# Brachial Plexus Injury - Anybody had this?



## throet (Oct 8, 2016)

Well it's been 8 weeks since my neck injury, and although the pain in my neck and shoulder has subsided, I've still got numbness in my right arm. Turns out that the problem is not in my neck but in my brachial plexus nerve complex. Because I landed on the left side of my head and forcefully bent my neck in that direction, apparently I suffered what's called a traction (stretching of nerves) injury in the right brachial plexus, a web of nerve connections that sits under the clavicle. I'm now seeing a Neurologist and he believes that the nerves could still be trying to heal, which is a very slow process. If this is as bad as it's going to get, I'd be OK with the mild numbness. Because certain movements / positions cause the numbness to worsen though, my fear is that something is putting pressure on the nerves and could complicate things down the road.


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## nmtim (Sep 21, 2005)

I have the same symptoms from an injury 6 months ago (landed on my head). Its almost as numb as the day it happened. How did the neurologist determine is was from the Brachial Plexus? I had an EMG and they couldn't find any thing abnormal.


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## throet (Oct 8, 2016)

nmtim said:


> I have the same symptoms from an injury 6 months ago (landed on my head). Its almost as numb as the day it happened. How did the neurologist determine is was from the Brachial Plexus? I had an EMG and they couldn't find any thing abnormal.


Interesting. I think it's somewhat speculative. My EMG didn't really show anything either. I had an MRI of the cervical spine and that didn't show anything either. When I raise my arm up and twist my torso to the right, everything from my shoulder down goes numb. Otherwise it's mostly just constant numbness in my index finger, thumb, and part of my forearm. I'm back riding, going to the gym, etc, but would really like to know what's going on. Suppose it's possible that there was some permanent nerve damage.


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## jaydoc (Dec 24, 2014)

Plexus injuries are a complicated beast. EMGs can be quite helpful for localizing injury, but as you can see they are many times less than helpful, and are very operator dependent. Traction injuries are often of mixed severity, and if you have no motor or muscle control problems then consider yourself lucky! Nerve growth is only roughly 1mm per day or an inch per month, so even if you have an injury that will ultimately heal, it is going to take awhile for the axons to get all the way from your neck to your hand. In the end, even if you don't recover the sensation in your hand, other sensory nerves for other places in your arm or chest can be transferred over given the hand sensation is more important.


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## throet (Oct 8, 2016)

I definitely consider myself lucky. I've recovered sensation in my arm and hand but still feel an occasional jolt of pain between my neck and right shoulder. The Neurologist told me that the nerve would heal more quickly if I stopped consuming alcohol. Not sure if that really helped, but it was certainly a small sacrifice to pay even considering how much I enjoy craft beer. At this point I just feel fortunate to be riding again and don't plan to do anything too risky anymore.


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