a "tingling" sinsation in her upper lip, forearms and hands.
My daughter, 27 years old, married with one 16 mo. old child living in Arizona approximately four years. She thinks, her episodes of "tingling" occurring in her upper lip and lasting about 30 minutes began shortly after moving to AZ. Frequency of ccurence was once or twice per month.
Over a period of time, perhaps three or four years, the tingling sensation began occurring in one forearm and hand, now both forearms and hands. The episodes involving the upper lip and both forearms and hands happen concurrently, lasting about 30 minutes. They come on gradually and go away in the same way. Episode frequency is now about once every six weeks. She reports no weakness associated with the symptoms and is otherwise unaffected.
She has a remarkably good history of health. One incident of trauma occurred in a head-on crash with another vehicle in which she was a front seat passenger. The air bags fired with such a force she was unconscious for about an hour and has little memory of the event itself. She was x rayed after being taken by ambulance to a small community hospital. There was no evidence of broken bones or outward bruising except that caused by the seat belt.
The ER doctor performed a cranial x ray and said there was no evidence of bleeding however he indicated "without directly saying as much" that there was an area that did not appear to be something in need of immediate investigation but advised that an MRI be done after returning home.
She was given a shot and taken to a local motel with others there to watch over her. Her next memory was the following day.
Upon returning home she followed the ER room doctors advice and had an MRI. It appeared to show a small "something" however the radiologist could not determine if it was of significance or not and thus no further tests were required at that time. She was advised to have a second MRI six months later. In the absence of any intervening symptoms she did not have a second MRI.
The auto collision occurred December 24, 2002.
Between the time of the collision Dec 20-02 and March 2006, a close friend received her Dr. of Chiropractic License and visited my daughter in AZ. During that March 2006 visit, her friend performed a technique whereby from behind, she grasped my daughters chin and while exerting a force with her other hand to the opposite side of the top of her cranium, turned her head quickly causing a "cracking" noise my daughter said was audible at least to her. Then the new Chiropractor repeated the procedure in the opposite direction again causing my daughter to hear a crack/popping sound coming from the the area where the spine meets the lower portion of her cranium.
Since that procedure, my daughter mentioned that each time she swivels her head side to side there is a cracking/popping sound coming from the same general area as the cracking sound eminated at the time of the chiropractic proceedure. She recalls no immediate abnormal aches, pains or other unusual health related matters following the proceedure. She continues to experience the popping/cracking though not as loudly as she experienced during the proceedure.
I do not know if the proceedure has any connection with the tingling issues in her upper lip that has since progressed to her forearm and hands that intermittently occurs once or twice a month and sometimes goes for six weeks before a recurrence however she does notice the tingling in her upper lip is concurrent with the tingling in her forearms and hands lasting about half an hour. The tingling is light and described as though someone were touching her lightly with with a straight pin. No pain, just a noticeable sensation. She has not tried to determine (by pinching or scratching) the affected areas during the episodes to determine if there is a decrease in tactile sensation. No weakness is present, no difficulty in using her upper lip to form words, eat etc. however my daughter holds two bachelors degrees ( Psychology and Early Childhood Education) and a masters in Early Childhood Education. She is not overweight, diabetic and takes no on going medication. She does, only on occasion in which she must) take generic Clariton for relief from sniffles and drainage down her throat that has presented itself since moving to AZ. During the course of her academic life (she is now a teacher) she took courses that raised awareness of various conditions that could be early signs of MS, brain tumor or other serious illnesses. She also has taken a form of antidepressant for about six months during a time in which chronic worries extended beyond normal concerns to the extent these concerns or worries interfered with her ability realize a measure of contentment and the baility to concentrate. She has not taken the antidepressant in about 1.5 years.
Although I realize a full neurological workup would be prudent, is there anything that comes to mind that would lead you believe there is present the beginnings of a serious illness as "serious" may be defined as having early stages a condition or disease that is life threatening or requiring a lengthly period of drug and other therapy.
She reports normal sight, no fatigue of much consequence, good balance, no audio or visual disturbance, slurring of speech or laps in memory. In short, other than described no noticeable physical ills. Since she has a history of excessive worry to the extent it interferes with normal activities and her proclivity to visit the doctor only when suffering acute illness, I can't determine if the well treated obsessive worrying is returning or there is an underlying physical illness that needs immediate attention. We have the MRI scans from five years ago that may be useful as a comparison to ones she may undergo if she pursues this matter to a conclusion which is my initial sense she should do if for no other reason than to rule out the early stages of a serious illness. Any help would be greatly appreciated since I live in Illinois and her husband is "physician adverse" and of the belief that illness is for the most part psychological and in fact has little respect for those who regularly seek out medical preventive or acute care.
He is proud of the "very few" times he has ever visited a physician although he has allowed a "chest cold" to develop into pneumonia in both lungs he took his pills and went to work despite an ER physicians direction that he take time off then return for follow up care.
My only concern is my daughter and whether her "tingling" episodes are consistent with something that should not wait to see if it progresses or diminishes.
With respect and kind regards,
Julian Boone
tweetledum@gmail.com
