@craigjulian Hi Craig, That’s fantastic news with the results of your EMG! Ok...in so much that you don’t have ALS or any other motor neuron disease. What a relief. I’m sure you’re breathing a lot easier now with that positive news. Coincidentally, my EMG had shown the same C-8 and another in the Thoracic area. So truly, I hope the massage and acupuncture help relieve the symptoms you’re having. Probably just not having the stress of the unknown will help too! :-). Those two treatments have brought such a huge improvement to my life with managing the discomfort and side effects, on multiple levels. Like who doesn’t need a good massage?!

Besides the two therapies, I also use a tennis ball or Lacrosse Ball for myofacial release techniques on either side of my spine and shoulders when I need a quick fix after working too long in one position. One of my hobbies is making paper, which I did today. Really messes with my shoulder. So I rolled that area with the LaCrosse Ball and dodged a muscle spasm. It actually reminded me of you and I wondered how you were doing. Weird timing that you wrote just a few minutes later! Great minds and all that. LOL.

A suggestion when you see the massage therapist is to ask about myofacial release and see if they have any suggestions for your particular affected areas.

Thank you for sharing your good news...it made my day. I’ll be eager to hear about your experience with the acupuncturist.
Best, Lori.
http://www.wisconsinwellnessclinic.com/uploads/8/3/9/6/8396859/self_myofascial_release_with_tennis_ball_to_release_muscle_tension.pdf
https://sportsmedicine.mayoclinic.org/condition/radiculopathy/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/back-pain/expert-answers/myofascial-release/FAQ-20058136

I’m going through the same thing now Craig. As I read your post I was like, man, that’s me. It started with BFS worries which turned into ALS worry, but then I got all the symptoms you are facing now like tingling and numbness in the arm and tingling along/around the spine. Also pain and stiffness in the little finger which is probably C8. And cervical MRI came back rather OK aside from some level of herniation. My Physio suspected TOS as well but very hard to diagnose so we just went ahead to strengthen the neck and t-spine.

I think everyone here is right. It’s stress and anxiety which can send you spinning (I’ve spent hours and hours searching for symptoms of ALS, MS, etc). I think it’s the myofascial release and posture that needs to improve and I’m keen to hear how your journey goes, I will post mine as well and hopefully soon we will be symptom free and focusing on positive thoughts without worrying thoughts about underlying issues which can be even more detrimental than the symptoms we are feeling.

Thanks for sharing it here

Borko

One good article from a neurologist / neuroscientist that can explain what you were saying about mind (stress) causing actual physical symptoms:

“our day to day experience in life is absolutely FILLED with inconsequential symptoms that our brain and body naturally filter out.

Think about the onslaught of information overload your brain must deal with each day. Peripheral nerves spontaneously shooting off, either in response to some stimulus (appropriate) or not (inappropriate).

I'm sure everyone can remember a random grabbing pain in one part of their body that came on for no particular reason (ie. you weren't actually being stabbed) and passed just as quickly.

This is NORMAL. Our body is not perfect, and the brain's mammoth task is mostly to filter the infinite information to make sense of its environment. Is that jabbing pain a potential attack, or is it muscle spasm?

Mental health disorders, including anxiety, disrupt the normal pathways that sort through this information. Thus, what was once a transient, benign symptom suddenly becomes interpreted as potentially threatening.

Much like the Princess and the Pea, once your brain locks in on something and decides it's important, it then focuses additional resources on investigating it further - invariably this means such usually-benign symptoms are increasingly detected, and the symptoms then become self-fulfilling:

"It'd go away if it was nothing, but now I'm feeling it often, it must be something".

Interesting point of view and very relevant to my situation where stress and anxiety, irrational fears and hypochondria kind of came together and instead of focusing on moving forward I obsess with looking for some underlying issues that I convince myself it’s there.

Good luck with acupuncture and massage - I scheduled the same 🙂

@craigjulian Hi Craig, not to be an nosy old lady...just checking in to see how you’re doing. Have the massage and acupuncture had any positive effects on your symptoms? Hopefully you’re feeling better and stress is melting away! Lori.