Recovering from CFS- was ouch! cycle tourer suffering numb, painful hands, arms

[loadsabikes]

Have you considered an Osteopath.
My other thought was have you picked up some obscure virus on your travels?

[Mrs Pingu]

Woolly, have you tried searching for an RSI specialist?

[clarion]

Though I don't like to disagree with loadsabikes, I'd steer clear of Osteopaths for your purposes.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Don't tar all osteopaths with the same brush, Clarion. They aren't all snakeoil quacks making ridiculous claims.


Woolly,when you say an 'unpleasant feeling', is it a sort of buzz, but not bzzzzzz, more of an unpleasant thrum?

If so, I'd put some money on this being neurological and probably your upper back. You took a fair tumble in south america, I seem to recall, in the incident that broke your forks.

[woollypigs]

mrcharly you are pretty much bang on!

The more I think about it I wonder if it all comes from the back. Tumble, helmet and my general problem with by back, though that problem is lower back.

[mrcharly-YHT]

If you can, get to a sport physio. They prob can't fix it, but they will be able to tell if you have muscles in spasm that are causing the issue, or if it is spine damage.

Pelly can help here. Get her to press (not too hard, just firmly) on either side of every vertebrate and joint between every one. This shouldn't hurt. If it does in any area, (maybe base of neck, T1 area), then you have inflammation there - this needs sorting of possible.

The other possibility is carpal tunnel, but I think you've had this investigated.

I have a book, recommended by people on here "treat your own back". If you have a postal address I'll send it on to you.

[clarion]

Don't tar all osteopaths with the same brush, Clarion. They aren't all snakeoil quacks making ridiculous claims.

I know.  We have one who comes into our Practice.  But remember that the evidence base is that they are only of limited use.  Here's what the NHS say, in short:

Does osteopathy work?

There is evidence that osteopathy is effective for the treatment of persistent lower back pain. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommends it as a treatment for this condition.

There is also limited evidence that it is effective in helping recovery after hip or knee operations.

There is no good evidence that osteopathy is effective as a treatment for any other health conditions.

Serious side effects or complications have been reported, but they appear to be rare.

Here's the link for further information on the evidence:
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Osteopathy/Pages/evidence.aspx

[woollypigs]

mrcharly thanks, I haven't been diagnosed with anything yet. I got a appointment with a Orthopaedic Surgeon in 3-4 weeks. I think I'll call up and talk to my doctor. But mainly I'll wait to see what the Orthopaedic says before I go around the houses to get mended else where.

[clarion]

Good plan.  Bit of a long wait, though.

Hope it's not too much of a problem in the short term.

[woollypigs]

Well I couldn't wait any more so I (we) went to the Clitheroe Physio Centre for a drop-in session.

After a half hour Q and A she asked me to bend over in various directions and then prodded me with a stick here and here, to test my reflects and that I haven't lost any feelings in my limbs. She then did a very light massage, to figure out where things hurt and caused other places to hurt.

We narrowed it down to that there is something wrong with my lower neck and upper back where they join together with shoulders and just below my shoulder blades. Both places were very stiff, not painful but I could feel that something was going on in my arms and hands when she pressed there. She is pretty sure that it is not carpal tunnel the pain/discomfort/"this is not right feeling" I described does not link to that. The problem i have is highly likely to come from the back/neck area.

When I stood up from the torture table, I could really feel things going on in my arms, from shoulder to hands. When walking out from the centre I felt slightly dizzy/woozy and that the pain/discomfort had been moved around. Hard to describe but lets just say I didn't feel right and I could feel where things were wrong. She also thinks that the "little" fall I had, when we both got thrown off our steeds in Patagonia, might be the cause of it or at least not helping in healing.

She gave me some exercises to do to strengthen my back and neck and we agreed to meet up in two weeks time. Which fit nicely to be the day after my trip to the Orthopaedic Surgeon, whom she said that was normally the one they would refer you too after you had been referred to them by your GP.

[woollypigs]

I did the exercises for nearly a full day before I had to give up. Pain from base of scull to way down my back past my bum to the upper back of my legs and the worst case of numb arms, shoulders and wrists I have had for a long time. Not a good night sleep at all.

I talked to the Physio the next day and we agreed that I better stop until we met again, which is tomorrow.

We just got back from the orthopaedic surgeon who said that I was in the wrong clinic, this is a hand clinic, and that I was booked in for an operation for carpal tunnel not a check up. He agreed with the physio that if the exercises caused more discomfort STOP and that it isn't a carpal tunnel problem.

