Sounds like your mother is having pain going from her biceps to the fingers. “Nerve pain” does exist, and it can be very very debilitating.
- TCM is rather popular in Singapore, and acupuncture does have good effects on certain types of pain. And most TCM physicians will certainly refer your mother to see a western doctor if they suspect something dangerous is happening.
- I don’t think cost is a huge consideration nowadays, considering that TCM and non-western doctor treatments typically cost more than seeing a GP.
- The GP probably can advice you further on whether your mother needs further examination and probably even tell you how much it might cost, then it is up to you whether you want to go for further checks or try to treat the problem first.
- If the pain is rather persistent and causing a lot of problems, I think there should be something going on. It might be something common like muscle/tendon tears, to nerve issues to spinal nerve compression problems. I think these are pretty common, and delays in treatment tend to cause poor outcomes as the nerve will slowly die as the compression continues.
Take care.
