Stinger

Athletes who experience stingers during high-impact sports such as rugby or wrestling can be temporarily weakened or immobilized. Stingers occur during extreme shifts in posture of the head and neck, resulting in immediate shooting or burning pain that travels down one arm. The pain can last for seconds, minutes or longer and is usually followed by numbness or extreme muscular weakness.

A stinger can be an isolated incident, as is most often the case, or it can be an indicator of a more deeply seated neurological problem. Some conditions that may make people more susceptible to stingers during sports activities are osteoarthritis, degenerative-disc disease or cervical spinal stenosis, in which the nerves of the neck are compressed by abnormal growths or spinal damage.

Diagnose Stingers to Rule out Back Problems

Since these conditions can be serious, it is a good idea for patients to see a doctor if stingers recur or if pain does not go away after a week or two. Persistent pain may have its roots elsewhere, and if the cause is diagnosed, then an effective treatment can relieve the symptoms. Mild cases may be alleviated with rest, ice, anti-inflammatory drugs and possibly a cervical collar. If structural damage is found, surgery may be indicated.

Some patients have difficulty securing a definitive diagnosis. The highly experienced physicians of the The Bonati Institute have excellent records at locating pain. Their proprietary surgical techniques are minimally invasive and successful at relieving pain in about 95 percent of patients. Their mission is to relieve pain by restoring spinal health.