brachial plexitis caused by infection
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admin
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brachial plexitis caused by infection
My injury was a torn muscle in my neck, which apparently lead to an infection of some sort in my right brachial plexus. My current symptoms are slight numbness on the front of my shoulder and a total loss of strength in the deltoid and and top part of the pectoral muscle. Can I expect this condition to improve and is there anything I can do to help it. I have no pain, but I am worried about atrophy beginning from lack of use. I have no problems in my lower arm and I still have full use of the arm, I just have very poor muscle recruitment in the two muscles mentioned. I would be very grateful for any advice. Paul
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Francine_Litz
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Re: brachial plexitis caused by infection
hi Paul -
has it been proven that only the neck muscles were torn and not nerve? Has anyone done an EMG?
If it is purely from infection this may referred to as brachial plexus neuritis or Parsonage Turner Syndrome. They do say that this is a temporary type of bpi. Move whatever you can as much as you can. There is also NMES - electrical stimulation that you can use that will exercise what is NOT moving so that it cuts down on the atrophy. Your best bet is to see a physiatrist and/or occupational therapist.
good luck,
francine
has it been proven that only the neck muscles were torn and not nerve? Has anyone done an EMG?
If it is purely from infection this may referred to as brachial plexus neuritis or Parsonage Turner Syndrome. They do say that this is a temporary type of bpi. Move whatever you can as much as you can. There is also NMES - electrical stimulation that you can use that will exercise what is NOT moving so that it cuts down on the atrophy. Your best bet is to see a physiatrist and/or occupational therapist.
good luck,
francine
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admin
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Re: brachial plexitis caused by infection
Francine,
I don't know what an EMG is. My doctor did a test involving placing electrodes in different places on my hand and shocking me up and down my arm and on my collar bone. He then inserted electrode needles in the muscles around my neck and shoulder. I don't know what he determined from this, but he then ordered some MRI's. He has seen MRI's and X'Rays of my shoulder, C-spine, and in between, and his diagnosis is brachial plexitis caused by infection. Should I get a second opinion? Or is there another test I should ask him to perform? Thanks so much for your help.
Paul
I don't know what an EMG is. My doctor did a test involving placing electrodes in different places on my hand and shocking me up and down my arm and on my collar bone. He then inserted electrode needles in the muscles around my neck and shoulder. I don't know what he determined from this, but he then ordered some MRI's. He has seen MRI's and X'Rays of my shoulder, C-spine, and in between, and his diagnosis is brachial plexitis caused by infection. Should I get a second opinion? Or is there another test I should ask him to perform? Thanks so much for your help.
Paul
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Francine_Litz
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Re: brachial plexitis caused by infection
Paul - sounds like you have a good diagnosis. I'm glad the tests were done so that you know for sure. It never hurts to get a 2nd opinion - bring all your test results with you and copies of all your scans (not just the reports) - so that they can have them read in their facility.
Good luck - I hope it all gets better soon.
-francine
Good luck - I hope it all gets better soon.
-francine