Brachial Plexus Injury / C-5 palsy - how to deal with pain?

Hi
I have a Bracial Plexus Injury for 12 Years in my left lower arm.
2 Questions

If my arm is always cold, like slab of cold meat cold, more so in winter.
would their be a very high chance of complications. ?

I also have my arm hanging down I am aware of gravity pulling down blood to the left arm fingers.
and deoxygenated blood hanging around in the arm.
looking ahead for the many years to come is their a high chance of medical complications?

Any help would be greatly appreciated
thanks for your help and look forward to your response.

Daniel Munday

Hi @Daniel_Munday Welcome to Connect.
We can't answer questions about medical complications, but I'm hoping you'll be able to connect with others who have experience with brachial plexus injury.

What kind of treatment have you had? Here's some info about treatment options http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/brachial-plexus-injury/diagnosis-treatment/treatment/txc-20127386

I suspect if you've been dealing with this for 12 years, you've looked into treatment options. Do you do physical therapy?

I take Cymbalta to help with the nerve pain and Lunesta to help sleep at night. The combination has been helpful.

Wondering if cymbalta would help earaches<br><br>

Hi @kanyonkick and welcome to Connect. Do you also have a brachial plexus injury? How did it happen and how long have you been dealing with it?

@cmtg, Here's some information about duloxetine (brand name: Cymbalta) http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/duloxetine-oral-route/description/drg-20067247 "Duloxetine is used to treat depression and anxiety. It is also used for pain caused by nerve damage associated with diabetes (diabetic peripheral neuropathy). Duloxetine is also used to treat fibromyalgia (muscle pain and stiffness) and chronic (long-lasting) pain that is related to muscles and bones."

You should talk with your doctor about what is causing your earaches to know what treatment would be effective.

I had an injury at age 12 that gave me bulging disks and stenosis c4 through c7.  It has degenerated over the years.  I had 1 disk replaced but still have a lot of nerve pain that flares from the brachial plexus.  Cymbalta celebrity and deep tissue massage to remove knots every 2 weeks help me a lot.<br><br><br>

I just had surgery this past Thursday, (1/25/2024) and apparently I developed C-5 palsy. My surgery was a posterior cervical laminoplasty:

1-Posterior Cervical Laminoplasty C4-C6 with Stryker Plate with Posterior C3
2-Laminectomy and C7 Dome Laminectomy Posterior C3
Laminectomy and C7 Dome Laminectomy (Posterior, Posterior). I am my surgeon’s first
Patient to develop this
( C5 Palsy).

I don’t know if a factor is my RRMS…..

I work out and lift, so I need to get better quickly. What has helped address and better the palsy?

@vze1n191 Hello and welcome to Connect. I am a cervical spine surgery patient, and I have to tell you that healing from spine surgery takes time and patience. Your surgeon is not going to let you do lifting for quite awhile. My limit started at 10 pounds and I had only one level operated on. Your surgery covered a lot more cervical levels and was just a few days ago. Because your shoulder muscles and scapula muscle connect to your spine, they will exert a force on your spine that could be injuring to the surgical sites that have just begun to heal. It takes about 6 weeks for just the incision to heal and right now you have a lot of inflammation from surgery. You will need to ask your surgeon what you can and cannot do and they will need to clear you for increasing physical activity. Your post operative abilities may be different than your past abilities and that is something that spine patients have to accept. After healing the wounds, physical therapy can help.

I have communicated with another patient on Connect @birdman518 who had developed C5 palsy after a cervical spine surgery. I found some medical literature indicating it is a risk from the surgery because the C5 nerve root is shorter than other nerve roots and it can be affected. You can read our conversation. If I remember correctly, physical therapy may have improved his C5 palsy. This post has the medical literature that I mentioned.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/677141/
I know this isn't the outcome you were hoping for, and it may take a lot of time to heal and work through it. I would think your surgeon would be willing to send you to physical therapy for this when the time is right.

Jennifer

Yes, I did develop nerve palsy in my right arm after my C3-C6 ACDF surgery. I did physical therapy, and it went away after about 6 weeks. My surgery itself, however, did NOT work, and I still have as much pain, numbness and weakness in my right arm and hand as ever... I do not know what to do about it. I really don't want more surgery, and I definitely don't want to go on drugs like Gabapentin...
I hope this helps you, in any event.