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Hi everyone, 

I wonder if any of you have had experience with bilateral ulnar nerve entrapment (not related to any structural problems)? I’m really struggling with this and have been seeing an OT and physio for over 6 months but no real improvement. I’ve had MRI and x-ray showing my neck is in good shape, no nerve impingement there. I’ve been told it’s most likely caused by muscle tension, but not sure which muscles or where along the nerve pathway the impingement is. I wondered if any of you might have some ideas? 

 Further info: The pain I feel is an intensely cold sensation starting at little finger joints and as it gets worse it travels through wrist up to the elbow. Both left and right arm but usually worse on the right (I’m right handed). The nerve pain is worse with computer work (sitting or standing), particularly mouse work (most problematic, my work is > 80% computer based). I have typical forward head posture and rounded shoulders, prone to regular tight and painful neck and upper back muscles. Mid and lower back tightness from time to time. Symptoms are also brought on by driving, four point kneeling position, plank and shoulder rolls (eg. beginning of ABSS-Prog-4: Shoulders and neck). Treatment so far has included: immobilising fingers in a splint, massage, mobilising neck facet joints, dry needling upper traps, rotator cuff and forearms I’ve also been doing daily nerve glide and a range of exercises for posture correction

 I have Kit’s ONBP book and a few of the video series. I've tried many of the stretches, but I'm just not sure where to start with targeting my nerve pain and neck/back pain.

 And the people I've been to see seem to be a bit stumped as to the root cause. If any of you have thoughts or advice I’d be very grateful to hear it!

 Many, many thanks! Kelly

Hey everyone- first time posting! I’m a recreational aerialist (silks) and train with apparatus 2x week, stretch 1x week and do some light cardio or additional strength building whenever time allows. Last February I tore my hamstring in pancake, a position that has never felt natural to me- there is something with rotating my pelvis and activating the deep core muscles that my body just does not want to do. Couple that with my flexible back and I have a lifetime of stretching in pike/ pancake with a rounded spine I am trying to undo. My instructor was giving me a small push on my back- I felt like I was at the upper ROM, but didn’t feel pain or above average discomfort. I then I heard a huge pop and my sits bone dropped. Of course I clenched and that’s probably where the damage was done. In hindsight we were maybe too aggressive and I was physically cold (Chicago winters, yuck). I took it easy but never stopped training or stretching. I modified. It feels like the hamstring itself is healed but there is some underlying issue with my glute that seems to be aggravating the sciatic nerve. The nerve on that side is constantly irritated and feels stuck. I floss daily, which helps but it feels like there is a wall I cannot move past. Some days it feels like the nerve is so tight it could snap. Some days I have tingles in my foot. Some days it feels pretty good. Before the tear I was making nice progress with pike and pancake, but I have hit a plateau that I would like to try and work though. There are so many moves in silks that I can't do nicely because I can't get that pike compression to happen, I wanted to get either the pancake or pike programs but wasn't sure which would be best to focus on first. Thanks!!

