Causes of pain in the hand with osteochondrosis of the cervical spine

The causes of numbness in the right hand vary. Often this pathology is caused by pathology of the spine, blood vessels, and nerves. The appearance of such a symptom is not always associated with danger to the body. Short-term numbness, especially at night, is often associated with an uncomfortable position at night, during sleep, or with clothes that are too tight. If your hand goes numb often, for no apparent reason, you need to visit a doctor and undergo an examination to find out the cause of the pathology and eliminate it with the help of a specialist.

• Causes
• When should you see a doctor?
• Prevention
• Expert advice

Causes of pathology

Numbness can occur for various reasons. It can be felt while working, sleeping, during the day or night. Considering the duration and frequency of numbness, you can determine what is causing it.

• long exposure to the cold;
• lying for a long time in a too uncomfortable position (this is often caused by the nature of the work);
• wearing bags with hard straps that put pressure on the skin;
• keeping your hand in an awkward position for a long time;
• scalene muscle syndrome, caused by compression of the branches of the brachial plexus and the artery under the collarbone;
• disturbances in the blood supply to the brain due to hypercholesterolemia and hypertension, which impede the flow of blood through the vessels;
• Raynaud's syndrome, expressed in circulatory disorders in small arteries located on the arm (its appearance is influenced by a hereditary factor);
• carpal tunnel disorder, caused by compression of the median nerve in the wrist area, which is caused by the same type of hand movements;
• metabolic disorders (in this case, only the hand goes numb);
• polyneuropathy resulting from deficiency of B vitamins;
• multiple sclerosis (in this case, paresis and numbness of other parts of the body are also observed);
• prolonged depression, severe stress;
• previous uterine fibroids, pneumonia and other diseases that provoke the occurrence of stagnation and adhesions that cause blood flow disturbances.

Treatment

Pre-hospital assistance

In case of numbness due to neurological diseases, it is necessary to exclude loads that provoke an increase in symptoms, and take regular breaks to rest the hands. In case of traumatic injuries, the injured segment of the limb should be fixed or the victim with a spinal injury should be placed on a backboard and given an anesthetic. Increasing swelling, intense pain, followed by numbness of the limb, are reasons for immediate contact with a specialist.

Conservative therapy

The treatment regimen for neurological causes of hand numbness includes the following areas:

• Pain relief
  . Drugs from the NSAID group are used; in case of severe pain, a blockade is performed with an anesthetic or a mixture of an anesthetic and a corticosteroid drug.
• Normalization of muscle tone
  . Tolperisone, methyllycaconitine hydroiodide, and baclofen are effective in reducing muscle tone and eliminating spasms.
• Improving blood circulation
  . To improve blood supply and stimulate venous outflow, pentoxifylline, aminophylline, and troxerutin are recommended.

Patients are prescribed B vitamins and diuretics to eliminate edema. According to indications, the treatment plan is supplemented with chondroprotectors. Chronic pain may require antidepressants. The list of non-drug methods includes ultraphonophoresis, UHF, hydrotherapy, therapeutic mud, ozokerite and paraffin applications. An important role is given to massage, exercise therapy, manual therapy, and reflexology.

For Takayasu's disease, immunosuppressants, antiplatelet agents, and anticoagulants are recommended. Plasma cascade filtration, lymphocytapheresis, and plasmapheresis are performed. For thromboangiitis, antispasmodics, NSAIDs, and agents to improve the rheological properties of blood and activate local metabolism are used. They give a referral for ILBI, hyperbaric oxygenation, hemosorption.

Surgery

The tactics of surgical intervention are determined by the nature of the pathology that provoked numbness of the hands. Neuralgia due to nerve compression by a tumor, scars, fibrous or bone growths are considered as an indication for neurolysis, tumor removal or decompression intervention.

For spinal pathologies, discectomy, scoliosis correction, and operations to eliminate spinal stenosis and instability of the spinal column are used. The cause of brachial plexitis is eliminated by removing cervical ribs, excision of tumors and aneurysms, and correcting the position of fragments in fractures.

In what cases is it necessary to seek help from specialists?

