Case Summary  |  Shoulder and arm numbness

A few years ago, I began having some dull pain in my laft shoulder and arm. The pain quickly turned into numbness to the point I at first thought there was something wrong with my heart. However, it sort of felt like there was this huge knot under my armpit, like a lump or something that was causing the numbness. I had had this once in my teens when I was severely stressed out and it happened under both arms. It went away after a few months and never came back until my late 20s. Now it is on-going only under my left arm and when I sleep on my right side, my left arm goes completely numb unless I have a pillow under it.
I finally went to the chiropracter who of course wanted to rule out that there was indeed no "lump" under there but there isnt and there never has been so he did an Xray. What he found was that apparently I have a small, extra rib called a cervical rib that is supposedly competing for space with an artery and some nerves that can cause the phantom lump feeling and easily cut off circulation if my neck is held in a certain position. So, since my neck already has some problems of its own, we continued with treatment and now the lump feeling is gone however, my arm still falls asleep if I lay on my right side and do not have a pillow under my left arm. Its really odd. I suppose if I lose more weight it may help so theres less competition there for those nerves and that artery but its a little frustrating. I have looked and looked for other people on the internet who have reported this kind of thing and I havent found a single one yet. Everyone always freaks out and tells me how I probably have cancer or something, or thinks that I have mistakenly been saying I was laying on my LEFT side and thats why my left arm goes numb. No. I lay on my right side, and yes, my left arm goes stone dead. Its annoying...
So if anyone else has had anything similar, Im open to suggestions. Thanks!

The treatment was regular visits to the chiropractor where he did what seemed to be standard as well as press on pressure points and assign me certain stretches