Hi Doctors,
In July 2018 I developed a right sided C7 cervical radiculopathy when I was near the end of my novice linear progression. It was diagnosed by MRI. I had an EMG that showed nerve conduction problems in my right bicep, triceps, and pectoral and it was presumed to affect my right lat as well. I lost strength in all of these muscles and had lots of pain. The pain resolved after a couple months, but the weakness remained. I saw a spine specialist who let me know that I would continue to get strength back over the next year through several mechanisms. I did rehab exercises for a while under the direction of a physical therapist, then switched back to compound lifts in November. I’ve made some slow progress strengthening the muscles on that side, but they are still much weaker than my left side. It is a strange thing to be so asymmetrical. Should I continue compound lifts with my upper body at the weight my right side can tolerate and expect that side to gradually catch up to the left side? Or should I be targeting the right side with single arm exercises to try and give it extra stimulation to catch up? Also, do you know the normal progression for people who have had one sided loss of strength due to nerve injuries? Do they end up with symmetrical strength eventually? Is there always some one sided weakness and/or muscle wasting?
Thank you for your time,
Erik
@EY07 I apologize for the delay in response. I will start by saying “welcome to the club.” I did exactly what you described to L3 some years back and have residual quadriceps weakness as a result. I guess this gives me some authority from the PT position as well as the patient side of things.
From where I’m a bit of a numbers guy I had been on an isokinetic dynamometer (very fancy strength testing device) prior to injury to test my quadriceps. The beauty of this is it gave me some data points with which to track progress as strength returned. At 6 months (about where you are now) I was about a 50% deficit in strength side to side. By 9 months I had this to less than 20% (<10% is considered “normal”). It is frustrating because it does take a while for the strength to get there, but it will. I would recommend a little more focal work on your right side but anecdotally I will tell you that I could sit on a knee extension machine to failure but it would rarely elicit the “burn” but rather a feeling of “empty” like the muscle just would not do any more. As with most things training, consistency is key however. If you start working your right side more you will notice it catching up. It is going to be a process however. Don’t let it get you frustrated, you will get there.
Derek
Thanks for the response! It’s very cool that you have objective data on your progress. I have noticed that “empty” feeling as well. It is pretty different from the usual tired sensation. I appreciate the encouragement to continue patiently training.
Erik