Radial nerve: causes and symptoms of the disease
Neuritis (neuropathy) of the radial nerve more oftenaffects the upper limbs of man. Causes of the disease, usually arising in a dream, is damage to the radial nerve with a long laying of the hand under the head or body. Usually, such a deep sleep occurs with severe physical fatigue or strong alcohol intoxication.
Sometimes damage to the radial nerve occurs whenits compression by a tourniquet, crutches or at a fracture of a humeral bone. It happens that the radial nerve is affected by an incorrect injection, directed to the outside of the shoulder. In rare cases, the disease is of an infectious nature, when the lesion occurs due to the entry into the body of infection in case of flu, pneumonia, typhus, or general intoxication resulting from alcohol or heavy metal poisoning.
Most often, the place located at the border of the middle and lower third of the shoulder is squeezed in the area where the septum is located between the lateral muscular fossa and the nerve itself.
Radial nerve: symptoms of neuritis
The disease manifests itself in the form of all kinds of disorders and changes in sensitivity in the area of innervation. The clinical picture becomes clear only after determining the level of nerve damage.
In the case of severe damage to the radial nerve,which is located in the armpit, located in the upper third of the shoulder, it is possible to develop muscle paralysis. These include the muscles of the hand, the main phalanx of the fingers, extensors of the forearm. Patients with neuritis of the radial nerve begin to lose the reflex of the tendon of the triceps, at the same time the carporadial reflex weakens.
Before the start of treatment, diagnostic tests are performed to determine the degree of damage to the radial nerve.
When you raise your hands in a horizontalthe hand hangs down. Fingers are very close to each other. It is almost impossible to unbend forearms or brushes. The possibility of bending the joint at the elbow is lost. In this case, the extensor and caraporadial ulnar reflexes are significantly reduced, the sensitivity of the first three fingers decreases, and limb numbness occurs.
In a lighter form, the radial nerve allows to unbend the forearm, elbow joint, the sensitivity of the shoulder remains normal.
If the radial nerve is damaged, diagnosticthe tests give the following results. The patient can not withdraw the thumb, being in an upright position with downwardly lowered hands. It is not possible to touch your fingers at the same time with your fingers. When the patient's hand is placed on the table with the palm of his hand, the person can not put the middle finger on the neighboring ones. When breeding phalanges, they are not diverted, and the fingers only bend and slide.
To prevent or stop the development of the disease, it is necessary to perform mandatory neurological examinations.
The degree and depth, to which the radial nerve is damaged, allows to diagnose the procedure of electrostemagmography (ENG). Using this method, you can make a prognosis for recovery.
Radial nerve: treatment of neuritis
To fight the disease, appoint a receptionvitamins of group E, C and B. It is also important to take anticholinesterase, antiviral agents and homeopathic medicines. For treatment, massage, acupuncture and physiobalneotherapy are prescribed.
With the help of neurostimulation, you can get rid ofpain and restore the strength of the muscles of the hands. If after the start of treatment within a few months there are no positive results, to eliminate the neuritis of the radial nerve and restore strength, mandatory surgical intervention is necessary.
To improve the condition of the patient using folk remedies, for example, tea from the leaves of mother-and-stepmother.
