Hand numbness? This radial nerve floss gives fast relief

Is the hand numb from the more distal part of the upper arm, and from the back of the forearm, and also from the palm side between the thumb and index finger? If you suffer from this kind of peripheral nerve problem, typical symptoms include tingling, numbness, prickling sensations, or electric-shock-like sensations in the hand, and in more advanced cases the normal sensation of the skin may begin to change. This condition is the third most common upper limb nerve entrapment, and in this video we are going to go through everything you need to know to find relief from this problem.

Firstly, we start with the anatomy - it's essential to understand the nerve pathway, because there might be structures along its course that put pressure on the nerve, contributing to the upper limb symptoms. The radial nerve originates from the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth cervical nerve roots as well as the first thoracic vertebra. From the armpit it wraps around the upper arm, moving to the radial side of the forearm, and continues towards the fingertips. Its sensory innervation, indicated by the pink areas in the image, mainly supplies the triceps, forearm, and hand extensor muscles.

If you don't have any injuries in the background, it's crucial to examine the structures on the outside of the upper arm. If you find extremely tender structures, or pressing on them causes familiar symptoms in the upper limb area, then it's necessary to relax these areas through light massage. If wrist mobility is severely limited, gentle stretching may be beneficial - here's a useful stretch for the muscles on the back of the forearm. During the stretch it's important not to experience pain - if you do, you're most likely doing it too forcefully.

If you want to test the difference in nerve gliding between the affected and unaffected side, do the following: gently push the shoulder down, abduct the arm about 10 degrees from the body, bend the elbow to 90 degrees, internally rotate the arm, flex the fingers, and extend the elbow until symptoms are provoked. In this position you can explore the effect of tilting the head towards the hand on the upper limb symptoms - in some cases tilting the head away from the hand may worsen it. Additionally you can test how different wrist flexion positions affect the sensations in the hand. After testing both sides, if there is a clear difference, then you should aim for symmetry in nerve glide, meaning both nerves should glide similarly after treatment and stretching - you can retest the feelings before and after.

If you want to perform light nerve gliding, here's how: as I flex my hand into the stretched position, I tilt my head towards the arm - this is relatively safe. If you need to increase the stretch more aggressively, take the nerve into a taut position and gently pump through the wrist, elbow and head for a minute, focusing on the movements that clearly intensify your familiar symptoms - if any of these movements doesn't affect your typical symptoms, then you don't need to do it. I would perform the nerve gliding in 1 to 2 minute intervals, sprinkled through the day, for three or four sets per day. Additionally, if you need soft tissue treatment, do it for the duration of one good song in the background - if your wrist is really restricted, also do pain-free stretches for one good song.

If these instructions don't ease your symptoms, then I would recommend seeking advice from a doctor or physical therapist. ---