I am experiencing numbness in my left arm all day already. It felt like a shock just below my elbow for most of the day and that caused my arm to go numb. for the last 10 minutes I have been sneezing and with the sneezing comes a terrible pain in my left arm which makes my fingers and arm in the elbow nook go numb. What can it be?
Hi, Thanks for writing in. The spine is made up of an alignment of small bones. These bones have sponge like discs between them and the spinal cord passes along the back of these bones through the spinal canal. There might be pressure on the discs in the cervical spine during sneezing and this is causing slight pressure on the spinal canal at a particular level and causing pinching of nerve roots leading to severe pain in the area supplied by the nerve. As your symptoms are on the left it is possible that the nerve roots on the left side are affected. You require to be examined a neurologist and an MRI of the cervical spine if indicated to know if the nerve are under pressure and the location. There are patients who get relief by doing physiotherapy and taking neurogenic pain relievers. Injections are also given for relief. However, this might not always happen. If your pain is severe and not responding to medical treatment then the disc protrusion needs to be removed by doing a small surgery at the cervical neck region. Presently, laser assisted surgical techniques are also available. If this is the first time this has happened then it is a mild problem. Please do not worry.