Shoulder Pain With Numbness and Tingling
It is normal to have mild, temporary changes in feeling after a
shoulder injury or when you have swelling. Home treatment may help relieve
swelling that causes numbness or tingling.
Numbness and tingling may occur when nerves have been injured,
stretched, or pinched or when swelling is putting pressure on nerves. This can
occur from:
- A neck or head injury.
- A sudden
(acute) injury, such as a severe
sprain, fracture, severe blow to the shoulder,
dislocation, or penetrating injury (for example, a gunshot or stab wound).
Symptoms usually begin suddenly at the time of the injury.
- Arthritis or problems with the neck or spine.
Numbness and tingling may develop even when there has not been an
injury.
- Conditions such as
diabetes,
multiple sclerosis, and
peripheral neuropathy may cause numbness and tingling
that begins gradually and becomes worse over time.
- Numbness and
tingling in the arm, especially when it occurs with chest pain that is
crushing, squeezing, or increasing in intensity, can be a symptom of a
heart attack, which requires emergency
care.
- Sudden arm weakness or numbness with a loss of function can
occur in conditions such as a
transient ischemic attack (TIA),
stroke,
migraine headache, ruptured cervical disc, or pinched
cervical nerve. These conditions need immediate medical evaluation.
Numbness and tingling are more serious when:
- You have a complete loss of
feeling.
- You have symptoms of impaired blood flow such as pale,
white, blue, or cold skin.
- Your symptoms don't go
away.
- Your symptoms get progressively worse.
- Your
symptoms go away but keep coming back.
- You have muscle weakness
(not just because of pain).
Credits
| By | Healthwise Staff |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | William H. Blahd, Jr., MD, FACEP - Emergency Medicine |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | David Messenger, MD |
| Last Revised | August 23, 2011 |