a numb thumb - ideas?

[judoman]

My wife was cutting some weeds with a pair of scissors for awhile (20 minutes? I'm not sure). For 3 days since then, the inside-tip of the right thumb has been numb and tingly. If she presses down with her left fingertips onto the base of the right thumb, she can tweak the 'nerve' to get an unpleasant sensatino (Or so I presume it is. Apparently it feels like a wiggly worm). She's asleep now, but I can get more specific details in the morning, if there are any you're curious about.

I've guessed that she's somehow irritated the nerve, caused it to shift from its proper position or something, due to the excessive scissoring. I've been telling her to massage the thumb, and to joint rotations & extensions at the knuckle and base (not sure how often she's done that).

What do you guess the problem really is, and how to best resolve it?

thanks!

[emad]

Judo Hello ,

Yes , correct the nerve ( sub-division ) has been irritated /stressed /over-loaded ,but at all there is NO nerve mis-position or displaced from its position , there is NOT scientific knowledge/data /research like that or supporting nerve mis-placed .

Avoid completely her compressing the nerve by her left fingers , she worsens the problem by the compressing . Just she needs rest ,avoid using , put it in flexion position .

Cheers
Emad

[EricM]

Judoman,
It does sound reasonable that the mechanism of injury in this case was compression to the point where the nerves ability to cope with the added load was exceeded.

May I ask why you would suggest "joint rotations & extensions at the knuckle and base" to treat this condition? I truly would like to try understand this kind of reasoning.

It seems to me you'd be better off trying to create conditions which will allow the nervous tissue to restore its physiology and function to more normal conditions. This could, but doesn't have to, include movement of the nerve in some way. You might first try to figure out which nerve is involved.

eric

[Barrett Dorko]

I think you should first of all stop poking at the affected part. You don't have to figure out which nerve is involved because your wife's brain is already well aware of this. She has also already devised a strategy for correction that will be manifest as isometric activity in her body. This will become isotonic and corrective once she becomes aware of it either through increased interoception on her own or enhanced by your handling once it becomes non-coercive and judgmental.

Ideomotion is designed to resolve such problems and it is likely that it will emerge most efficiently in unexpected ways that the therapist and patient primarily witness as involved parties rather than as creators of the motion, though, of course, the patient does the moving unconsciously.

What's the breathing pattern like? Does it effect the sensation? Where are the hips resting while your wife is supine? Go to the "Five Questions" thread in Barrett's Forums for more on this.

Stop poking at the thumb! Go to the ectoderm.

[judoman]

Thanks folks! Its wonderful to have your experienced advice here.

Emad - cheers, I'll pass that on immediately!

Eric - no particular deep reasoning involved, and I can see now it wasn't a good idea. 'Joint ROM exploration' is a general habit I've picked up to both prepare for and recover from exercise, from Scott Sonnon's work. He's a grappling, fitness, and movement guru, perhaps best known for repopularizing 'Indian Clubs' exercise for the modern age, with his Clubbells www.rmaxinternational.comI'm sure he wouldn't have advised me to abuse my wife's thumb like that -- purely my own genius there.

Barrett - thanks for the advice, we shall stop poking! And I'll do some more reading on that thread and your site so as to better understand the rest of your reply.

[Diane]

If I may add something, just a suggestion.. (untested);
Try grasping the skin of the middle finger gently and sliding it gently down toward the tip, as if you were pulling a glove. The skin won't slide very far, so don't try to go more than just a millimeter or so. It doesn't matter that it's only a millimeter. To her brain it will feel big. Hold the skin stretched a bit, then ask your wife to wait until she feels her thumb want to move, by itself, then to let it move, however it wants to. Maintain this process for a few minutes, and hopefully things will improve. She might need to repeat the process a few times. Try other fingers too, if necessary. I always pick the middle one for things in the hand because it is along a movement axis. The point of the skin stretch is to provide the brain a nearby perceptual distraction; with any luck it will organize some new nonconscious movement of the thumb in response, corrective in every level of motor output including vascular.

[emad]

Judo;

How did you find our forum ??
What is your wife job ?


Emad