Have Hit On The Side Of Head. Having Facial Numbness, Chest And Back Pain. MRI And X-ray Was Normal. Suggest?

Posted on Tue, 18 Jun 2013

Question: I mentioned before my hit to the side of my head next to eye then i got the facial numbness. The numbness has gotten a lot better, but ever since the hit i have been getting chest and back pain, when i take a deep breath sometime there is pain in chest and back, other than that i either have chest pain or back pain and still some arm pain. What could it be, i already mention mri of brain was normal, chest xray was normal
Pain usually is in the right side to middle of back between shoulder blades and in upper sternum of chest
Sometimes its heart palpitations, i did have a period of excessive anxiety due to symptoms of hit thinking it was something serious

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Kumar (21 days later)

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query.

First of all, I would like to reassure you that your symptoms do not suggest any serious underlying disease.

The most likely cause could be mild pinching of nerves in the cervical (neck) region, which sends nerve fibres to chest, back, neck and arm.

The other possibility could be a muscular sprain/pain.

As of now, you can use analgesics such as diclofenac. If symptoms persist, you may go for MRI of cervical spine.

Hope it helps. Please get back if you have any more queries.

Best wishes,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar