Stress Center Peer Support

Hey all,

I have been dealing with what i've now come to believe are psychosomatic "burning sensations" in my arms that sometimes move to my back and stuff. But, the fact is i've had pain in my left arm and in my shoulders really for years that have recently seemed to get worse with a rise in panic attacks/anxiety.

The one thing that drives me crazy is that my left fingers and thumb tend to slightly go numb and get worse at night. Could it be from my recent increase in piano playing, and/or from existing callouses from playing guitar for years? I appreciate anyone's assistance here.

Thanks

Hi,

I've been handling my stress much better this week, but alas...my hand is STILL slightly numb today. I am actually going to go to a neurologist next week to have him look at my back and arms and stuff. But, what drives me nuts is that I still have this fear of having circulatory problems that will lead to a heart attack! I have gotten a lot of good advice from people on here so far...why do people like me worry about this stuff?

Hello there!
Quite a number of years ago, I began to have pain in an arm. Then I had numbness in fingers and hand. It progressed. Then my whole arm seemed to feel numb. The pain in my forearm was prohibitive.
I finally went to doctor.
To my surprise, the doctors were not amazed at this at all. They xrayed my neck.
I had an arthritic spur on my cervical spine that was pressing on nerves.
They operated almost immediately, removing that spur from my cervical spine. They did a fusion there on the spine.
That took care of all that arm pain and that numbness and tingling.
Many people can develope trouble with the cervical spine by doing a lot of computer work.
Or maybe even sitting at piano. I don't know.

It did not take the doctors any time at all to see what was wrong with my arm.

This might not help anyone. Just thought I'd mention it.
MJ

Hey there, I'm a piano player, I've been playing for over 10 years now. In the past year or so I have developed problems in my fingers, wrist, and pain that shoots up to my elbow in my right arm. I've received a cortisone shot and it seems to be helping so far. They said maybe it's carpall tunnell. Musicians have a tough time with there hands!

That is very helpful. So in other words, I need to stop worrying about heart problems, right?

Jonesy-
I sometimes worry about having heart problems too, and I'm only 23 years old..so it's very rare that I would actually have a heart attack or anything. Most likely if you have oceruse of your hands you may have carpal tunnell, if there numb and you have trouble holding onto things. I suggest seeing a doctor for hands and wrists first before you start to worry about heart problems. I worry about this stuff too, it's not just you! Just breathe and tell yourself it's your hand. But definitly make an appointment with a hand doctor and get it checked out, cortisone shots hurt, but they work wonders!