Dear Mom,
My husband says I’ve the body of a goddess…boy, what a stupid line and the baldest lie! I do, however, find my physical humanness humiliating, but today I have an interesting story to tell that you might want to share with anyone else with a similar complaint.
For many months (perhaps even more than a year) I have been waking up in the morning with pins-and-needles extending from my shoulders to the tips of my baby fingers. Sometimes just one arm, sometimes both. This was not cool, but I was not optimistic that anything could be done about it that would not involve surgery or some other inconvenience-far-exceeding-the-”symptoms”.
Anyway. I mentioned it to my GP at the end of a long list of other questions last week and he said that the most likely explanation was that, while sleeping, my neck was in a position that caused nerves to become pinched and that I needed to buy a pillow that gave my neck more support.
Here is a picture showing the nerves that are involved:
B8 is the ulnar nerve – the one that causes the discomfort when you hit your funny bone.
B1 is the lateral cord.
(from Anatomy Coloring Workbook)
Here is a photograph of the pillow that I bought:
Okay so its not all that exciting, but take note: it has a “special foam core to ensure correct posture & prevent painful compression of the spine” and I have been pins-and-needles free since I started using it!
Yours etc.
Bronwen
PS Have changed the name from “Work Blog” to “Dear Mom”. If you have any better ideas, please let me know, but “Work Blog” was a bit lame to start with, and I don’t seem to be writing about work anymore. Though of course if you have any ideas for work-related topics/questions you would like me to answer about my very exciting job :), please let me know those as well and perhaps we can go back to “Work Blog”.
I need one of those – can I ask where you got yours?
...Debenhams…
I had this same problem and got diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, which frankly, I just didn’t buy—it didn’t make sense, considering the numbness went from side to side. After about a year of this, my husband and I moved cross-cross country, tossed out our old mattress, and bought a new one. It made a world of difference! Could this potentially be an issue?
I was not in the slightest bit interested in actually being treated for carpal or ulnar (cubital) tunnel syndrome either. Friends who are doctors (but not GPs) had said words like “surgery” and “physiotherapy” and neither appealed. It seems though that even if it this is the problem, there seem to be a lot of lifestyle changes that can be made that can make the problem go away – and one of these is to change the position in which one sleeps.
I think that you are right in thinking that its odd that he should have suggested carpal tunnel syndrome as it does not seem logical that that would affect the little-finger-side of the arm specifically (see here) being the entrapment of the median rather than the ulnar nerve.
Do any neuro-gurus read my blog?
Glad you are feeling better! I liked “work blog”, it sort of had the sense of being vaguely serious, and was very useful for advice on getting coffee up the stairs and things like that. But it is your blog, you should call it what you like.
I agree with your husband that you have the body of a goddess, goddesses are not little sticks like Keira Knightley, lovely though she is in her own way.
That reminds me… I have modified the morning routine slightly such that I carry the mug in my rucksack. This means that I do not have to make a separate trip and incidentally indicates the end of my (very brief) use of an elegant handbag. A further advantage of the rucksack is that I can drag my camera around with me.
Today was the first time I saw another commuter get his coffee in his own cup – I found this very pleasing! He had one of those metal travel mugs – just like the one that Dot uses.
I gave him a big smile, and it was only after he turned back a few seconds later to see me still smiling at him that it occurred to me that he might have been thinking that I was admiring something other than his travel mug!
Its back to Work Blog as you can see. After more thought, Maxine’s comment and a conversation with my dad, it seems that this is best.
I had a similar problem, Bronwen, a few years back. I would wake up with a feeling of great tightness across my chest, running down my left arm. Fearing an imminent heart attack, I rushed to my GP, who immediately diagnosed poor posture, trapping a nerve between thoracic vertebrate 3 and 4. I can’t remember what I did to cure it – but the relief at knowing I wasn’t going to have a coronary might have been enough to have alleviated the symptoms.
It is amazing that poor posture can have such severe symptoms. I suppose I did not really concentrate properly during all of those rat dissections, but for some reason, I thought that these nerves were neatly protected – at least from the possible positions of our own bones!
This reminds me: I must get back into the habit of doing a bit of yoga every day as this is serious!
Yoga is the way forward, according to my wife.
I have now purchased one of the Debenhams orthopaedic pillows – it is much better than my previous pillow. I think the problem runs deeper (bad posture, not enough exercise etc.) but at least I sleep better now and don’t wake up with a pain in the neck. So thanks for prompting me with this blog post.
There is a shop (I think diagonally opposite Tescos?) near work that sells yoga mats and other useful accessories. The mat helps to define the space. Time is slightly trickier. I made a mix CD with different pieces of music having alternating lengths:
Track 1: 4-5 min
Track 2: 1-2 min
Track 3: 4-5 min
Track 4: 1-2 min etc.
This allows me to decide how long to practice, and how long to do each exercise type; but does not have the disadvantage of disrupting an idea that you would experience if you had to keep having to switch a timer off?
The best is to find a good teacher, but I tend to muddle along on my own for the most part. My husband is helpful when I am unsure whether I am doing it quite like the book says. :)