left shoulder and hand pain

about 6 years ago I started to have some pain in the thumb of my left hand, then it progressed up my left arm, then I had a burning pain in the pad by my left thumb.  Sometimes it feels as as if a pin is stabbing my thumb, other times it is just a severe pain.  The last year or so I have had a lot of left shoulder pain.  It hurts from my shoulder all the way down my arm into the thumb area of my left hand.  Back in Oct. I had surgery for a pinched nerve in my neck,  but I still am having a lot of pain.  When I lift my arms over my head it I feel even more pain, apparently the pinched  nerve wasn't my only problem.  I did go for pain management for awhile but that didn't seem to help.  What can I do?

[Enoch Choi, MD]

if you had surgery for a disc that was pinching a cervical nerve, that sounds consistent with pain that goes all the way down to the thumb. Too bad the 10/07 surgery didn't cure it.

Another MRI to see the status of those pinched nerves, and neurology to do EMG to test the conduction and function of those nerves could help.

physical medicine and rehabilitation doctors can help if there's nothing to do surgically

[mcarolbabe]

A related discussion, Re:  Hand and Arm/Shoulder Pain was started.