Monday, January 18, 2010

I've got *some* nerve

And not in a good way.

The massage on my shoulder lasted until this morning.  Or should I say until some time in the middle of the night.  I woke up to a tingling down my left arm.  Most likely I was sleeping on it....again.  I have had a tendency to sleep on my left side with my left arm curled up under my pillow.  And I've woken up with my arm asleep before.  But now the tingling hangs around a while.  Joy.  It's been suggested that I don't sleep on my side, but do you know how hard it is to change your sleeping habits?  I really concentrated on it for a while, to the point that I was constantly waking myself up to turn onto my back.  That does *not* make for a restful night's sleep.  Of course, waking up with a sleeping arm hasn't been so hot either.

I'm pretty sure at least some of the nerve issue is related to this amazing (again, not in a good way) knot that I carry around on the top part of my left trapezius muscle.  I can press on the knot and send a nice pain right up the left side of my neck/head.  And I'm sure the nerve that's traveling through there goes both back up to the neck and down to the arm.  From what the good doctor (hello WebMD) has to say, it would seem to be the ulnar nerve that is giving me fits.

Luckily (so far, knock wood) it hasn't been much of an issue while I'm working out.  I was really surprised last Friday at masters swim when it didn't give me any grief at all, not even doing butterfly.  Or at least my sad, pathetic version of butterfly anyway.  Hopefully some more massage and some heat applied to that knot will get me through a couple of weeks until I can get to the PT.  And then....I promise myself.....that I will perform some maintenance.  There.  I said it.  Wrote it.  Whatever.

2 comments:

ShirleyPerly said...

Ooh, that does not sound good. Hope you're able to keep things at bay until you can see your PT. Which reminds me of some promises I made to myself about stretching diligently to prevent other nagging issues I've had in the past ...

IM deeply depressed said...

Kris..one way I altered my side sleeping was to brace myself with pillows on either side of me. It was much harder to roll onto my side in this state. Hope you feel better soon. Love Ya