Narrowing c6-c7. 3 Months in. SOS

Three months ago i woke up at 4am on a Sunday in excruciating pain! It felt like a “Stinger” that would not stop, and my middle finger and index finger were numb. 2 days later I had an MRI and was told i had Narrowing of the c6-c7. They did an epidural injection 2 days later and it still took weeks for the referring pain to calm. I have been seeing a PT every week since. Doing various Mckenzie protocol exercises. Never have really felt “Centralizing” The pain would either be in the forearm or not at all. Weakness was unbelievable. I dont know the units of measure, but grip strength in the right arm (The good one) was 130. Grip strength in the afflicted arm was 60. Triceps strength was VERY drastically reduced. I could not do 1 push up. Could not do a “Skull Crusher” with a 15lb dumb bell where before i could do them with 60lb dumbbells.

So, fast forward to the three month point. Fingers are about normal (index finger might just slightly still have some numbness). The referring pain to the forearm is by and large gone. Grip strength is 98. Triceps strength is by and large unchanged. Can’t do 1 “Good” push up and can barely do a set of 10 of the “Skull crushers” with 15lb dumb bell. I’ve also begun having problems clearing my throat.

My PT thinks i have the obstruction cleared, but i need to do high reps with the triceps to “Reignite or Reintervate” the nerves running to the triceps. I dont feel like i’m improving anymore. Any suggestions?. I feel like i have Mckenzie’d to death…, but i’m open to suggestions. Is it normal for weakness to last this long?

Thanks for anything you can tell me!

So what is your diagnosis?

Is your PT a Cert. MDT or Dip. MDT?

@BrokenStrongman sorry you are going through this, definitely can be a frustrating process when simply waking up with symptoms impacting life without any known “contributors.” Unfortunately this does happen but the good news - you’ve already made solid progress based on what you are reporting from the past 3 months of care.

How old are you?

Timeline - it’s difficult to give a solid timeline given individual case context but I think given your progress thus far - you are doing well.

Treating Doc - what’s your referring provider saying right now? Any future scheduled follow-ups?

PT advice - What are your goals with life activities and training? This will help provide more insight on the approach. I can’t say I’m keen on having someone practice heavy singles with obvious underlying extremity deficits due to neuromuscular issues. Happy to help.

I’m 36 years old. Been out of strongman for 7 years. All i was told is that I have a narrowing of the c6c7. My PT is pretty solid. Doing an appointment Monday. When i saw him 3 months ago he said i was NOT a surgery candidate. I’m fairly certain poor posture was in large part to blame for this. Feel asleep too many times head flexed in the recliner. Looking down at cell phone, computer screen etc… 3 days before that night it started i sat 4 hours in a bad position doing a tattoo. I bought one of those little Mckenzie roll pillows and duct taped a towel around it to put up under my neck at night when i sleep. That’s the only thing that’s helped.

My goal is to be back where i was 3 months ago. I’m pretty broken down. Both mescuses torn and scoped, right now both labrums torn (neither have been operated on) I had a purtruding L5S1 disc 3 years ago but the reverse hyper fixed that. I have 3 degenerative discs in the thoracic. I know i can never compete in anything ever again, but I want to be pain free, healthy, and strong again. I want to fix the problem.

Narrowing of C6/7 is not a diagnosis/the right diagnosis. What is narrow? What is causing the narrowing? So is your PT a Cert. MDT or Dip. MDT? I’m just curious and I like to make people critically think about who they are receiving care from and what they are being told.

From your name and your posts it seems like you could benefit a lot from the rehab guys on this site. There are a lot of biopsychosocial elements involved here.

Ok. So my PT is DPT, OCS, CSCS ABPTS Cert, (I’m CSCS as well). Believe me i know all PT’s arent created equal. The damn patient portal for the Neurosurgeon’s office isnt working… I’ll get the official diagnosis as soon as I can. The Neurosurgeon never told me anything aside from Narrowing of the c6c7 and said i was NOT a surgery candidate, and then FLEW OUT OF THE ROOM AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. I go back to see him monday and will get the exact diagnosis.

