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Home / Brachial Plexus Injury
A quick guide to Brachial Plexus Injury
When you grab a pan that is too hot to hold, your brachial plexus is one to tell you about it. While minor injuries to your brachial plexus injury can heal easily, severe injuries can leave you paralyzed. However, getting the best treatment and rehabilitation from world-renowned neurologist Dr Na’eem Sadiq can help you recover as soon as possible.
Decoding. Brachial Plexus Injury
The brachial plexus is a bundle of nerves that stems from nerve roots in the neck and torso. It controls the motions of your wrists, hands, and arms, allowing you to raise your arm, type on your keyboard, or even throw a baseball. A Brachial Plexus Injury occurs when these nerves are stretched, compressed, or in the most serious cases, ripped apart or torn away from the spinal cord.
Symptoms of Brachial Plexus Injury
Depending on the severity and location of the Brachial Plexus Injury, the signs and symptoms can vary greatly.
Minor injuries
Often brachial plexus nerves get stretched or compressed due to minor damages in contact sports, such as football or wrestling. These are called stingers or burners that exhibit symptoms such as burning sensation, numbness, and weakness in the affected area.
Major injuries
Serious Brachial Plexus Injury occurs when the nerve root is torn from the spinal cord. Symptoms for such major injuries include weakness or inability to use certain muscles in your hand, arm, or shoulder along with severe pain.
Causes of Brachial Plexus Injury
Injury to the brachial plexus is fairly common during birth since the nerves in the shoulders are quite vulnerable during birth. The injury generally takes one of two forms:
This is a common injury of the upper brachial plexus nerves. It causes numbness and loss of motion around the shoulder and an inability to flex the elbow, lift an arm, or bring objects to the mouth.
It is a less common injury that affects the lower brachial plexus, leading to loss of motion and/or sensation in the wrist and hand, such as being unable to move fingers.
While in adults, Brachial Plexus Injury has a wide range of causes, including:
Blunt trauma
Athletic injuries
Gunshot wounds
Medical trauma
Cancer
Radiation therapy
Treatments for Brachial Plexus Injury
Some children with Brachial Plexus Birth Injuries recover spontaneously, while most regain their normal function through Physical and Occupational therapy. A smaller group will require surgical intervention to achieve better functioning. While in adults, getting the right form of rehabilitation or therapy can enhance independence and improve quality of life even after the Brachial Plexus Injury. A regenerative rehabilitation program usually comprises of:
Physical Therapy
Physiotherapy focuses on improving strength of affected muscles, relieving pain, and improving tone and sensory awareness of the extremity. Physiotherapists help to learn exercises that may help restore function in the arms and hands and improve range of motion and flexibility. Direct current stimulation, bracing, therapeutic exercise, and biofeedback are also used to maximize the functioning of the upper extremity.
Occupational Therapy
The goal of Occupational Therapy is to enhance practical skills like dressing and cooking in cases that involve severe muscle weakness, numbness and pain. It consists of a number of treatment approaches that help to improve functioning of the affected area. These include muscle re-education and retraining therapy, sensory re-education therapy, mirror therapy, hand function training, ADL training, hand splinting, and functional retraining.
What our patients say.
Fatima (Mother of Baby Zara)
“We went to Plexus for treatment of my child’s hand. My 2 month old baby was not moving his right hand and his right hand looked weak and different from the left. At Plexus his treatment was carried out for one month and he completely recovered after that. He started holding his toys and started moving his right arm. I am extremely grateful to the doctors at Plexus for improving my child's condition.”
Dewansh Singh
“I have come to Bangalore all the way from Delhi for Cell Therapy. I was suffering from Motor Neuron Disease for the last one year and after receiving the therapy, I am quite satisfied with the results. At Plexus, you will find some of the best physiotherapists. Now I am going back to my hometown, where I will continue the treatment guided by Kasturee and Kanishka.”
Dewansh Singh
“I have come to Bangalore all the way from Delhi for Cell Therapy. I was suffering from Motor Neuron Disease for the last one year and after receiving the therapy, I am quite satisfied with the results. At Plexus, you will find some of the best physiotherapists. Now I am going back to my hometown, where I will continue the treatment guided by Kasturee and Kanishka.”
FAQs answered
This is a common injury of the upper brachial plexus nerves. It causes numbness and loss of motion around the shoulder and an inability to flex the elbow, lift an arm, or bring objects to the mouth.
Pulling on the baby’s head and neck as the shoulders pass through the birth canal or pulling the baby’s head, neck or shoulders during a head-first delivery are some of the most common causes of this birth injury.
This depends on the severity of injury and the extent of damage caused. If the damage was mild, it can heal on its own in some weeks or months but if there is complete avulsion of the Brachial Plexus, the child will require treatment and this damage could also be irreversible.
The most common symptoms are a lack of feeling or control in an arm, shoulder or hand. In more severe cases, the limb may be partly or totally paralyzed.
An Erb’s palsy splint can be an effective part of treatment for Erb’s palsy. It can be used to reduce tightness, improve muscle tone and range of motion in the affected areas.
There are many different kinds of Erb’s palsy splints for different cases, and each type has its own use. For example, one patient might need a splint that stabilizes the elbow while another might have one that gives stability at the shoulder for functional use of the hand.
A Comprehensive Erb’s palsy treatment plan, including Cell therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and the use of Erb’s palsy splints, can greatly aid your child’s recovery.
