Arm and Hand Pain Q & A's
What causes arm pain?
Common causes of spine pain include:
- Arm overuse
- Arthritis
- Bursitis
- Fractures related to osteoporosis
- Rotator cuff injury
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Joint dislocations
- Peripheral vascular disease
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Tendinitis
- Ligament damage
- Fibromyalgia
- Herniated disc
One type of serious arm pain that the team treats at Headache & Pain Center,amc is a form of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) called reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD). It’s a complicated condition that can affect both your arms and hands.
With many of these causes of arm pain, hand pain and numbness can occur at the same time. This happens because your arm and hand nerves are connected. Although numbness and pain are very different sensations, they’re usually related to the same issue: nerve disruption or damage.
What are CRPS and RSD?
CRPS is an uncommon syndrome in which you have persistent pain in one arm. It can also affect one leg. Usually, CRPS starts following some type of injury or a medical event like a heart attack.
CRPS pain is quite severe, and much worse than what’s normally related to the problem that led to it. Approximately 90% of CRPS sufferers have Type 1 CRPS, which is also called RSD.
RSD happens when the illness or injury that started your symptoms didn’t directly impact the nerves in your arm. Eventually, it can lead to tissue atrophy, muscle contracture, and could even prevent you from using your arm at all if you don’t get treatment.
How do you treat arm pain?
Arm pain treatment at Headache & Pain Center,amc emphasizes symptom relief without opioid medication or major surgery. The team offers a variety of minimally invasive procedures to treat your arm pain, such as:
- Bracing/splinting
- Topical analgesics for on-demand pain relief
- Botulinum toxin (Botox®) injections for pain relief
- Corticosteroid injections to lower inflammation levels and reduce arm pain
- Nerve block injections to prevent the nerve signals causing your arm pain
- Spinal cord stimulator to intercept nerve signaling and prevent arm pain
The team may also recommend physical therapy, spinal decompression, and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), as well. The goal is long-lasting arm pain relief so that you can use your arm confidently again.
Don’t let your arm pain worsen until you can’t function at all. The Headache & Pain Center, amc team has a range of cutting-edge solutions to help, so call either office or use the online scheduler now.
