home › Forums › Health & Fitness › Any experience of these symptoms, or having gone private for medical care?
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May 2, 2019 at 2:31 pm #3421debbyParticipant
Bit of background to my issues: I have issues with back, neck and pain through my left arm. I broke my back the year before after an accident and have had issues ever since then with back and neck pain, but this last year it has gotten much worse. In August 2018 I started to get severe pins and needles and lack of sensation in my little finger and third finder in left hand. I went to Osteo and was under 2 physios for 5 months but nothing made much difference.
By December 2018 it progressed to really awful pain in that arm and loss of use in my shoulder (no serious pain, but it literally just won’t work to lift, stretch etc – not total loss of use, but significant compared to my other shoulder/arm). So I went to my GP, nothing much came of it as he just said ‘see another Physio first’ so I did that.
And then by Feb 2019 I couldn’t look over my shoulder any more as that’s how tight my neck is, I have no sensation at all in those fingers, pins and needles all the time and a real loss of the ability to grip with that hand. To the point that I sometimes can’t change gear properly or take my handbrake off, I also have noticeable muscle wastage in that shoulder.
I went to my GP again, but saw a different doctor and he referred me for bloods, x-ray, to see a musculoskeletal (can’t spell it, sorry!) specialist and for an MRI – so I felt optimistic that something may happen. Had bloods and came back normal, and then waited for the other referrals, and waited and followed up last week to find that nothing had been done. I have another phone call with him tomorrow to get this sorted but I am worried at how much it’s progressing in such a short space of time. I am also more than aware at how long it can take to get the MRI and specialist appointments, as the lady opposite me at work has been battling for the best part of a year, cancelled appointments, lost paperwork etc.
I am therefore thinking about going private. There is a hospital 20 mins from me which comes recommended, and has 3 Neuro consultants. It would be £270 for the appointment, £350 for an MRI if required and then cost for the treatment which is a total unknown at this point, so a significant expense but I just cannot live like this, and as I have said, I am scared at how bad I may be by the time I get an NHS appointment. It is really starting to get me down all the time, and I just don’t really know what to do.
Any advice welcomed, sorry for the essay!!
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May 2, 2019 at 2:32 pm #3422finnParticipant
I went to see a private consultant recently, for whom I ticked the spec very well when it looked like I was going to have to wait until December for an SI joint injection via the NHS pain clinic who over a 7 month period have done nothing else to improve the situation.
I had previously seen one of her recommended physios so there was a bit of a historical connection.
It cost £225 and was worth every penny and made me feel a lot better about having a back up if I needed it to (it became apparently that I was likely to wait only until August instead but injecting is a bit of a stab in the dark as I don’t have a proper diagnosis (I have been in the system since Jan 2018, experiencing the issue albeit previously more fluctuating since 1997ish :p) which was referral to gate keeper consultant, sent to MRI sent to pain clinic september 2018.Consultant well aware am self-funding and would not take an expensive diagnostics route if we don’t have to, agreed with SI joint injection not being daft, (phew) and gave steps she would do next (with gives me info I can push with).
Left with 4 point plan:
she checks existing MRI (she wants to know why they haven’t done pelvis too)
I see her other recommended physio just to double check nothing has been missed.
I checked with hospital where they were planning to inject as this info had been like blood out of a stone
and when.And to keep in touch and not give up (which frankly I do get close to being, sometimes people manage to convince me it is now screwy neurology, then something pops up that makes it clear that there is likely a physical source)
I have a long trail of physical therapists behind me, the latest being the pain clinic physio who suggested we give up when it was only making it worse :p. I am well aware that the pain clinic consultants also come from an anaesthetics background not MSK if there is a structural albeit it complicated/not obvious cause.
So from my recent experienced I would do it, I kind of wish I had previously but I already have to access psych help privately + physio adds up etc and I just didn’t have the funds. -
May 2, 2019 at 3:07 pm #3423walkerParticipant
Sounds like you are having a bit of a rough time and for it to have been going on this long I think is truly unacceptable!
I have only had one private medical experience that was paid for by the NHS and I did and still do think it was worth it. In as short a version as I can give here is my experience, I injured my ankle falling from a height and landing on the side heard a huge pop and honestly thought my leg was going to be hanging off the side before I took a look. It wasn’t, there was no visual difference but I could not walk.
