I have been dealing with a neck issue for a while now that started back in September. I had an MRI and found that a had a bulging/herniated disk in my neck that had narrowed the spinal canal. This was putting pressure on the nerves and causing at the time a lot of pain and weakness in the left arm, left side of my back and reduced grip strength. I started physical therapy but it looked like I was headed for surgery. At my appointment last week I opted to hold off on surgery because I was basically in no pain and my weakness had improved. My grip strength went from about 65 to 85 (right hand is around 115). I have been back at the gym for a while now and continuing to do the physical therapy I was doing at home which includes and at home cervical neck traction device. I am hoping over the next 3 months to see increases in strength and grip strength and avoid surgery all together. There seems to be no effect on my lifting right now aside from the slight weakness but I was wondering if I should be careful of anything?
Hey @Lockup - thanks for the questions. Overall, sounds like you are managing very well and noticing marked improvements since onset of symptoms. I don’t have any general recommendations regarding being careful. Remaining active to tolerance is a great idea and barring any neurological symptoms progressing, you are in a good spot to minimize the need for surgery. If you’ve not yet done so, please check out our neck series, which starts here: https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/barbell-medicine-guide-to-neck-pain-part-i-definitions-risk-factors/
Thanks! At this point I’m just trying to stay out of surgery or decide if it worth getting. The weakness seems to be getting better and my grip strength in my left hand (hand I am having issue with) is around 80-85 but the right is significantly higher at about 120. So I’m not so sure how much I want to do surgery if I am where I am right now.
I understand. Seeing improvements is a major positive. We are happy to consult with you remotely.