United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

i always descibe the the pain to peeps by asking them if they have ever smashed their thumb with a hammer. feels like that. stinging, throbing and burning. then just as the pain from smacking yer thumb starts to diminish, you go and whack it again. so if they could imaging that, then i tell them it is like smashing my thumb, but from my elbow to finger tips, at least once every half hour.

My injury was in '99. For a year I had the typical pain that most describe. It felt like sparks in my shoulder down to my hand. It drove me nuts! Vicadin helped, but I quit taking it. The side effects were as bad as the injury. I stumbled on to drinking tea to calm myself, at times I thouigh I would jump out of my skin.The pain gradually eased, from my shoulder to my hand. I am now pain free in my right arm. Now the numbness is what I have left, like novacaine wearing off. My only pain is in my left hand, overuse.
It has been 3 yrs. since the injury and I can do anything I choose. I feel for those of you who have left with constant pain, I wish that there was something I could offer to help.

Wow, feels like my wrist and hand are in a vice grip!!
Depending on the intensity, there are times that I cannot breath through the spasms no matter how hard I try, I just have to stop every thing I'm doing, bend over and hold my breath! In addition to that, I have phantom pain. It feels like the pain is in my wrist and hand but like they are attached to my elbow sometimes feeling like they float between there and my wrist.

My pain is persistent around my right shoulder blade and down my shoulder in the back and thru my right underarm in front. My hand feels numb in my fingers. I cannot find a comfortable position to sit in. The pain is burning and throbbing constantly. I can only turn my head so far to the right,then the pain is unbearable.What is this??????

I don't have much pain at all anymore, which I think is unusual. I'm not on any medications or anything. The only time I have bad pain is a shooting pain. Its hard to describe, but its like something sharp and pulsing travels through the arm. It moves along and at the same time pulsates and burns. I don't get this very often at all, but when I do it is very severe.

Thanks for the input-the article on tbpi pain appeared in the last 'Outreach' magazine and some quotes from this thread were in there.
Hope some of you have some relief since posting-in MOSTY cases the pain becomes bearable within a year or two. I still get pain but it rarely stops me functioning-here in NZ I'm in an unheated house and it's winter, so I've had a constant burning throb in my hand for over a month-I know amputation doesn't stop the nerve pain, but if my cold hand is setting it off, wouldn't amputation stop that? Seriously considering it now........

If you can help.... My pain is all down the right arm and into the r back shoulder blade also at the back of my head. It hurts so badly

My heart goes out to you and I have nothing specific that will take the pain away. There are, however, a number of things I do that will take the edge off.
1. Have a drink. The worse the pain, the tenser I get. The higher the tension, the worse the pain. Alcohol helps calm that part down.
2. Sit/lie still during the worst of it, supporting the shoulder. The less the physical tension, the less the pain.
3. Pressure points. There are places in my shoulder that respond to pressure and releave some of the pain. The same for my head.
4. Deep regular breathing
5. Massage
6. Distraction
7. Scream therapy. Venting my displeasure rather loudly.

Please hang in and hang on. You will get past this.

All the best!

Hi Henry,

I'm mostly a "lurker". I contribute in spurts. Sometimes I get too busy to respond but I check in frequently.

My (at the time 20-year old) son suffered a TBPI 3 years ago this July 8th. Worst possible diagnosis but successful surgery in New Orleans at about 4 months post-injury. Yeah Dr. Tiel!!! Pain is/was a big issue in our case. Things have gotten better partly because we've learned that your list contains our best answers and also because things really do get better with time.

Anyways, your tips are excellent, and, I think after much experimentation, realistic methods. A lot of our research after the injury involved seeking info on pain relief. Valuable insight and much appreciated!

Agreed Nancy, Henry's tips are right on the nail. I would say that sometimes the morning after a few drinks the arm hurts even worse, several of us have found this 'hangover pain' to be quite an issue, do you find this Henry?