Countless people are suffering from a tingling sensation somewhere in the body. This can actually occur anywhere in the body, but especially in the arms this can lead to major problems. Having pins and needles ALWAYS means that “something” is going on with a nerve. The nerve might be trapped, irritated or even damaged. The cause of these problems in the arms can lay in three places. It could be entrapped in the neck, shoulders or anywhere in the arm itself. The most common type comes from a combination of the neck and shoulders. Nerve tissue is irritated by pressure due to compression, and this can manifest itself in pain in the shoulders, numbness of the skin in areas of the arms, sleeping / tingling fingers (especially at night in bed) and even a tennis elbow can occur. This is caused by nerves in the neck which are pinched by a displaced vertebrae, poor posture or because the space between the cervical vertebraes has decreased, but often the cause is a combination of the above.
The cause of pins and needles in the arms lays often in the shoulder girdle. If the space in this area is diminished it often puts pressure on the large nerve (brachialis). This is known as the Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. This gives the typical tingling in the hands, often on both sides (especially at night). Problem of this condition is that it often is not recognized or incorrectly diagnosed. The cause is sought in the neck and therefore treatment fails.
For all named conditions above we can offer specific treatment with very good results to get ride of these symptoms. Put simply the treatment is as following, by correcting the position of various joints the neck and shoulders, space is created to give the nerves an opportunity to recover. Changing posture is an important point of treatment and we always look at the patient as a whole. Vitamins can promote recovery of the nerves and so we prescribe those as well.
The main, the most (in)famous and tedious nerve impingement IN the arm is the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. With this condition the nerve (median nerve) in the wrist is pinched because there is not enough space under a ligament which runs over the wrist. This gives a tingling or painful feeling in particular thumb, index and middle finger or even loss of strength in the hand. If the impingement is caused by a mal position of the wrist bones or an irritation in the wrist, chiropractic manipulation and specific techniques can create space for the nerve, with stunning results. Often a diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome is given while an impingement in the neck / shoulder is causing the symptoms. Proper diagnosis requires precise and extensive examination of the problem. In some cases, surgery is necessary, but often too soon with the wrong diagnosis and too often with bad results.