5 months into a herniated C7 disc.

[bell1986]

Not gonna lie... It's been miserable these last few months.

I herniated my C6/C7 discs in my neck around 5-6 months ago. I finally managed to get an MRI to confirm it (What a hassle that was. NHS).

When I first herniated this area the pain was excruciating. Never had felt pain so intense in my life. It took about 2 months of daily physio and nerve exercises for it to finally calm down. I still had some weakness and the odd shoot of pain but nothing as bad as it was.

2 weeks ago it just randomly flared up. I am still lifting weights but at a much more reduced weight and frequency. I must have irritated it?

Should I stop training my upper body altogether and just take like 6 months to fully heal? I won't lie though. The thought of that makes me so miserable. My left arm pushing tricep strength has reduced by about 30% so the nerve is still not firing properly.

If I still have reasonable pushing strength and the pain isn't severe like it was then is healing up on it's own an option? I've spoke to a physio about surgery and I won't lie they weren't too happy on the idea. He did just say... Exhaust every other method first.

My finances are severely suffering. I'm still working but less than half of what I was. I had to quit my job 5 months ago. I worked in Agriculture and I knew that working at this level would leave me a mess in the future. I set up my own business and just currently tick along.

You don't really respect how good your life is without injuries until it happens to you. I had a good job. Active lifestyle and was very happy. I feel like I'm a shadow of that former man.

Though. My goal now is recovery.

I'm sure that a few guys on here have herniated discs and pulled through it? Any advice on where to go? What to do? Anything I should load my old body up with? (I'm currently on TRT + HCG). Be more than happy to experiment

Thanks folks.

 

[botk1161]

God bless you brother. I am so sorry to hear about this. Sounds like disc starts to go back in place, but gets herniated again. Pls don’t do surgery. These people never lift again like we want to lift. I am big on chiro. I would seek out a couple of the best chiros you can find and get their opinion at least. I have had multiple situations in my neck and lower back that left me like you are describing that were literally fixed with one adjustment. And then I was able to start rehabbing the areas so they would stay in place.

 

[bell1986]

God bless you brother. I am so sorry to hear about this. Sounds like disc starts to go back in place, but gets herniated again. Pls don’t do surgery. These people never lift again like we want to lift. I am big on chiro. I would seek out a couple of the best chiros you can find and get their opinion at least. I have had multiple situations in my neck and lower back that left me like you are describing that were literally fixed with one adjustment. And then I was able to start rehabbing the areas so they would stay in place.

My physio was against chiro's? Probably because I'm paying them though lol.

Do I need an actual chiro specialised in this area or would anyone be able to help?

Honestly I'm clueless with all this. The surgery aspect freaks me out big time. Like you said I've read people could never use their arm properly ever again. I know my body can heal this. Just needs time.

Have you herniated discs and manged to correct them fully?

 

[botk1161]

My physio was against chiro's? Probably because I'm paying them though lol.

Do I need an actual chiro specialised in this area or would anyone be able to help?

Honestly I'm clueless with all this. The surgery aspect freaks me out big time. Like you said I've read people could never use their arm properly ever again. I know my body can heal this. Just needs time.

Have you herniated discs and manged to correct them fully?

Absolutely I have had herniated discs and were able to correct them, but not in my neck. I have fractured my neck though. Any chiro can assess you but I would ask around or seek reviews online at least to decide on one. I would see two chiros for opinion. I believe your closer to fixing this than we you think. Imo Back surgery will leave you never being able to lift more than highly geriatric or you will cause even more damage. Your a long way from this. Don’t expect any different results from physio than you have already got.

 

[recompme]

Not gonna lie... It's been miserable these last few months.

I herniated my C6/C7 discs in my neck around 5-6 months ago. I finally managed to get an MRI to confirm it (What a hassle that was. NHS).

When I first herniated this area the pain was excruciating. Never had felt pain so intense in my life. It took about 2 months of daily physio and nerve exercises for it to finally calm down. I still had some weakness and the odd shoot of pain but nothing as bad as it was.

2 weeks ago it just randomly flared up. I am still lifting weights but at a much more reduced weight and frequency. I must have irritated it?

Should I stop training my upper body altogether and just take like 6 months to fully heal? I won't lie though. The thought of that makes me so miserable. My left arm pushing tricep strength has reduced by about 30% so the nerve is still not firing properly.

If I still have reasonable pushing strength and the pain isn't severe like it was then is healing up on it's own an option? I've spoke to a physio about surgery and I won't lie they weren't too happy on the idea. He did just say... Exhaust every other method first.

My finances are severely suffering. I'm still working but less than half of what I was. I had to quit my job 5 months ago. I worked in Agriculture and I knew that working at this level would leave me a mess in the future. I set up my own business and just currently tick along.

You don't really respect how good your life is without injuries until it happens to you. I had a good job. Active lifestyle and was very happy. I feel like I'm a shadow of that former man.

Though. My goal now is recovery.

I'm sure that a few guys on here have herniated discs and pulled through it? Any advice on where to go? What to do? Anything I should load my old body up with? (I'm currently on TRT + HCG). Be more than happy to experiment

Thanks folks.

I can't advise on this but just wanna say keep fighting the good fight bro but be sensible about things and focus on recovery. Agriculture is hard graft so just keep in mind that's like working out too.

 

[bell1986]

I can't advise on this but just wanna say keep fighting the good fight bro but be sensible about things and focus on recovery. Agriculture is hard graft so just keep in mind that's like working out too.

Thanks bro I appreciate that.

Being honest. I think I'm gonna come away from the agriculture scene. I live in Scotland and working outdoors just destroys your body. Last winter I was out 10 hours a day in -12c (10.4f) temperatures. Some of the guys who had worked at this place for 20 years all looked 10-15 years older than what they actually were and their bodies were all falling to peices.

