Your shoulder is home to a number of important nerves as they pass through the area enroute to their final destination. There’s also not a lot of natural padding in the shoulder area, so if you suffer trauma to the region, you can experience what’s known as a stinger injury. Stingers occur when the nerves in the neck or shoulder are compressed or stretched as a result of traumatic force to the area, and their name derives from the stinging sensation that often accompanies them.
In today’s blog, we take a closer look at the mechanics of a shoulder stinger and explain how the condition is treated.
Shoulder Stinger Causes And Symptoms
We touched on the causes and symptoms in the above section, but we want to expand on both topics here. Stingers are oftentimes caused by direct trauma to the shoulder area, or as a result of forceful movement of the neck that results in the stretching or compression of key nerves in the area. There is a network of nerves in the shoulder area known as the brachial plexus, and these nerves help carry sensory signals from the spinal cord to your arms and hands. This collection of nerves serves an important purpose, but if any of the nerves are irritated, pain can develop in a hurry.
Symptoms of a shoulder stinger include:
- Localized pain
- Shooting pain
- Tingling sensation
- Electrical shock sensation
- A warming sensation
- Numbness
- Muscle weakness
- Inability to move your arm and shoulder like normal
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms after direct trauma during athletics, after a fall or in the wake of an automobile accident, reach out to a shoulder specialist in your area to get a diagnosis and treatment plan.
Diagnosing and Treating Shoulder Stingers
Shoulder stingers can typically be diagnosed by talking with the patient about their injury, how it happened, the symptoms they are experiencing and by conducting a physical exam that may involve some movement exercises. Imaging tests like an X-ray, MRI or CT scan are not typically necessary, but may be used in the event that your specialist believes there may be some additional damage to areas like the neck or spinal canal.
Most shoulder stingers can be successfully treated with conservative care, and surgery would only be recommended if additional damage to the spinal canal was observed. Shoulder stinger treatment typically involves a combination of some of the following techniques:
- Activity Restriction – Athletes and manual laborers will be told to avoid certain physical activities to avoid additional injury and to give the area time to heal.
- Physical Therapy – PT will help to expand your comfortable range of motion and calm painful symptoms.
- Ice/Cold Packs – Icing the area can help to control swelling that can restrict your normal range of motion.
- Anti-Inflammatory Medications – Anti-inflammatory medications and over-the-counter pain medications can help calm symptoms.
Most shoulder stingers resolve after a few days or weeks, as the passage of time and the simple non-operative treatments listed above typically get the job done. If symptoms persist or additional injury is suspected, your surgeon may recommend a more hands-on approach, but again this is rarely needed.
So if you need help overcoming a shoulder stinger or a different shoulder issue, reach out to Dr. Holloway and his team today at (865) 410-7887.
