Bilateral severe carpal tunnel syndrome with upper arm weakness

Bilateral severe carpal tunnel syndrome, stiff finger joints, bilateral tennis elbow, more severe in left and bilateral upper arm weakness.

5/6 years ago I was diagnosed with an MRI as having disc problems in c4,5,6, in which c5 was almost touching spinal cord! Took it easy, five days of steroids and a few Vicodin relieved the pain. Never had a problem unless was reading too much, then I would get pain from the head down position.

When both hands started to go completely numb at night I went to see orthopaedic neck surgeon expecting it to be from neck; well the doctor came in, did two tests with my hands and said bilateral cts, gave me wrist bands and said he'd see me in 6 weeks!

I mentioned I brought my MRI cd and he said he didn't find it necessary to look, but he looked real quick and popped back in and said, you know your c5 disc is real ugly in this MRI, I said that was why I brought it, and asked him if he still stood by his cts diagnosis and he said yes!

So here I am almost a year later. I have been to th3 hand and wrist orthopedic surgeon who sent me for an emg which came back severe bilateral cts.

But where is the severe bilateral tennis elbow coming from and the bilateral upper arm weakness coming from?

Went to another neck ortho, saw his PA, and wish I would not have told him about emg, because I don't believe he did a thorough exam, unless testing reflex in both knees, and a little reflex testing on elbows, that's it!!! Not one doctor has requested a repeat MRI, and now with the cts diagnoses, they won't look past it!

I insisted on another one from the PA just to ease my own mind, and he said sure, I'll order one for you.he asked that I make appt with him and the surgeon to review MRI, but I feel like this PA did not do his job, so I don't want him in my room, I was more of a dr.

Than he was, and felt like he was just pacifying me and didn't think I needed one! What is going on with me, I'm frustrated, tired, and just want someone to acknowledge that I'm not losing my mind!! Not one doctor has offered any form of pain control; I had to ask for it, and finally got 24 5mg Vicodin, which help but I am hesitant to take because not sure if I will get any more, so I take two a day and just deal with it.

I'm not willing to do cts surgery until my neck has been eliminated as a source of the problem, which I would of thought the two neck surgeons would have wanted too, but I guess they just jumped on the cts and that's all they think it is! How can they eliminate the neck without MRI?

Am I being hard headed in insisting on one? I also have told them of the crackling in my neck and the constant dull and stiff aches where my c4,5,6 are, PA said I just had stiff neck! And my upper arm weakness was just that, only tired arms. I hope you can help me. I'm at my wits end with the pain and numbness. Thank you very much. Tina

Hello Tina,
Yes, I can imagine you are frustrated.

May I ask a few questions and make a few suggestions. Firstly CTS affects usually three or four fingers and never the pinkie. Exactly in which fingers do you get the tingling and pain?

Secondly, do any of the neck movements provoke pain or tingling in your arms, especially turning to the right, say, and then looking up?

Thirdly, does placing your hand on your head relieve the tingling?

Fourthly, go to the Search function in the navigation bar, and type in upper limb tension test. Do the test, and let me know what you find. It will be tricky because you are getting symptoms in both arms, so it's hard to establish what is normal.

Did all your doctor find any sensory or reflex changes in your arms, or weakness?

Don't you think it's time to have a chiropractic examination, and get yet another opinion. Frankly it's most unlikely that true carpal tunnel syndrome would cause weakness in your shoulder and elbows.

Obviously, it's not for me to say this is or isn't carpal tunnel syndrome, but I share your disquiet.

I hope this contributes. Let me know.

Dr B