oposite side that the trouble occurs.
Best of luck and keep us informed of your progress. |
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Cubital tunnel sydrome