Our body’s nervus system is a complicated maze of biological “wires” making the physical parts of our body work correctly. If one of the nerves gets pinched, then strange things may happen to various parts of the body.
For over 3 years I have had an odd “itchy” forearm, with no visible symptoms of rash, redness, or anything. When an attack occurs, it feels like a dozen invisible “no-see um” mosquitos are biting my arm. After much trial and error, I eventually found some relief by using Aloe Vera, which commonly used to treat sunburns. My doctor suggested based on the symptoms that it was probably “Brachioradial pruritus – Wikipedia” which is not treatable, nor well understood.
There seemed to be two schools of thought of its cause:
- The primary one being UV exposure from sunlight, but this didn’t seem to correlate with the occurrence of my problem, which was worse outside of the summer time. Referral to a dermatologist doctor yielded a similar conclusion, with a prescription for a custom compound, to treat the itch symptoms.
- The alternate theory was that a pinched nerve could cause this. The nerves of the forearm are linked to the neck part (Cervical vertebrae) of your back, in particular in the C5-C7 segments, which are near your shoulders.
So, based on the assumption that the pinched nerve is in the neck section, I eventually found a variety of exercises that offer to “decompress” this part of the spine. I tried a few repetitions of this 30 second “Overhead Stretch” below. Amazingly, there were no more itchy attacks for the remainder of the day! That was three days ago, as I continued to do this exercise daily.
Overhead stretch
Decompressing your spine may be as simple as bringing your arms up overhead. Seriously — in mild cases of compression, overhead stretches can help provide relief.
You can follow these steps:
- Sit or stand with your feet stacked under your hips.
- Interlock your fingers, then bring your arms overhead with your palms facing up.
- Think about pulling your glutes down your body while actively pushing your palms towards the ceiling.
- Hold this stretch while breathing for 20 to 30 seconds.
- Rest. Repeat 4–5 times.
I found a few more simple exercises in youtube that I will test out over the next week or so.
CAUTION
I am not a doctor, nor medial professional, but I know that messing with your spine and neck can be problematic if you don’t know what you are doing. Be sure you know your limits and seek appropriate medical advice from a qualified expert.
Conclusion
Sometimes being your own medical advocate can be fruitful, if you proceed cautiously.
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