Hoping someone can throw some light on this as I’ve not had a proper night’s sleep for months. Following on from this thread I went back to the docs at the end of last year . . . to cut a long boring story short, x-ray has shown a lucency in my humerus, blood results are all normal (thank freak!) and I’m still waiting for results of full body bone scan and spinal x-rays and trying to get another docs appointment within a month is a no go. All I want is a proper night’s sleep 🙁

My shoulder/arm isn’t painful unless I move it awkwardly (I can no longer do push-ups but hey, I’m am old lady) but there is a constant dull ache in my arm which worsens at night and wakes me almost hourly until I change position. Range of movement is fine as I stretch religiously and although I have continued to do light weights and resistance band exercises I have noticed my right arm getting progressively weaker.

Sorry for the lengthy post but the lack of a decent night’s sleep is driving me crazy.

Does your little finger feel numb? Maybe a trapped nerve.
My left side is still waiting to get fixed (over five years now)

No, not the little finger but my middle finger and upwards along my arm feels stiff (as if something needs to click) when I get up but this eases after a short while. What happened with yours?

You’re going to have to explain lucency to me. My understanding is that it is the opposite of opacity, but I’m not sure of the implications?

mrsfry a numb little finger would indicate the ulnar nerve. Why is it taking so long to fix?

Is the lady sleeping on your arm? That normally makes it numb.

Shermer75 I haven’t got a clue. GP (3rd one to date) says they sent out a hospital appoinment. I’m starting to tilt to the left in everyday life 🙁

No ladies sleeping on my arm and I make sure papadirt stays well clear too 😆 No idea what the lucency is – they told me just before Christmas that there was a shadow on the humerus mid-shaft hence all the investigations but are now pretty sure it’s nothing sinister. I guess it could be age-related and nothing to do with my original fall – just wish the damn thing didn’t keep waking me.

Hope you get sorted soon mrsfry – 5 years is a heck of a time. I’m seriously considering regular Bengali Tiger nightcaps after several months (funnily enough I sleep pretty well on ‘Spoons night 😆 )

Well, may be completely irrelevant but following my crash in October, when I twanged my spinal cord, I was left with some fairly unpleasant dysaesthesia over my tricep/bicep area. If you check out dermatomes this relates to damage around C5 area (fifth vertebra in your neck) and also has an effect on fingers and forearms (index and middle finger more C6 I think). Not much stops me sleeping but if it did this would!

A lucency, on an X-ray relating to bone, means an area that appears darker because the bone is less dense (thus allowing more X-rays through to darken the film). The question here I guess is why it would be less dense.

Mamadirt when you say that the GP’s a no-go is that because it takes that long to get an appointment? That sounds pretty frustrating. Sounds like you could do with some pain and sleep meds to tide you over until you get your bone scan results. I’ll be honest I don’t have any super useful advice- when you say that it keeps you awake at night my first instinct would to refer it to rule out something sinister, which you have done. In the meantime things that people have found useful are: ice packs (wrapped in towel, no longer than 20 mins at a time), hot water bottle (also wrapped in towel), ibuprofen, TENS machines which I think you can buy from chemists now, acupuncture, and of course if Bengali Tigers are working for you (I’m assuming you mean the cocktail!) then why not? It’s medicinal, right?

Ah, that’s interesting – cheers! Although it’s my lumbar spine that was x-rayed last. Freakin’ old age – I hate it. I guess I’ll have to wait for the scan results and keep taking the American IPA in the meantime.

Still at a loss but fortunately the bone scan has come back clear with no sign of the lucency so I guess it’s not bone-related. I’ve started exercising again with light weights and can even manage a few push-ups but the abduction weakness remains and the only decent night’s sleep I get is on ‘Spoons night 😆 Have to wait another 3 weeks now for an appointment so we’ll see.

Cheers for the advice shermer75 – I have tried using a cold towel which does help.