Getting On My Nerves!

You may have noticed an absence in posts and videos from me lately. Aside from being busy with work, I've had a few ailments to contend with.
 
For about 5 months of this year and up until a couple of weeks ago I had been suffering really badly with pains down my right side of my arm. It was to the point whereby I was getting the constant feeling of electric shocks down my hand, and my arm movements became incredibly limited, as I couldn't lift my arm up at all without being in alot of pain.

At times I couldn't eat or brush my teeth with my right arm (my electric toothbrush sent such insanely painful vibrations through my arm I could have cried) so was doing everything like that left handed. My skincare routine was again very painful and drying my hair with my hairdryer was out of the question. My arm was very weak and tingly all of the time. 


I had been taking painkillers, using heatpatches and even had my hand splinted for most of the day and night as a vain attempt to try and fix the problem, which I suspect was initially caused by reading my phone in bed at night at an uncomfortable angle.
 
After seeing my Doctor and being tested for diabetes and thyroid problems *again!* he ruled it was probably a trapped nerve. This was without even touching my arm or checking it, just taking a guess. His advice was that I should remain in the splint and continue taking ibuprofen if I'm in too much pain. All they could do for me is offer me pain injections if it continued and that was about it.I wasn't really satisfied with this response seen as I'd lost most of the use out of my right arm (I'm right handed as well!) and things were becoming impossible for me. It's only suggested you take ibuprofen for 10 days and it had been about 5 months at this point (I hadn't been taking pillkillers that long but just to demonstrate how impractical this advice was!)  

In my desperate attempt to get my arm back to normal I went on a hunt for a cure. I came across a video on YouTube about Swiss massage techniques which told not just how to do them, but how to look out for knots and what they feel like in the skin. I had no idea knots are actually lactic acid build up that need to be released by applying the right amount of pressure and drinking lots of water afterwards to help flush out the toxins.
 
I was absolutely fascinated by this video, and got my Mum to repeat some of the techniques on my back with a tiny drop of deep heat over the course of a week or so. It hurt like hell even though she was trying not to hurt me! She told me I was very knotted and what I found is it hurt less and less the more times she went over the painful areas (coincidentally on my right shoulder!)
 
I kid you not even after the very first time of attempting this, I regained almost all the moment in my right arm and the pain had 95% gone. This was after months and months of pain, tingling sensations and constant discomfort. I had no idea it even hurt up there until she went over it and it was one of those Eureka moments people go on about.

We've topped up the massage about once a week or so (I'm still getting the odd knot, which weirdly I can feel as I get shooting pains down my arm and into my hands) and I really cannot believe the difference. I've since had no real problems and can once again lift my arm up and dry my hair and everything else I haven't been able to do for months.

I've also limited the use of my phone especially at night. Just to put things in perspective even "liking" an instagram post before would have left me in agony and any swiping motion on an app was out of the question because of the pain it set off.
 
I thought I would share this for anyone else out there suffering with similar symptoms, you never know it might actually be a knot build-up in your back. I spent so long concentrating on my hand/wrist as this was the main source of pain but the problems were actually from much further up!
 
Please give the video a watch and look into having a Swiss Massage if this sounds like you. Even if you get someone else to push the knots out like I did, it's better than sitting there in pain! Also, watch your arm/hand angles when using technology to avoid strains and damage long term.


Hope I've helped some of you out there!