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Musculoskeletal Sports and Spine Disorders pp 45–49Cite as

Stingers and Burners

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Abstract

A stinger or burner is a common athletic injury characterized by the sudden onset of burning pain on the ipsilateral upper extremity following a traumatic event with transient paresthesias and/or weakness radiating from the supraclavicular region into the limb. The athlete’s symptoms often follow the C5, C6, or C7 dermatome and present with shoulder girdle weakness. With each subsequent injury, the experienced symptoms often last longer than the previous occurrence. How stingers occur is controversial but includes traction injury to the cervical roots and/or brachial plexus, compression injury to the cervical nerve roots, or direct trauma to the brachial plexus. The most common exam findings include unilateral arm pain without neck pain, negative Spurling’s test, full active shoulder and neck range of motion, neurovascularly intact upper extremity, decreased Torg ratio, foraminal-vertebral body ratio, and the mean subaxial space available for the cord. The most common treatment for stingers includes rest, physical therapy, and equipment modifications. However, the use of neck collars for stinger prevention is controversial.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Adam Lewno DO, BA

  2. Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, Medstar National Rehabilitation Network, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Washington, DC, USA

    Matthew Maxwell MD, MS

Authors
  1. Adam Lewno DO, BA
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  2. Matthew Maxwell MD, MS
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Correspondence to Matthew Maxwell MD, MS .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA

    Stuart B. Kahn

  2. Interventional Pain Management, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    Rachel Yinfei Xu

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Lewno, A., Maxwell, M. (2017). Stingers and Burners. In: Kahn, S., Xu, R. (eds) Musculoskeletal Sports and Spine Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50512-1_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50512-1_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-50510-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-50512-1

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