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Can an impinged shoulder cause finger numbness when arm is elevated? All fingers with the exception of the pinkie finger become numb but do not tingle.
Optional Information: Age: 48 Already Tried: I have had physical therapy for the shoulder impingement but the numbness has become more frequent
The views expressed by me are for educational purposes only and do not establish a doctor patient relationship.
Hello,
Thanks for your question.
Yes, Pinched nerve at your shoulder level or at cervical spine level ( brachial plexus) can cause numbness of your fingers.
If physical therapy is not helping you need to see a neurologist for further evaluation with scans and ner conduction studies
what are ner conduction studies
nerve conduction study --this is done to check for nerve damage.
Is this something I need to do soon?
you should check this out soon since your symptoms are persistent for a while and physical therapy not helping.
good luck
Thank you.
Experience: MD
I had a steroid shot for the impingement last Dec. Four days later it felt great. I decided to try more physical therapy and limit certain activities before surgery. After 4 months of this, I slowly added more overhead activities and pain returned immediately. Now that it is summer, I would like to delay shoulder surgery until Sept. I was hoping I could just get a second steroid shot to get me through the summer. Since my numbness has become more frequent, should I concentrate on this numbness with a neurologist instead of "fixing" the shoulder impingement with an orthopedist?
You can see your orthopedist to consider a second steroid shot.
If he thinks that you will need a NCV study then he will send you to the neurologist.