Dear Dr. Joshua,  
I’m 34 years old. I’ve been experiencing tingling/ pins and needles in my hands - pinky and ring fingers, and a bit up the forearm. It started about 3 years ago, while I was pregnant, and just came on if I fell asleep on my back. The tingling is now constant, worse if I spend time on my back or in sudden temperature changes. My chiropractor recently send me for full spinal xrays. He said there was mild narrowing in c5/c6. (The report sent with the xrays said mild narrowing in c6/c7).  
Other background - my mum has MS, and my sister has SLE. I had a blood test a couple years ago for SLE that came back negative (can that change?).  
Is the disk space narrowing likely to pinch a nerve and cause tingling in this area? Or should I investigate further?

Dr. Joshua’s Answer:

To answer your specific question, is the c5-6-7 disc space narrowing likely to cause such pinched nerve symptoms: C5-6 or C6-7 narrowing or degeneration with nerve root compression would not cause tingling in pinky and ring fingers - those symptoms would come from a lower level, specifically C7-T1.

On the other hand, X-rays alone would not be sufficient to determine whether the problem is indeed in the cervical spine. A cervical spine MRI would be needed for that.

The problem isn’t necessarily in the cervical spine. Neck and shoulder region muscle tension may cause tingling, pins and needles in the hands, especially in the ring finger - little finger area and forearms. From your description, your history is not immediately suggestive of MS or other central nervous system disease as the cause of the symptoms. However, please remember that I cannot exclude that possibility over the Internet, so my recommendation is to talk to your doctor about this and have a physical + neuro exam done, and bring up the issue of possible cervical spine MRI, and of course follow your doctor’s advice on this.

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