He have, will, now booked me in for a full MRI scan and a test to see if there is any nerve damage, can't remember what it is called, so more waiting for me - four to six weeks, again...

Booking in a trip to GP just to keep him updated and see if it could be worth it to go private to get the scan done any faster, cause I want to get back on my bike again.

I will go to my physio appointment tomorrow to pick her brains to see if there is anything I can do now and later to help/prevent etc.

Good news is that two days of 4-5 hours walking up and over Boulsworth Hill and into the Yorkshire Dales in deep snow at times, didn't cause any pain in my arms/neck.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Ouch. There seems to be confusion with the orthopaedic surgeon having been told it was a carpal tunnel problem. Good that walking in the snowy Dales is going well though.

[woollypigs]

hmm it's been a week with no word.

Called the hospital and I know that my MRI scan request is in the queue but they wouldn't tell me when I my appointment would be or when I will know when my appointment. Only info I could get out of them is that I will know in 4-6 weeks when my appointment is.

Talked to my GP and going private wouldn't really speed things up as I still need to see a specialist and get booked in for MRI scan, 2-3 weeks the GP think. And at least over £500 for a scan to gain two or so weeks isn't really worth it.

In other news - booked in a date with Kevin at D Tek to see if we can find a sofa to ride on, so at least I can get out and do some riding.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Keeping fingers crossed that the mri shows nothing. Nerves can recover, you can stretch muscles. Will just take careful work and discipline.

[woollypigs]

Thanks, the Physio, whom I meet the day after the surgeon, have given me some simple and light stretches to do, which I do very tenderly - which she told would be the way she normally would sort this kinda problem - and if it starts to give bother I stop.

Peli just jumped on her bike to go out for a ride, she is doing a few miles for me

[mrcharly-YHT]

Thanks, the Physio, whom I meet the day after the surgeon, have given me some simple and light stretches to do, which I do very tenderly -

That's a lesson that I had to learn. I was doing the right sort of exercises, but far far too hard. The physio gave me more simple ones and showed me how to tell if I was doing them too hard. The intensity seemed so pathetic to me - but after a few weeks I could really tell they were helping. Now I can do them on 'hard' mode and have added other exercises.

If I don't do them at least 5 days a week, symptoms reappear.

Now I did have different problems to you, but they were spinal and stemmed from old accidents and recent neglect.

[tonyh]

The intensity seemed so pathetic to me 

Similarly for me.

[But still making progress (with back strength and flexibility) after 20 years of 2 X 5mins/day.]

[Sergeant Pluck]

But still making progress (with back strength and flexibility) after 20 years of 2 X 5mins/day

What twice daily exercises are you doing for your back, out of interest?

[tonyh]

But still making progress (with back strength and flexibility) after 20 years of 2 X 5mins/day

What twice daily exercises are you doing for your back, out of interest?

Local Physios recommended R. McKenzie's "Treat Your Own Back". I had gone to the first appointment scared of having my back pulled about and made worse; instead I was urged to do a selection of "ridiculously" gentle movements, stopping well short of any painfulness. As in the book. Googling "McKenzie back exercises", now, seems to give a huge range of sometimes stressful-looking stuff. Also, what a particular condition needs does vary between individuals. But basic ideas about posture, not slumping, and doing gentle extensions, seems perhaps to be generally applicable. I am not an expert! (Sorry to be rather vague.)

[woollypigs]

30th of April I will be scanned, brain and spine. I hear that it is possible to get the "photographs" on a disk, no if that is true - how cool would that be

[Ham]

30th of April I will be scanned, brain and spine. I hear that it is possible to get the "photographs" on a disk, no if that is true - how cool would that be

I can see you should be ok with the spine bit, but it may take them some time to find the other. Good luck. (and yes, you can ask for a DVD)

[woollypigs]

I think they said it would take up to 90min to do it all, which means that they must have a crack search and rescue team to find the first bit

[Kim]

Go armed with a USB flash drive.  They gave barakta a copy of her head CT and hand x-rays on that.

[Sergeant Pluck]

30th of April I will be scanned, brain and spine. I hear that it is possible to get the "photographs" on a disk, no if that is true - how cool would that be

Hope the scan helps to get to the bottom of this Woolly, all the best for it.

[woollypigs]

Kim :Oh great idea, I must remember to format it to FAT then and not arrived with a ext4 drive, 16Gb for my insides must be enough

S. Pluck : Thanks mate.