Hello everyone. I am posting a question that I posed and Kit answered, (on the recent AMA Reddit thread), regarding residual pain after shingles (post-herpetic neuralgia). Better late than never! (That was over a month ago now, I think). The happy news is that I am no longer experiencing this pain and haven't done so for a few weeks now. I hope this info may help anyone else who has the unfortunate experience of trouble with nerve pain. The full thread and Kit's response is below, but just to summarise the problem: - I had a bout of shingles 18 months ago - Apparently out of nowhere, in my mid thoracic area on the left side, the pain flared up very dramatically - for several weeks I could not bear to sit, even for 5 - 10 mins. It was sometimes stabbing, sometimes throbbing, sometimes itchy or burning, and very intense, like I had been in a traffic accident. But not made worse but activity - in fact, it was worst when sitting, and I felt relief when moving around. The major turn around for me was going to see Danny G who I met at one of Kit's Into the Stretch classes in York recently. We did a few stretch sessions together which helped, but the real 'light bulb' moment came when he suggested that I watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwd-wLdIHjs - a 15 minute Ted talk by Lor Moseley on the topic 'Why things hurt'. (basically, the answer is, 'because we think they do.' In other words that the experience of pain is a matter of perception.) Soon after that, I attended one introductory Pilates class with a 1-1 teacher, who walked me through some exercises that I found very difficult, though they would not appear so to an outsider - subtle movements I had not tried before that required intense concentration to execute. I was amazed when afterwards I realised I felt no pain at all and it did not return for about an hour. I surmised the reason that I felt no pain was not because the Pilates was a magic bullet (though I'm sure, Pilates is helpful for back strengthening), but rather because I was focused on something so intensely besides the pain in my back that I didn't notice it was there (much like a tree falling in the forest with no one there to hear it). From then I started practising two things - one was Danny's suggestion and also in the talk, that I try focusing on the pain and trying to articulate what it really felt like. e.g rather than catastrophising every instance of pain, I noticed sometimes it felt less painful than other times. Often it wasn't really pain at all, per se, it was more a sense of 'wrongness' or something that will be familiar to nerve pain sufferers that I can only describe as 'sensation'. The other, (and this may seem contradictory) was endeavouring to be very mindful about everything else, from brushing my teeth to doing the dishes, so my brain would be too full of messages about the tasks that I was engaged in minute by minute to pay any attention to my back. Finally - and I believe this also had a big impact, though I can't know for sure - I bought a Teeter hanging device and anti-gravity boots http://www.amazon.com/Teeter-Hang-Ups-Inversion-Gravity/dp/B000M83J5I- hanging upside down is great, but I think hanging in the usual way (hands, overhand or underhand grip, in various different poses, but mostly just plain old hanging) has made a great difference. This I got from Craig's excellent hanging series. It just feels great. I now hang several times a day. I have no real routine. I just hang on my bar every time I walk by, much like a kid on a swing set. I can't rate this enough. I did also have a few sessions of osteopathy and dry needling, also helpful. But not, I feel, the cure. One more 'finally' - all this I believe has changed my attitude to movement in general. I try to do some movement nearly all the time. Rather than thinking of 'working out' for an hour per day and then 'the rest of life' the rest of the time. I think of my body communicating with the world and vice versa, all of the time. So can be found stretching at bus stops, in shopping queues, sometimes working in a squat with my computer on the floor... etc etc. I do a lot of things just because they feel good. Danny, at one point, said to me 'Free your hips and you free your mind' and that has really stuck with me (it's true! Though my hips need a lot of work!) Kit, if you are reading this, I am afraid I cannot tell you that I have cut down my work yet in any drastic way, but I have turned down various commitments on top of this, and avoided taking on a second job... hah. I have been doing far more relaxing in the past 3 months than I have the last 3 years, and a lot of getting outdoors (hiking, climbing, kayaking...) Thank you to anyone who has read this far! Hi Kit :-) it's Ngaire. I was going to do a bit more research on the forums (have done some) before posting there but since you are here now, asking. Today I've been diagnosed with post-herpetic neuralgia. I had shingles about 18 months ago and pain has flared up without rash. Mid-thoracic area left side. The skin in that area feels numb and pain there varies from stabbing to itching to tingling to throbbing and sometimes feels like I've just been hit by a truck in that one place. I believe general flexibility and strength will help so working on daily 5, hip flexors and strengthening glutes. I use a standing (adjustable) desk and have very frequent movement breaks (or move and work). Also practising mindfulness and relaxation to help with pain management. Sometimes it feels like a fire engine siren is going off on my side. It has the quality of being exposed to a loud constant noise that won't turn off. I want to avoid prescription meds for the moment. Wondered if you can suggest any stretches that relax nerves? (Or if I do the stretches that feel "neural" is that a good start?) I just put up a chin up/hanging bar in my flat and am practising Craig's hanging series which helps. Thank you!! Very grateful for all your teachings. I also do lots mobility work with resistance bands. Movement seems to help. permalink [–]Kit_LaughlinKit's the Tits[S] 1 point 1 month ago Hello there! N., the #1 route for you is to very significant reduction in your frankly insane work load (I am sure you knew I was going to recommend that!), if you haven't already. Shingles is the common term for the original complaint (adult chicken pox, one of the herpes viruses, and in many people the body remains overly sensitive following a severe episode (the "post" part). What I will suggest (the lying meditations) are not fast cures; what is needed is to calm the whole system down over time. In my direct experience (I have had the same problem) time will fix it and gentle stretching (lateral flexion, rotation, and having someone rub some nice smelling skin balm on regularly over the affected area, very very gently) will all help desensitise the area. So will naps in the afternoon. Strong stretching likely will set off the wrong neural reactions, so wait until the body indicates that this is tolerable. All this will take quite some time. Please post this (and my reply) over at the Forums; it's a more common problem, I suspect, than we think. permalink parent [–]NgaireW 1 point 1 month ago Thank you Kit :-) am going to sleep now but will post to forums. Really appreciate your response. Well, I finished writing books now but then was promoted in my day job so I am working less but still working a lot. I am about to tune in to one of your relaxation recordings (which I used to listen to in Canberra 2004 and still works a treat!). Will move this topic to forums. Thank you :-) permalink parent [–]Kit_LaughlinKit's the Tits[S] 1 point 1 month ago still working a lot The problem you describe is the residue of much stress for years; this needs to be 'exorcised!'. What you are doing is, IMHO, the fast track. And try to cut down how much you work—give a long hard think to 'how much do I really need?' and make adjustments. No one should do full time work, I feel.