It is necessary to immediately consult a doctor in cases where the following symptoms are associated with numbness of the hand:

• coordination of movements becomes difficult;
• pain occurs;
• weakness, shortness of breath, and dizziness occur;
• disturbances in speech function are observed;
• sensitivity to temperature decreases.

The occurrence of the above pathologies in combination with numbness of the hand may indicate the presence of a serious pathology that threatens health and life. Therefore, when they appear, you must immediately contact a doctor who will conduct an examination, make a diagnosis and prescribe the necessary treatment.

The right hand is going numb: treatment begins with a neurologist

It is necessary to establish a diagnosis in order to correctly understand what to do. If the right hand goes numb, the doctor, based on the indications, selects a diagnostic method: radiography, MRI, CT, electroencephalogram. The first doctor a patient with these symptoms turns to is a neurologist. Then he may recommend contacting a doctor of another profile (cardiologist, endocrinologist, orthopedist, surgeon) or request their consultation in case of a mixed nature of the disease.

The strategy and tactics of drug correction are aimed at eliminating chronic pathology.

Preventive measures

Hand numbness is much easier to prevent than to cure. For the purpose of prevention, you should follow certain procedures, monitor your diet, not worry about trifles, and adhere to a healthy, proper lifestyle.

In order to improve blood circulation in the arm and prevent the development of pathologies of the cervical spine, it is useful to perform the following exercises:

• Sit on a chair, grab your shoulders with your hands and perform circular movements with your joints ten to fifteen times with successive repetitions.
• Cross your fingers, place them on the back of your head, keeping your elbows at the same level, and then squeeze and spread your joints about fifteen times.
• Stand straight, spread your legs at shoulder level, place your hands on your hips. Perform body turns to the right and left ten times.
• As you inhale, raise your arms up, and as you exhale, gently lower them down.
• Stand straight and turn your head in both directions alternately, then tilt it towards each shoulder ten times.
• Rotate your head first counterclockwise, then in the opposite direction. It is advisable to perform this exercise while sitting, carefully monitoring your well-being.

What to do if your right hand goes numb

Eliminate the temporary cause. With repeated episodes, look for a chronic disease that gives this symptom. Most often it is associated with the musculoskeletal system. It could be:

• cervical osteochondrosis;
• scoliosis;
• spondylosis;
• intervertebral hernia;
• cervical migraine;
• vertebral displacement;
• other.

Often, people whose work involves computers or playing musical instruments develop carpal tunnel syndrome (compression of a nerve under the influence of monotonous movements).

Expert advice

If your hand begins to go numb, you should pay attention to your lifestyle and habits. Try to move as much as possible, climb the stairs on foot, without an elevator.

Be sure to do exercises in the morning. You can increase physical activity in other ways, for example, through dancing.

Provide your body with the microelements, vitamins and minerals necessary for its proper functioning. Eat more fruits and vegetables, and periodically take special multivitamin complexes.

Try to always remain calm, no matter the situation. By stopping worrying and getting nervous over trifles, you will soon feel better.

Right arm goes numb: treatment with physiotherapeutic methods

Positive dynamics are achieved by combining physiotherapy with medications. The impact occurs using gentle but effective methods, without side effects (subject to proper prescription).

Center for Progressive Medicine "Doctor Pozvonkov" offers:

• relieving compression load using underwater and dry traction of the spine;
• underwater shower, mud and heat therapy;
• massage;
• administration of medications to biologically active points (pharmacopuncture);
• interstitial electrical stimulation;
• electro- and phonophoresis;
• other.

Physiotherapy can eliminate the causes of numbness or achieve stable remission. They are carried out in a course of 10-15 procedures and provide a cumulative effect.

Prevention of hand numbness

An examination of the body did not reveal any serious diseases, then eliminating numbness will not be a difficult task. You can start with morning exercises, which will affect all limbs and all muscle groups. Morning physical activity will help put your heart into a working rhythm and get your blood circulating.

1. Physiotherapy will not be superfluous. The procedure will increase blood circulation. Electrophoresis gives good results.
2. Therapeutic exercises that will strengthen muscles, tendons and joints.
3. Manual therapy. Massaging the numb area will enhance blood supply to weakened areas.