Very quickly it doubled in size so went to A&E and had an x-ray. I was told it wasn’t broken so must have just been a sprain so to basically ‘walk it off’ although I was given crutches (I think mainly because I stood my ground that I was in a LOT of pain).
I ended up going to my GP because it wasn’t getting any better, swelling was still huge and a huge amount of bruising coming out. I was sent for a second x-ray, nothing found there either so referred to physio (this is probably 2-4 weeks after injury occurred).
I had nearly 2 months of physio and nothing helped, I lost, I would say 70% of movement in my ankle so I was referred for an MRI.
The results for the NHS MRI can back pretty quick but were “inconclusive” this is when I was referred to a private hospital.
When I met with the private consultant he took one look at my NHS MRI and straight away said the reason it is “inconclusive” is because it was blury (blaming NHS MRI not me moving), consultant said he could not see anything so I would have to have another MRI at the private hospital.
I did, again super quick and follow up appointment a week or so after. I had teared ligaments in my ankle, I had a load of scar tissue build up and my body had GROWN (eurgh) an extra ligament to support the ankle. Basically my ankle had been left unsupported for so long I managed to grow a ligament (consultant said he has never actually seen this but heard of it happening). Obviously I had to have an operation to sort this all out. 2 months I waited for an NHS paid, private operation and within a month I was almost back to normal.
I probably have around 70-80% depending on the day range of movement back. I wasted so long with all the ‘protocol’ the NHS has to go through, I was told if I had been given the proper treatment from day 1 at A&E I might not have had to have the operation and my range of movement would of definitely been better thus now 2/3 years on it wouldn’t be causing me pain. I am probably going to have a bad ankle for the rest of my life!
I wouldn’t wait for the NHS to finish all their tests, if you can afford to do it, do it.
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May 2, 2019 at 3:43 pm #3424sueParticipant
I hate saying it but the NHS is set up to make things as hard as possible and for them to do as little as possible and the incompetence is staggering. They have let me down over and over and over, and the damage to my life is immeasurable. If you can afford it do it and do it now.
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May 2, 2019 at 3:44 pm #3425JazzyParticipant
Can’t help with the private medicine bit, but I would say go for it.
It certainly sounds as though you have some nerve entrapment or irritation… Specifically the ulnar nerve ( and maybe others).
The ulnar nerve is very involved in grip and the sensation of the little finger and the half of the next finger on that side and it can be compressed at various points from the neck to the wrist.Can I ask which vertebrae you injured?
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May 3, 2019 at 11:24 am #3427debbyParticipant
My injury was at L3, so may very well be unrelated, but that’s the first point at which I remember my back issues really starting. The doctor did say that the Ulnar nerve would be the point of his investigation given the symptoms, but due to some other aspects of my life/family medical history, we also went for a full spine/neck x-ray/MRI.
The other aspects being that I have also trained and fought in Muay Thai for many years (although no longer), which puts a lot of stress on the neck, so that could be a component; my dad, his mum and his brother and sister were also all diagnosed with arthritis in their mid-twenties (which is the same age as me now), my grandmother having had spondylosis, which has a hereditary element, so it could also be an aspect of that along with the neuro. I really am unsure at this point.
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May 3, 2019 at 11:26 am #3429JazzyParticipant
Yes L3 is well below, so probably not connected.
You don’t by any chance have a habit of leaning your left elbow on a desk with your head resting in your hand, do you?
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May 3, 2019 at 11:26 am #3430debbyParticipant
I used to do this a lot, but I can’t any more due to the pain.
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May 3, 2019 at 11:27 am #3431JazzyParticipant
There is something called cubital fossa syndrome that is caused by bruising the ulnar nerve at the elbow. It’s quite common in these days of computer usage. I would hope your gp tested for it.
I wouldn’t like to say that this is your problem due to your medical and family history and you definitely need investigating… Especially with one sided neck pain… the ulnar nerve is supplied by the last cervical nerve and first two thoracic. -
May 3, 2019 at 11:34 am #3437debbyParticipant
My GP didn’t even mention it, I will have a look into it and mention it to him tomorrow. I have a phone consultation with him to air all I have said above. I think I may push for the xray on the NHS, as these referrals are supposed to be quite fast and then I can take the results private. I will contact that hospital to get the ball rolling tomorrow also, thank you everyone for your comments, it’s cemented in my mind that it’s the right thing to do.
