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Hand Weakness and Shoulder Fatigue after a clean EMG
I’m a 23 year old male that has been dealing with on and off again anxiety regarding my health for around a year now. For the longest time, I was doing good, but then around three weeks ago I’ve begun to develop worrying physical symptoms.
For starters, my right hand has felt extremely weak and feels awkward and uncomfortable whenever I grip things. Luckily, I’m not dropping anything and I can still do a lot of the stuff I could before, like turning doorknobs or buttoning my shirt, but it’s bad enough that I feel tired even when lifting objects that are not that heavy at all and it often cramps up when I squeeze it into something like a fist.
The other issue I’m having is that I’m feeling a ton of fatigue in my right shoulder even when I’m not doing anything with it. Simply lifting my tablet with one hand for five minutes feels like I’ve been severely overworking it and so far, rest hasn’t seemed to really help the issue at all.
I received an EMG and NCS around two months ago, with the results being clear of anything that could be seen as serious, but a part of me is worried that it may have either missed something or I developed something after I had it. My psychologist, who formally worked as a nurse for a local neurologist, believes it’s caused by knots in my trigger points from stress. I’m mortified and honestly not sure what to think even after being given that explanation. Has anyone else ever experienced symptoms like these?
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Yes, I have had this happen. Went to a physical therapist who specializes in the hand and shoulder. After evaluating me along with physical therapy she introduced me to dry needling. OMG, it was helped me the most. After being released from physical therapy due to insurance, I continue to get dry needling done once a month as I do data entry full time. I also have access to an app program that the clinic uses and to continue with exercises to help outside of the dry needling. I also do massage therapy monthly as well.
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1 Reaction@spock17762
You need to see an orthopedic spine specialist to get an MRI of your cervical spine. Your symptoms sound like you may have compression of your spinal cord. I have this. It is called cervical spondylotic myelopathy (or degenerative cervical myelopathy). Look it up online to see if the symptoms seem similar.
Have you ever had an accident or fallen where you hit your head/injured your neck? Did you/do you play sports and workout lifting heavy weights?
@spock17762
One thing I forgot to mention is that issues with your spinal cord will not show up on an EMG/nerve conduction study. It can pick up if you have a compressed nerve root/nerve causing radiculopathy to arms/legs (pain/weakness/numbness symptoms).
Cervical myelopathy is a spinal cord compression injury that needs to be evaluated as soon as possible because this is a compression injury that can cause permanent damage. It is diagnosed by an orthopedic spine specialist with physical exam, reflex testing, MRI, reviewing symptoms, etc.
How long have you had your symptoms of weakness?
I’m not a very athletic person and I don’t play sports or lift weights. I’ve also never suffered an injury to my head or neck in recent memory. I am however, scrunched over on a regular basis, often because I’m playing video games or browsing the internet on my tablet. Could it be possible that something like that could put enough strain on my spinal cord to really cause symptoms like these?
@spock17762
It is possible that you have some changes in your cervical spine that can compress your spinal cord. My 15 soon to be 16 year old plays video games and watches YouTube on his phone for hours and sits in the same position for too long and complains about his neck feeling weird. I keep reminding him to be careful with posture because I have cervical and lumbar issues and don’t want him to have them.
Definitely get your neck checked.
@nancy82415
I tried dry needling but it was too uncomfortable and did not help. I think it can help some relax tight muscles but cannot really help those with cervical degenerative myelopathy spinal cord compression injury due to congenital/spinal stenosis, herniated discs, bone spurs, spondylolisthesis, etc.
I have not personally experienced your symptoms but I know people who have and it comes from the cervical spine. You should see a neurosurgeon for an evaluation. It is possible that you have possibly a herniated disc or pinched nerves. But I would ask for an MRI of your cervical spine to see what's going on.
How long has it been going on? Doesn't seem to be getting any worse does it, not moving up your arm/wrist? Any headaches? Are you a smoker by chance? No loss of balance or coordination?
It’s been going on for about three weeks at this point. I’m not a smoker and I haven’t lost balance or coordination, though my one foot feels sore due to a more than likely unrelated cause. I also haven’t had any headaches, though I will admit that I’ve been feeling tightness in my wrist, arm, and shoulder as well as occasional twitching, but it doesn’t seem to be getting worse so far other than a general feeling of weakness and heaviness.
hi I'm so sorry to hear that,I'm having exactly the same it is worrying I'm only 46.