Not everyone perceives numbness in the hands at night as a signal that it’s time to get examined. Many tolerate this condition, believing that these are manifestations of the norm. Indeed, very often numbness in the hands occurs due to improper sleep and incorrectly selected bedding and, as a rule, this problem is quickly and easily solved. However, if the numbness is systematic and a person experiences it every night, and it does not go away for a long time or both hands are affected, then it is unlikely that it will be possible to do without consulting a doctor.

Numbness from compression of nerves and nerve roots

One of the most common conditions that leads to compression of the nerve roots is intervertebral hernia. Most often it forms in the lumbar spine, as it experiences the heaviest loads. Fortunately, in most cases, if you consult a doctor in a timely manner, intervertebral hernias can be treated without surgery.

Carpal tunnel syndrome leads to numbness, tingling in the hand and other symptoms. In the wrist area there is a tunnel formed by bones and ligaments. It contains a nerve that, under certain conditions, can be compressed.

In the area of ​​the shoulder girdle and collarbone is the brachial nerve plexus - all the main nerves innervating the arm depart from it. During injuries (most often road accidents), these nerves are stretched and compressed, resulting in numbness and, in severe cases, paralysis of the arm.

With spondylolisthesis, the upper vertebra “slips” a little from the lower one, this leads to compression of the spinal cord and nerve roots, and sensitivity disorders.

Why your hands go numb in your sleep: mechanisms of paresthesia

Lack of blood supply . From a simply uncomfortable position, narrow pajama sleeves, a sedentary lifestyle to blockage of small and medium-sized vessels with cholesterol plaques and Volkmann’s ischemic contracture.

Neurological diseases . Destruction of the myelin sheath, disruption of conductivity and trophism, inflammation, overload, toxin poisoning are factors affecting the failure of the transmission of nerve impulses.

Lack of vitamins , microelements; hypovitaminosis, less often vitamin deficiency. The propagation of a signal between neurons requires the presence of neurotransmitters, the synthesis of which requires certain substances and enzymes.

Inflammation . Tunnel syndromes, tennis elbow, golfer's elbow, and injuries are common root causes of numbness in the hands during sleep.

Numbness of the left hand

If your left hand is numb, you should always think about whether a person has heart disease, from mild forms of pathology to very complex and even deadly variants. What heart diseases can numbness in the left arm indicate? Pathological conditions that are accompanied by deterioration of sensitivity in the upper limb on the right include:

• high blood pressure of various origins;
• angina pectoris;
• myocardial infarction.

All these heart diseases require attention from a cardiologist, as they are fraught with consequences and can cause death in the patient.

If numbness of the left arm does not go away after changing body position, lasts more than one hour and is accompanied by pain in the area behind the sternum, then the patient should immediately seek qualified help.

Physiological causes of numbness

Numbness occurs with prolonged immobility. Whatever position we are in, some vessels become pinched, and we risk that the nerve endings, which do not receive proper nutrition, will lose sensitivity. Our body must move, changing the areas that have been subjected to compression, and then we will not be in danger of numbness. This usually happens during the day. But during deep sleep, we can lie in the same position for quite a long time without changing posture. And then, when we wake up, we notice that we have rested some part of our body, for example, a hand placed under our head.

Numbness is caused by exposure to cold. When in contact with cold air, the skin loses sensitivity. Local blood circulation is disrupted, and we cease to feel the nerve endings. If this situation lasts longer, frostbite is possible, but in most cases it is enough to rub the area of ​​skin that has lost sensitivity or return to warmth, blood circulation will be restored and the numbness will go away.

If numbness occurs without an obvious connection with a specific situation, then it probably has a pathological cause.

How to deal with numb hands at home

The situation cannot be ignored if a person is haunted by a feeling of discomfort every night. You can cope with the problem at home, but after mandatory consultation with a specialist in order to exclude diseases dangerous to humans.

If no means help restore restful sleep, neither changing the pillow, nor daytime contrast procedures, then you need to look deeper for the cause.

Folk remedies will help alleviate your condition. Contrast baths are quite

, when hands are alternately lowered first into hot and then into cold water.

After completing the procedure, an ointment containing turpentine is rubbed onto the hands and special gloves are put on to retain heat.

Hands may become numb due to weakened blood vessels; hot water, which should be drunk in small sips on an empty stomach, will help to cope with this problem.