Saw a few clients with numbness in their hands this week. 

​

There are

- An office lady & housewife, woke up with stiffness, numbness & burning sensation in both palms every morning for the past 1 year

- A teacher, whose right palm & 5 fingers turned numb after spending long time doing online teaching

- A lawyer who are working from home, with chronic (>10years) left arm pain, swollen & numb left palm, affecting her sleep

​

All of them also presented with tight neck & shoulders.

​

Numbness in arms and hands is often associated with nerves originating from the neck. The network of nerves called the brachial plexus runs underneath the collar bone into the arm and goes all the way to our fingers. They control the movement and sensation in our arms and hands. 

​

You may think about it as a water hose. If there is any obstruction, compression or narrowing anywhere along the hose, it will affect the flow of the water. Stiffness in your cervical (neck) spine, tightness of the muscles in your chest/arm/hand/ fingers can contribute to the numbness in your upper limb. My role as a physio is to find out which part of the nerve is being obstructed and to release it. 

​

After receiving treatment:

- The office lady is no longer experiencing hands burning after her 1st treatment, her numbness as well as neck tension almost subsided after her 3rd session. 

- The teacher’s right hand numbness has improved tremendously after his 1st session, only left with some residue numbness over the tip of his thumb and index finger, which will most likely gone by his 2nd/3rd session.

- The lawyer’s condition is more chronic hence it took us about 5 sessions to resolve most of her issues. She now only experiences symptoms when under stress at work. She has learned some techniques to resolve her discomfort on her own. She can sleep well now.

​

Numbness in your arms and hands is not scary however you should seek help as early as possible.  Oftentime, a session or two is sufficient to solve your problem however it will definitely take a while if the water hose has been obstructed for too long. 

​

​

上个星期诊所里来了几位手麻的患者，想分享一下，让大家了解。

​

当中有

- 白领兼家庭主妇，每个早上起床双手掌僵硬、发麻，有火烧的感觉，已有1年

- 上网课的老师，伏案久了整个右手掌＋5支手指发麻

- 在家办公的律师，长期（＞10年！）左手臂疼痛，左手发麻、肿胀，睡眠也受影响

 

他们都同时有【肩颈酸痛】的困扰。

​

手臂、手掌发麻一般与颈椎延伸出来的神经线有关。这神经丛（几条神经线组成）经由锁骨下方延伸到上臂，再到下臂与手掌手指。它们统管上肢的肌肉运动，皮肤的感觉以及肌肉的反射能力。

 

你可以把这神经丛想象成一条水管，要是沿着水管的任何一个地方有堵塞、被压扁、变狭窄都会影响水流。颈椎僵硬/错位、肩颈或手臂甚至手掌的肌肉紧绷都有可能是造成手麻的原因。而我的工作就是，要像个侦探一样查出任何有可能造成堵塞的地方，并将之松解。

 

- 白领兼家庭主妇治疗1次后已不再有火烧的感觉，3次后手麻与僵硬也几乎消失，肩颈轻松不少

- 老师治疗1次后，手掌的麻好了很多，只剩拇指＆食指的指头还有些麻

- 律师由于病史较长，经过5次治疗后也大有改善，只有在工作紧张、压力大的时候才稍有不适 (她也学会了几招自我松解的方法），睡眠也不成问题了

​

手麻不可怕，但也不应该拖延就诊。病从浅中医，一般治疗1-2次能有明显进步，水管压太久要恢复原状的时间也相对长些。

​

​

​