Question:

I am a 29 year old non-smoking female. I am 5`7″and 121 lbs. The past couple months my arms have been falling asleep at night when I am asleep. When it happens I have not been laying on them or anything. I shake them for a second and I can feel the blood come back. I sleep on my back or side. Also during the day I have numbness in random places-my left thumb and/or left fingers, my left shoulder blade has a numb-burning sensation and the tip of the left side of my nose tingles. I had x-rays of my neck at my M.D. and he suspected two pinched nerves. (probably from stress)

I have been to a chiropractor a couple times. I don`t know what to believe about chiropractors. Some say they do damage to your disks others say they help you. I don`t know if pinched nerves is the problem or not and I don`t know what tests/doctor to see to find out. Please any ideas what could be making me have these symtoms? I had a routine blood test at my yearly physical and all normal. I am concerned and don`t want to get any permanent nerve damage or other health problems realted to my nerves being out of wack. Help.

Answer:

Thank you for visiting NetWellness. On this site, we try to answer general questions about health but cannot diagnose or recommend treatment. You clearly need to get some answers from your primary care physician. What does he think is causing your symptoms? If he doesn’t know, what is he proposing to do to determine the cause? If he doesn’t intend to pursue the cause of the problem, who will he refer you to? Unless you get these answers, you won’t get anywhere. No one can diagnose your problem without being able to examine you, take a full history, and review your tests. Good luck.

For more information:

Go to the Spine and Back Health health topic.