Long thoracic nerve damage.

i had damaged my long thoracic nerve which caused me to lose function of my serratus anterior and some of my lat. i had gone into some physical therapy and they are recovering. because i was not able to use my lat or serratus anterior it caused my scapula to wing out. which is called winged scapula. i no longer have that and my lat and serratus anterior are coming back in. this is an older video to show what it looked like. and at the time i didnt know what was wrong. i damaged it from doing handstands and lifting to much weight over my head when doing a shoulder excersize in the gym.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• long
• thoracic
• nerve
• damage
• serratus
• anterior
• lat

[dzeno99]

Here Im after getting the same problem. Docs keep reffering me to all these different specialists. Can you  let me know what you did to get better please.

[oldschoolmonkeys]

well i didnt know what was wrong with me for a while, i had the problem for about 6 months until i finally went into a physical therapist and i went into some laser treatment and i had done many excersizes that my therapist told me to do. i also looked up some myself, i suggest going into a doctor and seeing if they can refer you to a physical therapist, so you can get the laser therapy as well, and the routine excersizes even tho you can look those up. if your more interested msg/cmt back.

[Alacress]

Oh man, I don't like the sound of that... especially considering that I don't have insurance, and I'll only have 70% coverage in the spring semester.

I've been dealing with a bad case of this condition for about 7 or more years (I honestly had no idea what it was called until just recently) and with my case, I'm unable to lift my right arm past chest height, unless I throw it upwards.

What happens in the laser therapy exactly, and do you have any idea on how much it costs?

[oldschoolmonkeys]

the laser treatment that my physical therapist did on me was to help heal the long thoracic nerve. and i do not know the cost im sorry, my mom payed for it and i think our insurance helped. but it was like $40 each visit. and i went there for about 2-3 times a week for about 2-3 weeks then i started going there once weekly for about 2 more weeks and i was done there. if i remember correctly.

[nandy333]

did u used to get pain cos my back does this but i also get stabbing pains and really bad aches. be great if u could let me know. thanks

natalie

[oldschoolmonkeys]

you guys can look up some exercises on youtube that should help out a little. and also i did not have any sharp pains. my recovery was only a couple of months and i had this condition for about 5 months before going in to get it checked out. takes a while to recover unlesss you get a surgical procedure. but that i dont recommend. try doing physical exercises if you cant go into a physical therapist. there are some you can learn here on youtube.

[myamoocow]

@PUSSY100ish Thank you so much, I will seriously check into this, surgery will be my last option!

[PUSSY100ish]

@myamoocow Good luck. I will still recomend an ART specialist who practices long nerve compression issues. This is their latest module and it apparently covers 200 nerves so I guess it can only help. You've waited this long, so I feel this may be a good last non-invasive option.

[myamoocow]

@PUSSY100ish Thanks for your post...I had an EMG test done and it's 100% my long thoracic nerve which is "pinched" that is causing the problem as my serratus anterior muscles are not being "fired" by this nerve. I had this test done about 2 years ago now and instead of just my right shoulder blade winging, my left one is winging now too so it's literally twice as bad as it was 2 years ago. Going to see an orthopedic surgeon in 3 weeks, I will update you an anyone else on my status

[myamoocow]

@sporty1231new Thank you very much for this info...I have an appointment in 3 weeks to go see an orthopedic surgeon. Based on everything I have read, I will probably need either decompression surgery for my long thoracic nerve OR a procedure called a pectoriis transfer where they fasten the bottom of your shoulder blade to your rib cage using part of your pec muscle. This forces your shoulder blades to stay forward which allows you go lift your arms above your head again!

[nandrade26]

right now im doing a treatment consisting on massages and electric stimulation, damn it feels good, the thing about the electric stimulation is that when the electrode is placed in a certain place under the scapula it hurts and i think its beacuse it right on the injured nerve and forces the serratus to contraction, my guess is that nerve itself its pinched.

[nandrade26]

@c3contact123 I know exactly what u mean..i've been to a lot of doctors, and they all mentioned different reasons, but none the long thoracic nerve,

[PUSSY100ish]

@myamoocow Hi. Have you checked Active Release Therapy. They usually say most shoulder limitation is due to scarred/fibrosed subscapularis muscle (in the armpit), which is quickly treated and the result is an instant better range of motion.

[PUSSY100ish]

@oldschoolmonkeys Hi mate, what symptoms did you have that indicated this damage?

[myamoocow]

@sporty1231new Thank you very much for the reply...my neurologist said that my long thoracic nerve "wants" to work and compared to a garden hose having a kink in it. I guess the good news was that it was not severed nor did I have any lesions on it. It's been about 3 years now and it hasn't improved at all, if anything it's worse now. I would do the pectoralis transfer surgery in a second if I had to..I'm still too young to live the rest of my life like this!

[sporty1231new]

@myamoocow The muscle and nerve wasting should go naturally after about 3years after they regenerate fully. Just come back from having 4 weeks rehab on my shoulder-but there is no actual cure to date. My overhead overhead control is rubbish aswell-i can't control the shoulder at all without totally straining. The scapular wings so much that the skin is stretching around the shoulder on mine. The best exercises to do are ones that focus on the serratus anterior (and just any rear deltoid) Cheers