Ken_Kaniff
New Member
- Joined
- May 29, 2016
- Messages
- 4
HPclinic said:Ken_Kaniff said:Hi, Steve. I'm not sure I can still post in this thread. I'd appreciate your comment on my niggle. I didn't pick it up climbing but it prevents me from doing it.
Last week I woke up with a shooting pain in the area of my shoulder blade. The pain went down my arm and resulted in the hand numbness. In the past 3-4 days, after I started exercising my upper body with theraband, the pain in the back and arm has decreased substantially. As for the numbness, it has passed but I still have problems clenching my fist as hard as I used to.
I saw my GP about the pain and he believed it was a pinched nerve in my neck, possibly resulting from terrible posture, a desk job, and a two-week cold I'd had prior to the incident.
It'd be fantastic if you had any suggestions about the issues my GP couldn't help me with:
a) whether I should do any other exercises aside from my theraband routine?
b) how long should I expect for the numbness (inability to grip on holds) to last?
c) when will it be safe to return to training and bouldering and what what type of exercises to avoid in the initial stage?
I look forward to your comments,
Ken
Hi Ken
I agree with your GP and you probably have a nerve injury. This should resolve with time and the pressure might have come off your neck but you need time for the nerve to repair. Any nerve injury is generally slower than muscles, tendons etc. so I would stop the theraband exercises and climbing for 3-4 weeks. During this time the numbness should resolve but it depends on how much pressure there was on the nerve. If you woke with the medial (inside shoulder on back) shoulder pain consider your work position and change regularly if you sit all day. Many climbers tend to get low shoulders caused by over active lats which can cause pressure on there nerve roots in the neck.So you might not have injured it during climbing but it might contribute to its onset. Its complicated!
Cheers
Steve H
Steve, thank you for taking the time to answer so quickly. I was hoping against hope that it wouldn't be so long to get back in shape. Anyway, I'm glad these issues do pass with time.
Once again, I really appreciate your help.
Ken