Now… What could you possibly derive from my name lol? What biopsychosocial elements can you see from 2 posts and a name? This site comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Thats why I’m here.

The Radiculopathy to the forearm has returned off and on the past few days. I don’t know why. No where near as painful as in the beginning, but i hadnt felt any pain in the arm in almost a month. the index finger seeems to have just slightly numbed again. Last week I tried some kettle bell work and i tried front squatting too with a barbell (went badly), i hope i didnt F*** myself up again… This affliction screws with you mind bad! In some areas you can see improvement (like the grip) other areas there are none (Triceps). I also think the weakness affects the lats and some other more obscure muscles. I wish i could find a nerve map showing which nerves run through the c6c7…

It doesn’t seem that your PT is a Cert. MDT or Dip. MDT with means you probably haven’t received true McKenzie treatment. Which is more than fine and your PT may be great as MDT is far from the only way to deal with your problem. Just want to point out that technically MDT (McKenzie) can only be done by MDT credentialed clinicians.

I hope I have not frustrated you with my mention of biopsychosocial elements as I also highly recommend this site. But the biopsychosocial elements I was referring to include:

  1. “broken” in your name BrokenStrongman
  2. you mention “i’m pretty broken down”
  3. then list all your orthopedic ailments
  4. then state “I know I can never compete in anything ever again”

Are you familiar with the framework for pain management and rehab advice on this site? It is all based on a biopsychosocial model. Based on that model those elements will need to be addressed.

No I’m not. A friend told me a little bit about it. He’s a regular with the site like you. I guess he isn’t Mckenzie certified. There’s a PT i made an appointment to see that is but he books like 2 months out.

Ok here it is:

Cervical Radiculopathy
M54. 12 Radiculopathy Cervical Region.

Doing something called an “EMG” Thursday. Supposed to trace Nervous activity somehow. We’ll see how that goes.

Thanks again!

Above I posted all the info i have. Thank you for any help you can give me!

It is not important that your PT be MDT credentialed. I just point that out because many people say they do “McKenzie” or have tried “McKenzie” but most have not.

I would be interested as to what they believe is causing the radiculopathy. As that diagnosis describes symptoms more so than cause.

Good luck with everything. Just remember that your body is resilient and can heal from some quite dramatic injuries. Be patient and accomplish small goals.

@BrokenStrongman I understand how it’s easy to categorize posture as “good” vs “bad” or “poor” vs…“wealthy” (?) - dad jokes…I’ll be here all week. But we actually don’t have evidence saying a particular posture is a net positive or negative vs harmful vs non-harmful - it just is. People may report experiencing symptoms with a particular posture but that doesn’t mean they should avoid the position or it’s not good for them rather they likely just need to change positions. I don’t recommend jumping down this rabbit hole as to the “cause” of why this happened and you are in this situation as it’s relevance is minimal at best. Instead, we should focus on moving you forward towards your goals with activities with the understanding based on your already noticeable improvements that time will help with symptom regression. It’s easy to want this to be a direct path from point A (symptomatic and not training to the level you want to be) to point B (less symptoms and training more) but often you will have periods of peaks and valleys with symptoms and training - and that’s ok.

Goals - it’s highly probably you can return to your prior level of training but this will require dosing in exercise to your tolerance level right now with the understanding symptoms will be a part of the process for now but shouldn’t be debilitating (unable to go do other life activities). With time, symptoms will regress and you can be active during this time while building back to your prior baseline. We are more than happy to help guide this path with a consultation.Contact Us | Barbell Medicine

EMG/NCV - I’m not convinced this is necessary right now as it wouldn’t change my treatment recommendation (education and appropriately dosed exercise). Given it wouldn’t likely alter my management (I’d know more after a consult) then I typically don’t recommend such tests in this scenario.

Thanks for all the information! I have another question. Apparently you had an injury similar to mine, but the nerves ran to the quad. Did your strength come back? If it did, did it come ALL THE WAY back?

Thanks again!

No problem @BrokenStrongman

You are thinking of @Derek_Miles . I’ve tagged him so he can speak to his experience with this.

Oh I’m sorry! Thanks for doing that! Yall are great!