Can a Lump ON the Collarbone Mean Lymphoma Cancer ?

Finding hard lumps around the collarbone are always frightening, but what about ON the collarbone (also known as the clavicle)?

Do you regularly feel your collarbone – smack on it with your probing fingertips as well as right above it and right below it? (more…)

Is It Okay to Lift Weights with a Winged Scapula?

Let’s hear what a sports medicine surgeon has to say about lifting weights with a winged scapula, and this includes the bench press.

If a person has a winged scapula – an actual diagnosis rather than just an assumption based on what it looks like – would there be any reason to avoid lifting weights? (more…)

Can a Scapula Tumor Be Misdiagnosed As Benign Winging?

“Scapular winging could be mistaken for a tumor, or vice versa,” says John-Paul H. Rue, MD. This is precisely what you were hoping NOT to hear: a cancer can be mistaken for a benign winging of the scapula bone. (more…)

Head Very Sensitive to Touch Post-Concussion: Cause, Solutions

Head sensitivity to touch after a concussion can be quite significant, causing alarm to the patient.

You may think that this means brain injury, bleeding in the brain or some other serious problem due to the extreme tenderness and sensitivity just from the lightest touching.

Even lightly brushing or combing your hair may really hurt your head.

Why can the head be very sensitive to touch after a concussion?

“The area of the head where the impact happened is innervated by the skin nerves,” says neurosurgeon Charles Park, MD, Director of The Minimally Invasive Brain and Spine Center at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. “These nerves can then become very sensitive, especially to touch.”

The job of a nerve is to get innervated. This simply means that the nerve receives an electrochemical impulse.

The impulse may be motor and coming from the brain (to command muscle contraction) or sensory and coming from the skin (to forward on to the brain for interpretation).

So if you’ve had a concussion and then touch your head, or something touches it like a shirt that you’re putting on, the sensory nerves in the skin of your scalp receive this stimulus.

The skin they serve is wounded and hurting, and the electrical impulses they send to the brain, when the skin is touched or rubbed, are interpreted as extreme sensitivity, tenderness or soreness.

In short, your skin took a blow and it hurts as a result. It’s like getting whacked in your knee.

Though you can walk afterwards, it hurts to high heaven when you lightly press on it.

The degree of skin sensitivity is not telling of the degree of concussion. In fact, a concussion isn’t even necessary to sustain a high degree of skin sensitivy on the head – or what is actually the skin there.

You can get hit hard in the head – no concussion, no neurological symptoms – and still suffer quite a bit of sensitivity, tenderness and soreness in the spot that got hit.

Again, this does not mean a brain injury. It means a benign skin injury (assuming there’s no gash) that can even start showing a bruise.

It can take many days for the sensitivity to wear off.

Dr. Park explains, “Patients can be assured that this will become less and less and eventually resolve with time. Usually an ice pack will bring symptomatic relief.”

Dr. Park specializes in minimally invasive surgical techniques for treatment of conditions affecting the brain and spine. He’s skilled in advanced procedures and techniques that utilize innovative computer technology and image-guided surgery systems.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.  

Can Headaches Daily for Three Weeks Mean a Brain Tumor ?

You began having headaches three weeks ago for no apparent reason and brain tumor comes to mind.

The bad news is that yes, a headache for three weeks can be caused by a brain tumor, says David Poulad, MD, a board certified neurosurgeon with IGEA Brain & Spine who practices in Union, NJ, whose special interests include the surgical treatment of brain tumors.

Dr. Poulad explains, “Headaches that are not easily relieved with over the counter medication, associated with vomiting are concerning and should be worked up.”

This symptom pairing is highly suspicious for a brain tumor. But it’s also highly suspicious for bleeding in the brain caused by head trauma.

Either way, these symptoms alongside each other should be investigated as soon as possible.

Headaches for Three Weeks Straight

Dr. Poulad says, “More commonly these persistent headaches are associated with migraine and not necessarily a brain tumor.

“Less than five percent of all brain studies (MRI or CT scan) will have a positive finding [brain tumor] in a patient with persistent headache.”

So if you’ve been having ongoing headaches for the past three weeks, even without vomiting or other symptoms, your doctor may order for you an MRI or CT scan.

Shutterstock/Rawpixel.com

Remind yourself that there’s less than a five percent chance that the scan will show a concerning mass.

Another cause of headaches for the past three weeks is a sinus infection.

This happened to my mother. She was having headaches every day for about three weeks.

She went to a headache center and did not get a diagnosis; they were not able to determine the cause.

But they also did not order any brain studies, either! My mother went to another doctor who ordered an MRI.

Do not panic if your doctor orders an imaging test and assume, “He probably thinks it’s a brain tumor.”