I would rather stock shelves and earn enough to live than living a life full of pain and ailments. Sometimes you just need a wake up call.

Thanks

 

[bell1986]

Absolutely I have had herniated discs and were able to correct them, but not in my neck. I have fractured my neck though. Any chiro can assess you but I would ask around or seek reviews online at least to decide on one. I would see two chiros for opinion. I believe your closer to fixing this than we you think. Imo Back surgery will leave you never being able to lift more than highly geriatric or you will cause even more damage. Your a long way from this. Don’t expect any different results from physio than you have already got.

Thank you.

I will dig around the Internet and find someone.

Yeh I've heard that surgery's near crucial nerve endings is risky. I read loads of posts of people getting this exact surgery done and now can't use their arm at all anymore. I can heal from this. I just need to almost stop and just let myself heal. I've always been an on the go and busy person and switching that off in my mind is a nightmare. I need to though.

 

[botk1161]

Thank you.

I will dig around the Internet and find someone.

Yeh I've heard that surgery's near crucial nerve endings is risky. I read loads of posts of people getting this exact surgery done and now can't use their arm at all anymore. I can heal from this. I just need to almost stop and just let myself heal. I've always been an on the go and busy person and switching that off in my mind is a nightmare. I need to though.

A different mind shift on this will go a long way. Meeting with some pro's that really really know the neck (chiro's) will shed light on this. Just move it forward in faith. Feel free to DM me the MRI report. It would interesting to see what it says.

 

[cheftepesh1]

Much like many of the people in the forum. I have several disc issues. I had multiple shots and finally ablation. You will learn to work inside of the limitations. It’s hard at first but you will figure it out.

 

[Jan8v]

Bit late on this one.
To the OP I had two herniated discs in this area and also some bone growth in the intervertebral foramen (where the nerves exit).
Neck pain was awful. Very acute initially. Paid for MRI privately (also UK) and also a consult with a specialist surgeon.
At this point I’d been to see an osteopath (absolute quack), a chiropractor (not much better) and then hooked up with a trusted physio I’d used before several years earlier.
The physio had been making a little bit of headway by the time I had my scan and consult.
The surgeon said I couldn’t physio my way out of it. Having seen the scans myself I could see what he meant. However without having private cover I was looking at £19.5k for a op and one replacement disc or a cage. NHS (with him) would be circa year and a half.
In the meantime I carried on with physio weekly. All we were doing were distractions. ie he was basically pulling my head off my shoulders whilst I was laying down, for 3-4 reps of 20secs. Coupled with some soft tissue work in that area to try and maintain some decent muscle tone and not be too one-sided.
Long story short about 10wks later I was ‘fixed’. The regular distractions had really reduced the pressure on the discs and in turn the nerves.
That was a year ago and I’m still good and no further treatment since then. I managed to hang on to some training load throughout and just avoid doing obviously daft things needing my neck. (Looking into the back of low kitchen cupboards creating hyperextension was a good one.)

My advice is the distractions 100% worked. (Some tilted some straight) Avoid the quacks, stick with a good physio.

 

[bell1986]

Much like many of the people in the forum. I have several disc issues. I had multiple shots and finally ablation. You will learn to work inside of the limitations. It’s hard at first but you will figure it out.

Hey bud

OK to ask.....

With your disc issues did you have weakness?

An issue I'm battling with just now is the weakness in my left arm. I was never a decent bench presser but I could easily throw the 40kg dumbells around. My left arm is struggling to do any reps with the 20kg dumbell. I can do about 3-4 reps and then a huge strength decrease hits.

Thankfully the pain is subsiding which was the worst part. I'm still getting weird muscle twitches and the weakness but I can deal with that. I'm just terrified the nerve has been permanently damaged? I'm still training but not heavy. I'm basically just stimulating my muscles to keep as much mass on my frame as I can. My left side has definitely atrophy'd though. Reading online it does say it can take a year for the nerve to settle and my strength should return. Fingers crossed.

Thanks

 

[cheftepesh1]

Hey bud

OK to ask.....

With your disc issues did you have weakness?

An issue I'm battling with just now is the weakness in my left arm. I was never a decent bench presser but I could easily throw the 40kg dumbells around. My left arm is struggling to do any reps with the 20kg dumbell. I can do about 3-4 reps and then a huge strength decrease hits.

Thankfully the pain is subsiding which was the worst part. I'm still getting weird muscle twitches and the weakness but I can deal with that. I'm just terrified the nerve has been permanently damaged? I'm still training but not heavy. I'm basically just stimulating my muscles to keep as much mass on my frame as I can. My left side has definitely atrophy'd though. Reading online it does say it can take a year for the nerve to settle and my strength should return. Fingers crossed.

Thanks

I have had everything from my legs dropping out, weakness and pain. It all depended on the time. I had been on a cane for 3 years since my right leg would just loose strength. It took multiple shots, ablation and other therapies to get me to where o was able to get off the cane. The shoulder looses strength from
Time to time and the pain is a pain in the a$$. All depends on how I train now. I’ve learned to work within what I can do.

 

[bell1986]

I have had everything from my legs dropping out, weakness and pain. It all depended on the time. I had been on a cane for 3 years since my right leg would just loose strength. It took multiple shots, ablation and other therapies to get me to where o was able to get off the cane. The shoulder looses strength from
Time to time and the pain is a pain in the a$$. All depends on how I train now. I’ve learned to work within what I can do.

Jeez sorry to hear about this.

When you say. Shots. What actual shots and did they help? I'm looking into treatments to hopefully help things along. I'm just terrified to flare everything back up. I had to even quit my job as I was gonna end up a total mess. I worked in Agriculture and working outdoors for 10+ hours a day in minus freezing conditions is dreadful for your body.