Muscle Atrophy

The Bad News - Sorry to say that I was told that once a muscle atrophies it is gone forever. It has been about three years since my worst case symptoms developed (muscle loss, weakness and deformity of fingers, loss of dexterity, etc..) and I see no evidence of muscle re-growth in my hand, even through I exercised it often.

The Good News - With all the hand strengthening exercises that I have done along with all of the pulling and stretching of my fingers, I have regained almost all of my dexterity in my right hand. I believe all that exercise strengthened and conditioned the "other muscles" and ligaments in my hand and fingers to compensate for the atrophied muscles.

My gripping strength is good in my right hand. I can grasp and curl a 25 lb. dumbbell, use a computer keyboard, unlock a car door and function normally with no problem. I can even get into the fingertip pushup position for a few seconds. My hand still gets cold easily on a chilly day (fortunately I live in Florida) and writing with a pen goes a lot slower than it use to. The twisting motion power of my right hand fingers is still not as strong as my left hand though.

My fingers seemed to have straightened out a little, they feel better and I can now even do the Vulcan finger salute.

I am not 100% sure what the cause of my atrophy in my hand was, but I believe it was from resting my arm on the edge of a table or on the armrest of my chair as I worked on the computer. This continual and repetitive action, I believe, pinched my ulnar nerve which cause my hand problems. I am now very careful how and where I rest my arms and I have had no further muscle degradation or atrophy.

Do you rest your arm as I did or otherwise rub or pinch your ulnar never that you are aware of? Thinking back, I seem to have a memory that I was aware that the underside of my arm (where it made contact with the armrest or table) was becoming sensitive and starting to bother me. Does any of this sound familiar to you?

I would be interested in hearing the results of you examination and what the doctor tells you. Also let me know what you think of the EMG (Electromyography, the testing the electrical activity of muscles) if you get one.

Let me know if you have any more questions. Good luck. Tanner
 

Follow-Up Message From Roger

I can not remember doing anything that might have pinched the Ulnar nerve other than repetitive computer use with the mouse. I do remember my palm pad stinging and burning while using the mouse over the past year or so. I can't move my fingers together and my grip is so weak I can barely pick up a pair of socks. I can still shake hands OK but using a pen to write is very difficult and my penmanship is now atrocious. I am in constant pain between my knuckles at my wrist and my pinky and ring finger are curling pretty bad. I have extreme burning sensations at the tips of all of my fingers but extreme numbness only on my pinky and ring fingers. The nerve from the elbow to the wrist is a constant fire. I will definitely let you know what happens with my doctor and the tests he runs on me. I can only hope that They can alleviate some of the numbness and burning and get some use back in my hand. Roger


Follow-Up Response - Roger,
I can relate to everything except I didn't have the extreme burning sensation and pain as you do. Good luck. Tanner
 

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