My mother’s MRI revealed the sinus infection which, oddly, was not causing any nasal symptoms like a congested nose; only the headaches. Antibiotics took care of the problem.

dr. poulad

Dr. Poulad’s clinical interests involve the surgical treatment of brain and spinal cord tumors, radiosurgery, pituitary surgery, functional neurosurgery for pain and movement disorders, and minimally invasive spine surgery.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer. 

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Top image: Hellerhoff

Are Jerking Limbs Before Falling Asleep a Brain Tumor Sign ?

Have you been troubled lately by brain tumor fears because as you fall asleep, your limbs jerk?

A brain tumor can definitely cause the body to jerk in different places, but we need to define “jerking limbs” here.

There are what is known as benign myoclonus and what can be termed as brain tumor jerks.

“These are two very different entities,” says David Poulad, MD, a board certified neurosurgeon with IGEA Brain & Spine who practices in Union, NJ, whose special interests include the surgical treatment of brain tumors.

“Benign myoclonus as the name suggests is a benign condition that is not uncommon, whereas ‘jerks’ caused by a brain tumor are often a sign of seizure activity,” explains Dr. Poulad.

“It is very common for people to exhibit myoclonic jerks just before falling asleep.

“These jerks do not signal a pathologic condition and are normal in most people.”

Those who strongly believe in the paranormal have been known to insist that a sleep-related myoclonic jerk is a person’s astral body either trying to exit the physical body or making a re-entry into it!

Either way, the so-called myoclonus that occurs as you’re falling asleep is harmless.

Andrew Coop/Unsplash

It’s characterized by a single limb suddenly “jerking” or exhibiting a brief and aimless muscle contraction – enough to cause movement of part of the limb – and enough to awaken you.

Since you are now awakened and possibly startled by it, you’re too awake for this type of spasm to occur again.

But as you fall back asleep, it may indeed occur again.

The jerking of part of your leg, arm or shoulder usually occurs just once by the time it awakens a person, after which the limb returns to rest.

It is not a sewing-machine-like shaking, like you’ve certainly seen on TV when a character has a seizure on a gurney.

“The mycologic activity that occurs before sleep is self-limited, and there are no lingering after-effects that can be seen with myoclonic jerks associated with a seizure that may result in temporary paralysis or confusion,” says Dr. Poulad.

If you’re “jerking” due to a seizure from a brain tumor, this will not be a single spasm, but rather, resemble a seizure to anyone who’s observing it. It will look like shaking or tremoring.

Furthermore, if you’re having a seizure, you will not be conscious. If a sudden jerk of a limb awakens you, this was not a seizure.

A brain tumor seizure originates in the brain. The electro-chemical nerve impulses are generated in the motor control region of the brain, travel down the spinal cord and fire the muscle fibers – while the person is unconscious.

In benign myoclonus, or the “falling asleep jerking,” the electrical activity originates in the muscle fibers.

Scared Sh**tless of a Brain Tumor

Now here’s what may have triggered your fear that the falling-asleep kind of myoclonus — in which a limb jerks — might be caused by a brain tumor:

The term “myoclonus” doesn’t just mean the involuntary limb movements as you drift off to sleep.

This medical term can also mean involuntary muscle contractions from a brain tumor.

But when “myoclonus” refers to a brain tumor symptom, it does NOT refer to the sudden, one-at-a-time muscle contractions that startle you out of your semi-sleep state! Rather, it refers to a seizure.

The word “myoclonus” literally means muscle contraction. That is a VERY BROAD term.

It’s often indiscriminately used to refer to the harmless limb jerking as we fall asleep, even though “clonus” is a term that can refer to a sign of a neurological disease.

“Myoclonic jerking” is a broad term. The type seen in multiple sclerosis, for instance, does not at all resemble the type seen in a healthy person who is falling asleep.

So shouldn’t the benign sleep-related myoclonus have an official name? Yes. It’s “sleep myoclonus.”

A brain tumor can cause a seizure — which to an observer may look like jerking—at any time, including when a person is drifting off to sleep.

But again, the person will not be conscious during the seizure and will not even realize they had one if they were asleep when it occurred.

dr. poulad

Dr. Poulad’s clinical interests involve the surgical treatment of brain and spinal cord tumors, radiosurgery, pituitary surgery, functional neurosurgery for pain and movement disorders, and minimally invasive spine surgery.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer. 
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Top image: Hellerhoff
Source: ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Myoclonus-Fact-Sheet

Can a Brain Tumor Cause Twitching Muscles and Fasciculations?

Here’s an agonizing question: Would you rather your twitching muscles be caused by a brain tumor or by ALS?

Certainly you’d choose the brain tumor as a cause of muscle twitching, as this condition is not always diagnosed as terminal.

There are people out there who, over 20 years ago, were diagnosed with a brain tumor – even 30 years ago.

Several malignant masses. Credit: Jmarchn

However, there are also people – perhaps you yourself – who have somehow come to believe that a brain tumor can cause muscles to twitch.

The term “twitching” can be interpreted in different ways.

