What Causes Pain On Underside Of Left Arm Along With Numbness In My Fingers?

Posted on Sat, 14 Mar 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 14 Mar 2015 Answered on

Mon, 6 Apr 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : i have pain on underside of left arm down to the elbow and numbness on underside of left arm from elbow to fingers what are causes and treatment

Answered by Dr. Noble Zachariah (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Likely to be cervical spondylosis.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Welcome.
I am Dr Noble Zachariah with you.
The pain and numbness at your age without a chest pain is most likely to be due a pinched nerve by a disc in the spine of your neck. This is usually due to a degenerative condition called cervical spondylosis.
A cervical spine Xray will be helpful.
If you have not had an EKG recently/ after the onset of the symptoms, you could get one taken as such symptom can occur with a coronary artery disease if the pain occurs while you are exerting or climbing stairs etc.
You have seen a doctor. Was any test done and if so could you please upload the results?
Once we know the diagnosis, we can treat it well.
Take Care,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Noble Zachariah (11 minutes later)

ekg was done and was fine all doctor did was move my head to see if increased pain and it did somewhat said most likely pinched nerve.meds have not helped at all heat on effected area of arm helps while applied but no improvement after is there anything else that will help or i should do?

Answered by Dr. Noble Zachariah (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Gabapentin is likely to bring relief.

Detailed Answer:
Sleep without a pillow, try not to bend the head forward as bending forward is likely to put more pressure on the pinched nerve.
I advise my patients medicines like Gabapentin to help reduce the pain. Simple pain killers and muscle relaxant could be used in addition.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar