Stingers or burners are a burning or stinging pain, often with some paraesthesia and occasionally weakness, often occurring in impact sports such as rugby or American football.

When your patients present with neck and arm symptoms, how can you differentiate a stinger or burner from a C/sp fracture, discogenic symptoms or nerve root compression, which all require very different treatment?

How should you manage patients with one-off or repeated stingers or burners?

Find out in this podcast with Jo Gibson (Upper Limb Rehabilitation Specialist Physio).

The handout for this podcast consists of a transcript, summary and articles referenced in the podcast.

Click here for the free webinar with Jo Gibson "Rotator cuff revealed! Rehab & reasoning".

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Articles associated with this episode:

• Download the podcast handout to receive the articles associated with this podcast.
• Bowles DR, Canseco JA, Alexander TD, Schroeder GD, Hecht AC, Vaccaro AR. The prevalence and management of stingers in college and professional collision athletes. Current reviews in musculoskeletal medicine. 2020 Dec;13:651-62.
• Sobue S, Kawasaki T, Hasegawa Y, Shiota Y, Ota C, Yoneda T, Tahara S, Maki N, Matsuura T, Sekiguchi M, Itoigawa Y. Tackler's head position relative to the ball carrier is highly correlated with head and neck injuries in rugby. British journal of sports medicine. 2018 Mar 1;52(6):353-8.
• Swiatek PR, Nandurkar TS, Maroon JC, Cantu RC, Feuer H, Bailes JE, Hsu WK. Return to play guidelines after cervical spine injuries in American football athletes: a literature-based review. Spine. 2021 Jul 1;46(13):886-92.

Chapters:

• 03:56 - What are stingers or burners?
• 08:13 - 3 key mechanisms
• 14:36 - Signs & symptoms
• 15:36 - Management guidelines
• 18:46 - Shoulder instability treatment