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May 3, 2019 at 11:24 am #3426debbyParticipant
Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. You are echoing my thoughts really, I think it’s time. I have had enough already and I am well aware that I am only at the very beginning of my potential NHS ‘journey’.
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May 3, 2019 at 11:25 am #3428markParticipant
I don’t have similar symptoms, but I am now on the NHS list of a neurosurgeon based at the Walton Centre in Liverpool after he reviewed an ENT MRI which I had done privately.
He moved me from his private list to his NHS one without question, and I get annual MRIs and can fast track myself into clinic if I am worried in the interim. I have an anomaly at C1/C2. -
May 3, 2019 at 11:29 am #3432robParticipant
I’ve just had this, with left arm pain and tingling/numbness in fingers. I’ve been through a medi-go-round involving at least 5 doctors, 4 physios, 3 ambulance paramedics, 2 A&E triage nurses, and 1 osteopath. No partridges, at last count. The first doctor didn’t even examine me, just said my symptoms indicated damage at C7, and that I would need an operation and should give up riding. Fortunately, none of the other medical people involved have been that extreme, and I’m back on board, although cautiously. The pain (after a while on a lovely cocktail of naproxen, paracetamol, tramadol, diazepam, pregabalin, an olive, and vodka (just kidding about the latter 2)), is now mostly gone, but a bit of numbness and tingling remain in the index finger and occasionally the middle finger. I’ve been told, again by everyone, that it’s likely to take a while for that to leave, but I’m still freaked out, because I’m an organist/harpsichordist.
The first, panic-doctor, was also the last to see me (he was still making panic at that point), but at least his panicky state caused him to refer me for an “urgent” MRI. I’ve just had the blood test done for that, and am now patiently waiting…cobgoblin, should I be worried, as a professional musician, at any delay: is this likely to make things worse? Or is the quick improvement so far a sign that I might hope for it to continue?
Meanwhile, the osteopath was the most useful, as far as I can tell. He’s discharged me after 2 visits. He thinks the remaining problems are muscular.
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May 3, 2019 at 11:30 am #3433JazzyParticipant
This isn’t quite the same as OP and you don’t say how it happened, but if you’re down to a bit of numbness and tingling it certainly sounds as though you are recovering well. It’s an urgent MRI so hopefully it won’t be long before you get answers.
I honestly can’t make predictions, but I hope you recover fully.
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May 3, 2019 at 11:31 am #3434emmaParticipant
I’ve gone for private diagnosis and then been slotted back into the NHS system for the expensive tests.
Hard to understand why those in the know haven’t been more concerned about the pins and needles and loss of strength.
I hope you get to the bottom of it all!
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May 3, 2019 at 11:32 am #3435phillipParticipant
I have used a private consultant and MRI, also nerve conduction tests. They were all negative for why I was having pins and needles, numbness, weakness. If there had been treatment necessary I could have gone back to the NHS for treatment. But…
Eventually, after a blood test, it seems it was a lot to do with vitamin D deficiency. You can get a blood test from Amazon (finger prick test that goes to an NHS hospital for analysis) that will tell you if that is a cause. Wish I had done that a LOT earlier!!!
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May 3, 2019 at 11:33 am #3436anneParticipant
I had similar at the end of last year and visited a chiropractor who after a few visits wanted to refer me for an MRI. It would have cost me £240, would have been done the following week and he would have had the report which he would have then written to my Dr saying who to refer me to.
I did pay for one 3 years ago as I had a frozen shoulder……it cut down the time to seeing a specialist considerably. -
May 3, 2019 at 11:36 am #3439tommyParticipant
Has anyone suggested Thoracic Outlet Syndrome?
I had/have this. I had six months physio and then an op to remove the first rib on my left side.
My symptoms were very much how you describe yours.
I saw a lovely surgeon at the Nuffield in Oxford. If you want more detas let me know.
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May 3, 2019 at 1:04 pm #3443peterWParticipant
I would get yourself to a sport therapist. If yours is saying its now muscular it should help a lot. I see one in conjuction with the osteo and it is a great combo.
And just to second the vitamin D suggestion, please get it checked out and check B12. If its low you get those exact symptoms of tingling and numbness etc. And jsut like vitamin D its rarely tested and its even rarer for it to be treated properly. It also tends to run hand in hand with vitamin D deficiency.
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