By jim on Thursday, July 06, 2000 - 05:45 am:

I was wondering if any one here might have any idea as to what my be causing my seemingly unidentifiable chronic shoudler problems that have been hounding me for over 10 yrs , hypermobility is a factor hence the constant sublaxtion i get but it's the lack of feeling or sensation that really bothers me.

What could be causing it ?

One thing i was defintley thinking it could be was perpherial neuropathy that i have been sufering form in my legs becasue the weightlessness and lack of feeling i experinced in my legs with pn was, or is, exactly the same as whats been affecting my shoudlers minus the anxiety & tremors.

Now although i have been given a diagnosis as sorts ( multidirectional instability with an increased laxity towards anterior inferior ) I persistently have symptoms which indicate i have a neurological problem going on because of the severe lack of sensation, spatial awareness or priorperception i have.


In the past i used to get a lot of numbness cold sensastions and tingling down my fingers but it's changed a lot since then due mainly due to my intensive rehab i have been doing an djust becasue it's been gogin on so long.

I got very good results using my modified techniques which were more like quick short stretches using a very weak theraband this past january but again as before
it detriorated for no apparent reason.

the one thing that was noticable though was that the amount of resistance or weight has a detrimental effect in the sense becasue it activates the main muslce rather than focussing in on the area that trigger the nerves by using certain movements, infact my movements have to be so subtle that i have to concetrate on certain areas without moving my arm or shoulder before i get any sort of results. The only exception to this is when i iced my shoudler to the point were it actually felt loose instead of the tightness or rigid feeling i usually have . When it gets this loose then it only takes a subtle arm movement to invokes nerves and the consequent tremors that seem to give the most dramatic weight increase ( to the point were i can barely lift the raquet ) otherwise my tennis racquet ( which i use a barometer seeing as i used to paly tennis ) feels light or indifferent..

I could compile an endless list of the varitions goign from heaviness round the grip or handle but super light elsewhere to vice versa but the fact is there is defintely something neurological that seems to be the factor here, what else could be causing a 295 g racquet to feel like a pencil ?

I have only seen 1 neurologist but a lot of shoudler specialists the latest who think s i might have a slap lesion even though they could find nothing int he mri's they took .

I know there must be a way to beat this becasue on a few occassions ithas been very good for no apparent reason also i noted that when i did increase the weight to the pint were it felt comfortable or normal by shoudlers felt extremely stable..

I turned 25 this year so i still think i'm young enough to turn this around even though i've i've had it for nearly 1o yrs and been trying to solve it almsot as long.

I did try a a quite radical treatment called prolotherapy last year in chicago which is designed to regrow the ligaments and muscle tissues but i got gasritis and then pn form the medication i took to try and cure that so i had to stop.

usually i realise the pain is the main factor but for me it's this whole damm weightlessness .. that makes little sense becasue ideally i really want to return to tennis and know i could if i could get over this even with moderatley stable shoudlers i could do it.

I was thiking of research centers or somewhere where i could almost put myslef forward as a guienapig so to speak but have no had any replies or can really find anywhere that would consider esp i nlight of the fact i don;t live in the us were probably most of that kind of research is done.

well if any one has any ideas any leads anything no matter how crazy or off the wall it is i would be grateful for your advice.. there is no way in hell i want to give up on this now after coming so close but i am really running short or ideas as to what to do...

perhaps if the shoudler speciaslist in or in fact most of the docotors learned their trade i would not be in this predicament but the fact is it wasn;t until 97 ( 6 yrs later ) until someone picked up on the instabiltiy ' which he described as being common '
after seeing 7 shoudler specialists.

i have no doubts if they had given me the rehab in those early days then it would have worked but it seems more than a little hopeful now .

the only thing i was thinking of that left to try is perhaps some kind of therapy that coudl regenrate or regrow the nerves that are damaged...

i have heard of research being done for such things for the spinal colum and brain but what about nerves elsewhere like in the shoulder?

well sorry for this off- topic post but i am desperate to try and find a way round this now i've come so far

thank you.


Greetings,
does any one have any idea what i could have it's 10 yrs and counting and still no one has given me a defininte idea of what this is and how to solve it..

i have seen 10 specalists had mri's , x-rays but still nothing

i have tried rehab for 3 yrs on and off

at times alomst back to 100% only for it to crumble with no apparent reason

i was diagnosed as having a shoulder instabiltiy in both shoudlers as from what my last doc said it's actually a multidirectional with an increased laxity
towards anterior inferior.

he wants me to do rehab before considering arthoscopic surgery

but i have a slight problem becasue i've already tried rehab and the only way i could get results were to devise my own modified rehab using a therband
and a lot of ice treatment..

things were going great earlier this year until i experimented with an exericise that actually completely destroyed all the stability

to the point my right shoulder had dropped a good 3 inches

luckily i managed to get it back in place but it was not exactly the same

not the stability but the feeling or sensory awareness which is the real reason i'm writing this

because the fact is that although i almost certainly do have an instabiltiy
the real problem is the lack of feeling / sensation / or to use a better term prioperception which indicates an underlying neurolgical problem

also the fact that only complex twitch manouvers using a very weak theraband and handle seem to trigger any kind of response ...

if i don't use a handle hold it a certain way i seem to trigger the main muscles instead of the nerves that cause the weight and sensation to increase dramatically..

i usually test this by using a racquet to feel how perceptive my shoulder / arms are to it's weight and the changes are quite incredible

i did try the coventional route route before but it simply didnt; work i got so far
and then it just fell apart 8 motnhs of rehab destroyed in 3 days..

and every time i even consider increasint the weight or resistance it jsut triggers the main muscles.

even this time round after my last attempt i has to ice for 2 hrs daily ..

i have noted also that on occassions when my shoulder does drop or sublax i get a tightening round the neck thats almsot like a noose or soemthing being pulled
i guess becasue perhaps the main tendon the supra whatervet it's called is being stretched perhaps

i realise this is probably very sketchy but i am depserate for any ideas as to what his could be

my doc seemed to think i had a slap lesion though the mri's showed nothing and there is no real way of proving it.

i have tried prolotherapy but could only get 4 treatments by dr hauser in chicago after i started getting gasritis from seemingly the treatment and then pn form the medications i took to try and resolve it.

well if any one has any ideas i'd be extremely grateful

thanks

josh

By Gwen on Thursday, July 06, 2000 - 01:36 pm:

Josh, I wonder if your problems in part stem from your neck. I too have shoulders that sublux but also have deteriorated C1,2,5 & 6. Although I can't say I've experienced the sensation of weightlessness that you describe I do get numbness, particularly at night in both arms. My doctor said it was because I was lying on the affected limb but as I am frequently awake and lying on my back when it occurs I don't see how this can be so. I also get pain along the ulnar nerve pathway and had an unsuccessful left side ulnar release some ten years ago. Both my shoulders subluxated, under different conditions about six years ago,and my left one went on me again last year as I was pulling a sheet off the line. In between times they both settle down to the usual creaks and clicks.
My neck is a different thing altogether. My physio tells me I have a very misshapen C1 because of repeated trauma and it's not a joint that is easily manipulated. I am quite numb at the C5/6 nerve root level as is the whole surface area between my shoulder blades. I think it would be possible to stick a pin in and I'd not notice it, although I have deeper sensation.
I've described what's going on with me at some length in case there are things there you might identify with. Best wishes, Gwen

By Micheal on Saturday, December 30, 2000 - 05:50 am:

Dear Jim, I work in rehab. and see how emotion is
related to the physical body. I get the feeling
you find it very hard to relax or stay still for
very long. If you could learn to (and yes it does
take discipline) relax - yoga, warm baths ,
sitting & watching the ocean ect. I believe your
whole nervous system & being would change.Good
luck,

By nicky jobson on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 - 05:53 am:

please can help me under prof w awallace at notting city want to do resreach on m.d.instabily to get book about it as prof cannot recomend for me to read . thankyou