Stingers

Stingers occur in sports individuals commonly. It refers to stretching of the upper aspect of the brachial plexus which is a group of nerves between the neck and the shoulder. These tend to be self-limiting and settle very quickly. Commonly the complaint is some burning pain down the arm with some weakness. It may become recurrent and then an assessment is required. After a physical examination and neurological assessment, an MRI or CT scan may be required to look more closely at the neural foramina (holes where nerves come out from the side of the spine) to look for any obvious cause for recurrent symptoms.
Occasionally injection therapies are required to help manage the symptoms and surgery is occasionally used if the symptoms are recurrent and fail conservative management.