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All kinds of arm pain - struggling with fear

Discussion in 'Support Subforum' started by s.mohseni, May 17, 2026 at 10:39 AM.

  1. s.mohseni

    s.mohseni New Member

    Hi guys! It's been a long while since I used this forum regularly. I'd say about 4 or 5 years ago I managed to heal myself from severe RSI using help from this site. Well, I'm back in RSI hell again and I'm seeking a bit of support.

    August of last year, I moved weirdly and twinged a nerve in my neck. Once of those times where you just know you've crushed something and it's going to hurt for a while. As expected, I couldn't move my neck without pain for weeks after. On top of that, I had burning pain and weakness down my left arm. Ever since then, I've had all kinds of issues in my arm and I'm struggling to overcome it. Because I healed from TMS the first time, I am doing my best to consider this as TMS too, but a couple of things are terrifying me and holding me back.

    My symptoms are pain and stiffness in the fingers, burning 'pangs' of pain in my thumb and forefinger, a general heavy, weak feeling in the arm and sometimes all the usual tingles, burning, numbness. Most recently, I've noticed that my left hand often feels a lot colder to the touch compared to my right. One of the most worrying symptoms is that if something brushes against my ring finger, I feel a tickly nerve sensation in my elbow. I am an artist by trade so RSI is definitely my injury of choice regarding TMS and not being able to draw without pain is wearing me down emotionally. Notably I still have motor function and can still draw well, I don't 'drop things' the way people describe CTS. It's just infuriating pain and a feeling of swollen tenderness that plagues me all day long.

    Why I am still scared: I had nerve conduction/EMG tests recently where they did actually tell me there were signs of nerve damage. Honestly, I wasn't expecting this and had hoped they would rule out any nerve problems. Often, people on this forum talk about TMS as it pertains to being told there is nothing physically wrong, but I've been told there is something wrong so... what now? On top of that, the external coldness is a physical symptom, it's not just pain. Things like this are keeping me terrified about there being physical damage, and I think this is holding me back a lot.

    I think what I'm looking for today is just someone to tell me that they were also told they had nerve damage from EMG tests but managed to recover, or to hear about other people experiencing their limbs going cold or other physical manifestations. I've tried journalling but truth be told the way I healed the first time was to stop 'healing' altogether and eventually forgetting about the pain. Right now, it's stopping me doing my job as an artist and making me miserable, so not thinking about it when it hurts is REALLY tough. Any success stories about arm weakness and nerve problems that anyone can offer to give me some hope would be hugely appreciated. Thank you!
     

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