Don't let this happen to you!!

Gorilla

Gorilla

Experienced
Oh it SUCKS! Last month around June 17th I had a terrible like attack. Woke up and felt like I was impaled through my back (shoulder blade) to my chest and my left arm was feeling tingly. Went to the ER and they seen something weird with my EKG. Well, they did a ton of tests --cat scan--MRI of brain--Ultra sounds of my neck and chest--Xrays--Stress tests.

All came back normal. The Dr. said "I wish I had your heart and numbers, You didn't have a heart attack. Maybe you sleep on my arm wrong and that pain was from your ulnar nerve." Ended up I found out I have Athletics Heart. [My Dad has it and my Daughter has it too]. But my Ulnar nerve was damaged somehow. My left little finger and ring finger was never ending tingling and numb. And I lost all my grip in my left hand. Couldn't even open a pop can, turn on a light switch... nothing.
What sucked most was my insurance elapsed May 31st:( So I setup a visit with the area medical place... cant see me till end of August! No good! I couldn't even make a chord on my guitars. Found out Mustaine had a similar incident. Well, I saved up and sold what I could and I seen a acupuncturist Dr. 4 times. Man did that help. Tingling went away, my grip is a little stronger. I can now turn a door knob and open doors. Still can't play. Trying to save up more $$$ to visit that Dr. again. Using a handmaster therapy ball and wow its great. I'll continue using this when my hand/ nerve is completely healed.
But just wanted to say... protect yourself friends! Dave got it by hanging his arm over a chair too long. Looks like I just slept wrong {arm bent} and that did it.
Anyone else ever have this happen? How long before you could play again? I'm going freaking crazy not being able to play my guitars. Seriously... it SUCKS!
 
Best of luck with everything, I hope you recover rapidly. Must be hard not being able to play guitar. :(
 
My brother (a drummer) slept on his arm wrong and actually severed his radial nerve. The resulting radial nerve palsy completely paralized his hand for many months. His full recovery took well over a year. Scary stuff. Be careful when you're asleep :)
 
That's brutal in the uncool way Jefe. Remember that health is important so don't push yourself too hard man. It sucks to not play but it'll suck more if you can't play forever by screwing up your hand permanently. You'll play all in due time :)
 
I used to get the same numb tingly feeling in my left pinky and ring finger whenever I would rest my elbow on the kitchen table or whatever. Ended up having to have surgery on my elbow to relocate the ulnar nerve. All's well now. While going to physical therapy for some carpal tunnel work I also had done a kid there was having therapy for the same thing Mustaine went thru. He had passed out at a party and was lying on his arm for 8 hours or something and lost the use of his arm. Never did hear if he made a full recovery or not.
 
I had pinched nerves in my axillaries after leaning over my daughter's crip for too long. Both hands incl. fingers were like paralyzed and it slowly went away in 6 months. Gigging and recording was hell... In Germany some doctors call that "Parkbench Syndrome".
 
Im sorry to hear this. I hope you heal fully. Stick with the exercises and research what others have done to help rehabilitate their hands.
I wish you well.
 
Man, I am sorry to hear about your situation. I had a really minor case of 'drunks arm' (as the doctor termed it), from sleeping improperly on my arm one night many years ago. I remember being freaked out by the numb tingly feeling down my arm, and the massive loss of strength & control I experienced.

Lucky for me it only lasted for 2 weeks in my case. Great to hear that acupuncture was really successful for you. I've never tried it myself but always hear good things from friends who have tried it. Here's hoping it manages to get you back to playing very soon...
 
When my father was seriously ill and dying, I tried working out to relieve the stress I felt, and injured my back. Had similar pain and numbness going down my left hip, groin, left leg, down to my left big toe. Did everything I was told to get better. In the end, it took about two years, and I still get "hints" of the pain. I think most of the healing was really just time and not the PT.

I close friend of mine is a surgeon, and he explained to me that nerve damage can take a very long time to heal. Like a millimeter a month.

I'm really sorry this happened to you, Gorilla. Glad you're getting better, bro.
 
When I was a teenager I woke up one morning, did the usual yawn/stretch thing....a cold, dead hand fell onto my face and scared the shit out of me. I yelled and tried to yank it off my face, but for some reason it didn't move, or I wasn't able to move it.

Then I figured out it was my own hand.

I couldn't feel it, couldn't move it. It was like a movie prop. Had to use my left arm to get it off my face. Totally bizarre and never happened since. It came back to life in a bizarre painful way as soon as I moved it. All was fine.

Hope your arm finds its way back to your guitar.
 
Sorry to hear about your injury and I hope it heals fully so you can play again. I can't even imagine what I would go through if I couldn't play guitar. I had a similar situation in my leg where I was growing too fast for my tendons and they almost completely pulled away from the bone at the knee, called Osgood Slaughter's Disease. Couldn't lift my leg for a couple weeks and it was sore as hell for months.

Here's to a speedy recovery!
 
Yea ,sounds like it sucks.Hope all works out for you.I know what its like with no insurance ,haven't had insurance for 30 yrs.I don't go to the doctors much.
 
Thanks guys for all the replys and info. I really hope this heals fully and yeah, seems like its a matter of time and not over doing things :)

Thanks again friends!
 
Again, wishing you a fast recovery. Amazing depending on which position you sleep in how much it impacts your back. My shoulder has a click sound every time I rotate it because of the way I sleep.
 
I get that to an extent from leaning on my elbow to long. I got it from an old nerve injury from a car accident years ago. Nerve damage recovery is a 50/50 thing for the most part. So I can understand and empathize to not having little or no use of fingers. I was very fortunate to get my fingers back after not having no use of my left hand,(pinky and ring finger with no feeling in the length of my arm). Keep working at it Gorilla and hope all goes well for in your recovery.
 
called Saturday NIght Palsy---often drunks sleep on their arms all night on a hard surface like concrete, park bench, show up at the er thinking they had a stroke; I heard mustaines happened a heroin binge. Peripheral nerves DO recover, 1-2 years , sometimes sooner, heat ice massage, omega 3 (fish oil), vitamin b12, and NO OVERUSE. good luck my metal brutha.
 
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