Nerve Pain?!
Question: My girlfriend had a long surgery on March 6th, it lasted about 5-6 hours. Her left arm and hand are in severe pain to this day, but surgery had nothing to do with her arms. While in the hospital, the doctors told her it was just nerve damage from the position they had her in and that it should go away in about two weeks. She complained that the pain was very bad so they had her see a Neurologist and he gave her a CT scan which came back ok. After the scan was ok they just said it will heal. Well it has been almost a month now and she is in pain. She can not sleep at night nor can she really use her arm or hand. I was wanting to know if there is anything I or we could do to help ease some of the pain. Do heating pads work? What can we do? Her pain meds for her surgery aren't helping with the arm or hand. So we need some advice.
Answers: My girlfriend had a long surgery on March 6th, it lasted about 5-6 hours. Her left arm and hand are in severe pain to this day, but surgery had nothing to do with her arms. While in the hospital, the doctors told her it was just nerve damage from the position they had her in and that it should go away in about two weeks. She complained that the pain was very bad so they had her see a Neurologist and he gave her a CT scan which came back ok. After the scan was ok they just said it will heal. Well it has been almost a month now and she is in pain. She can not sleep at night nor can she really use her arm or hand. I was wanting to know if there is anything I or we could do to help ease some of the pain. Do heating pads work? What can we do? Her pain meds for her surgery aren't helping with the arm or hand. So we need some advice.
Hiii huggybear,
May I ask, what kind of surgery your gf had it? And what location of the surgery done? What position when the surgery done? Is there any device using around the neck, shoulder, arm and elbow when the surgery done?....That is very important question and should ask this to the surgeont doctor.
Ask to your gf is there another symptom such as tingling sensation, numbness, muscle weakness beside the pain? and where the exact location of tingling sensation, numbness, muscle weakness? What kind of the pain she has? The pain such as Pain and needles, dull pain, stubbing pain, burning pain, throbbing pain?
I suspect, your gf have an nerve irritation/ mild compression/ injury along the nerve of shoulder and arms because of her position when surgery done. And it will be to be normally around two weeks after surgery done.
But if the pain still there, you should check it by EMG/Electromyography for to know how severe the irritation of the nerve, and where the exact location the process of the irritation did.
This is about EMG:
Electrodiagnostic tests. These tests include electromyography (EMG), nerve conduction studies, and evoked potential (EP) tests. In EMG, the doctor inserts thin needles in specific muscles and observes the electrical signals that are displayed on a screen. This test helps to pinpoint which muscles and nerves are affected by pain. Nerve conduction studies are done to determine whether specific nerves have been damaged. The doctor positions two sets of electrodes on the patient's skin over the muscles in the affected area. One set of electrodes stimulates the nerves supplying that muscle by delivering a mild electrical shock; the other set records the nerve's electrical signals on a machine.
Medications to relieve pain are known as analgesics. Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, are commonly used analgesics. NSAIDs include such medications as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), ketoprofen (Orudis), diclofenac (Voltaren, Cataflam), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), and nabumetone (Relafen). These medications are effective in treating mild or moderate pain. A newer group of NSAIDs, which are sometimes called "superaspirins" because they can be given in higher doses than aspirin without causing stomach upset or bleeding, are known as COX-2 inhibitors. The COX-2 inhibitors include celecoxib (Celebrex), rofecoxib (Vioxx), and valdecoxib (Bextra).
For more severe pain, the doctor may prescribe an NSAID combined with an opioid, usually codeine or hydrocodone. Opioids, which are also called narcotics, are strong painkillers derived either from the opium poppy Papaver somniferum or from synthetic compounds that have similar effects. Opioids include such drugs as codeine, fentanyl (Duragesic), hydromorphone (Dilaudid), meperidine (Demerol), morphine, oxycodone (OxyContin), and propoxyphene (Darvon).
Another modalities treatments for the pain are a cold therapy for acute phase (Icing, cold pack,etc), heating therapy for chronic phase (heating pad, Shortwave Diathermy, Ultrasound Diathermy,etc) TENS (Transcutaneous Electrostimulation Nerve Stimulation),and Low Level Laser Therapy for release the pain....please visit your Rehabilitation doctor/physiotherapist and ask about these.
Ok. That