For the purpose of this article, the twitching refers to the kind of creepy-crawly sensation, or squiggling sensation, that you may feel in a muscle.

Or to put it another way, imagine the type of twitching that occurs in your eyelid happening in a larger muscle such as a hamstring, calf, arch of the foot or bicep.

So we’re not talking about trembling, tremoring, shaking or the kind of jerking that you may experience when you’re on the verge of falling asleep at night.

CAN a brain tumor, then, cause the type of muscle twitching that is commonly experienced by millions of people?

“Brain tumors can cause seizures that can even manifest as very small twitching of an extremity that can also be associated with numbness/tingling,” explains David Poulad, MD, a board certified neurosurgeon with IGEA Brain & Spine who practices in Union, NJ, whose special interests include the surgical treatment of brain tumors.

Dr. Poulad also says, “More commonly, little fasciculations in the muscle are due to electrolyte imbalances, overuse or simple fatigue.

“More commonly fibrillations/fasciculations in the muscle are due to either direct muscle injury or peripheral nerve injury and may indicate re-innervation.”

There are less serious causes of the dual symptoms of twitching muscles and numbness/tingling, and when these two symptoms seem to occur alongside each other, this doesn’t mean that they have a singular cause.

For example, carpal tunnel syndrome, a pinched nerve in the neck and low thyroid can cause a numbness and/or tingling in the fingers and fingertips.

But by chance, a benign twitching can also occur in a finger – perhaps one that’s been overused lately on the computer mouse.

“Re-innervation” simply means that the muscle cells are receiving some random electrical instructions to contract.

The “twitching” that a brain tumor might cause in a leg, for example, will not feel the same as the benign twitching you may have felt there dozens of times in the past after exercise or heavy physical activity or for no known reason.

dr. poulad

Dr. Poulad’s clinical interests involve the surgical treatment of brain and spinal cord tumors, radiosurgery, pituitary surgery, functional neurosurgery for pain and movement disorders, and minimally invasive spine surgery.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.  

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­Top image: Freepik

Can a Brain Tumor Cause a Headache in Same Spot Daily ?

Are you worried a headache that you’ve been getting in the same spot every day, fearing that it could be a brain tumor?

The bad news is that IS possible for a brain tumor to cause a headache every day in the same area of your head.

Suppose a person is having a headache – a new-onset pain – on a daily basis that’s occurring in the same spot. Can this be a sign of a brain tumor?

“Not necessarily,” says David Poulad, MD, a board certified neurosurgeon with IGEA Brain & Spine who practices in Union, NJ, whose special interests include the surgical treatment of brain tumors.

Dr. Poulad continues, “It all depends on what is the cause of the headache.

“If it is indeed due to a tumor, other symptoms will depend on where the tumor is located in the brain (i.e., is it near eloquent cortex to cause other symptoms besides headache).”

If cancer is the cause, you will more likely than not have these other symptoms.

So if it’s near the eloquent cortex you may also be suffering from minor paralysis or speech problems.

In summary, a headache in the same spot every day can have causes other than a brain tumor, but cancer actually can be a cause.

If a brain tumor is indeed the cause of a daily headache in the same area, what makes this happen?

Dr. Poulad says “regional mass effect” will “exert on the surrounding brain in that one location.”

What is “mass effect”?

When there is fluid buildup (the mass in this case) in the brain, it pushes against the organ, causing pressure – leading to the headache.

This fluid buildup, of course, would be in the same place every day (and increasing if not treated).

Sometimes the fluid buildup shifts the brain off center, and this is visible on an MRI or CT scan. When this happens it’s called a midline shift.

Bleeding in the brain can also cause a mass effect and midline shift.

But Dr. Poulad also explains that “brain tumors are not the primary cause of headaches [even daily in the same location], and it would be more likely that the patient has some form of migraine or headache syndrome.”

Do not panic if a doctor orders an MRI or CT scan of your head.

dr. poulad

Dr. Poulad’s clinical interests involve the surgical treatment of brain and spinal cord tumors, radiosurgery, pituitary surgery, functional neurosurgery for pain and movement disorders, and minimally invasive spine surgery.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.  

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Top image: Freepik.com

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Can Headaches Daily for Three Weeks Mean a Brain Tumor ?

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Can a Brain Tumor Cause a Headache in Same Spot Daily ?

Can a Brain Tumor Cause Twitching Muscles and Fasciculations?

Can a CT Scan Detect a Brain Tumor?

Brain Tumor Headache vs. Normal Headaches

Can Brain Tumor Cause a Lump on the Scalp?

Brain Tumor Can Cause Smelling Something Bad that’s Not There

 

Brain Tumor Can Cause Smelling Something Bad that’s Not There

One possible cause of smelling something bad that’s not there is a brain tumor.

The brain tumor causes seizure activity that leads to smelling odors that have no outside source. (more…)