median nerve and muscle tightness

So I have been dealing with a tight median nerve for at least 6 - 8 months. It has caused me some soreness and tightness and a little bit of loss of range of motion in my right arm. For the most part it has been pretty much a non-issue and hasn't slowed down my climbing. Then their was an incident about 2 months ago where my whole arm (fingers to shoulder) became extremely tight and inflamed after some at my limit steep sport climbing (5-6 days in a row). With the days following this inflammation I would have the feeling of getting pumped out from simple tasks like brushing my teeth and chopping up food. I took some time off climbing (about 2 weeks) before getting back into it. Climbing did seem to aggravate it more so I kept things really chill because I was leaving for a crack climbing mission in the states. Anyway, I spent about 6 weeks climbing in Oregon and Utah and although I took more rest days then I would normally I was able to climb the whole trip. Crack climbing seems to not aggravate my arm as much as face climbing. I did one day of indoor bouldering since I have been back home and I feel like it has tightened up my arm. My bicep is very tight and forearm feels swollen.

This whole thing is a very strange feeling. When I move my arm through its range of motions the muscles start to cramp and it almost feels like some icy hot cream is being rubbed in.

Has anyone ever had or heard of anything like this? Thanks for reading.. -Shaun

You might look into pronator teres syndrome if in fact you know it is the median nerve.

Definitely some stuff to think about - some of my symptoms do match up. Thanks for posting.

I had, have, the same thing. There was a post awhile back but can't find the link. Basically, F*$$@# me up, for a long time, and still does, if I'm not careful.

The gym sets it aflame if I do anything uncontrolled or push myself too hard. I warm up religiously now, most of the session, which helps. I also use arm-aid, which helps a lot and they have good customer service. I also do eccentric exercises with a rubber bar, can't remember brand but you can find them on "power", something, "climbing" a Uk guy. Finally, "nerve gliding" exercises help.

At the end of the day, its chronic but manageable, as long as I warm up, do lots of pre-hab, and stop before I'm flamed. Actually, it rarely bothers me climbing crack, just gym and pumpy face climbs. Like I just climb moderate trad.

Best of luck.

FYI your biceps is innervated by musculocutaneous, not median

Aerili wrote:You might look into pronator teres syndrome if in fact you know it is the median nerve.

A possibilty for sure. A lot of arm stuff is hard to diagnose. I thought some of my stuff was rotator (some was) but it turned out to really be ulnar entrapment causing the nerve issues

You really need an arm/lower extremity expert

All of this is great information that I will bringing up with professionals.Thanks for posting and feel free to lay down any other information if you got it. I am also open to referrals to doctors if they are in the Vancouver or Sea to Sky area. Thanks!!!

john strand wrote: You really need an arm/lower extremity expert

Upper extremity! :)

Pronator teres can get aggravated with repeated pronation of the hand (i.e. palm down motion), particularly when the elbow is flexed. Which basically describes a fundamental motion of the arm and hand when face climbing but not so much when crack climbing. Also, the position of the shoulder can be quite different with crack climbing. So yes, I am sure your observations of your symptoms related to the kinematics of different kinds of climbing are relevant.

My bad upper/lower maybe both !

Physio is narrowing down my issue to Thoracic Outlet Syndrome if anyone is curious to how this has panned out.

Glad you got a dx. I am surprised you did not have shoulder and/or neck pain, but I have only known 1 person/patient who had TOS.

The biggest red flag for TOS is that when I stretch my right chest with my elbow at 90 degrees I can cut off my circulation causing my hand to turn white; when I release the stretch all of the blood rushes back to my hand and arm causing it to go red and swell. I want to see specialists in the medical field like a neurologist and a upper extremity orthopaedic surgeon but I live in Canada where every time you need to see a doctor you are put on MASSIVE wait lists. There is a good chance I won't see anybody about this issue for month's.