Hi - I’ve been seeking treatment for a (now diagnosed) pinched nerve in my neck. I’m signed up for IM USA and have been training. Hasn’t affected my training (it hurts moreso sitting in front of a computer) except the other week while swimming.
I’m trying to find a doc or an athlete who can help me decide if I should move forward in my training or just call it a year and get back to 100%. There will always be another IM to do. Thoughts? Still waiting to go in for a MRI …
Started getting pinched nerves in my 30’s. As the years went by the episodes occured more often
and lasted longer. Finally at 40, the pain was so strong and recurring that I went to a specialist and had a laminectomy to open up the nerve canal at C4.
Don’t take pinched nerves lightly. Hopefully if it’s treated right away you can go the conservative route and avoid surgery. Good luck.
what are the symptoms of these pinched nerves?
It was a pinched nerve discovered during my first platform dive attempts preparing for a master’s swim meet that led to the diagnosis of my loss of cervical curvature. When I hit the water, my entire neck, right trap, and shoulder completely locked up. Workout over! It reemerged two days later while grabbing the wall during a fast open turn on my first hard set in the pool…boom, same symptoms…workout over. I went to the Chiro and had Xrays. Same Chiro has xrays of my cervical spine from 8 years ago, major loss of curvature due to my job…Looking at blueprints and computer screens all day, most every day for the last 7 years.
I have been doing stretching exercises and at home and Traction (very uncomfortable) as often as I can stand before bed. I always sleep better after traction, and have less tightness of upper body muscles if I do the traction regularly. If I slack of for a week I really notice the stiffness in my neck/shoulders that was pretty much normal for me the past few years as well as loss of quality sleep. If I keep up the traction/stretches my chances for regaining some of the curvature is pretty good in 6 months to a year according to the Doc. My improvement enabled me to do all of my workouts without pain three weeks after I sought treatment.
Numbness running down your right arm to your fingers. Dull pain and muscle tightness in the trapezius / rhomboid area of your back. Limited head & neck range of motion due to pain and tightness.
As you can imagine riding aero for a long time can aggravate it.
The traction rack is good therapy. Might even grow a couple mms. ;>)
I’ve acting like a roadie since my last IM so I have pretty much avoided going aero! (I miss it though). Yep - the curvature of my neck is opposite of the natural C curve and luckily the discs have not fused yet. I’m hoping to start doing traction on my own in the near future.
Has anyone gotten advice from docs regarding running? I have been told to decrease mileage and avoid the road.
Thanks for all your replies. I would still like to hear more personal experiences from triathletes. And good luck to those in the same situation.
Have you been referred to physical therapy? This is certainly treatable. Traction is one option as well as spinal manipulation and therapeutic exercises. There was a recent case series published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy that utilized a multi-modal approach of all three of these techniques and they had good results. If you are in a state that allows PTs to do spinal manipulation, that’s where I would start.
Hi Dan - I was referred to PT, however, this was before the x-ray and EMG testing (fun stuff) occured. I’m currently seeing a chiropractor (limited visits so far) who also does ART.
Thanks for the advice!
Hi everyon e-
I got my MRI results about 10 days ago and it appears that I have a herniated disc at 2 levels: C5/C6 and C6/C7. The doctor has recommended getting a CESI (cervical epidural steroid injection) to this area, then therapy, etc. in conjunction with anti-inflammatories and a nerve drug (lyrica). In the meanwhile, no more mountain biking or running. 
I’m getting mixed reviews on the CESI. While it will help me now, it’s quite possible that I should not run again in the future. Has anyone had the CESI or received alternate forms of therapy?
Thanks again.
For what it’s worth::::: I was diagnosed with two herniated discs a few years ago and was told to stop running. I went to PT, had the shots,stopped running, etc. It never seemed to get better…
After a year of frustration, I continued my strength training, focused more on my core, lost some weight, began water running and then slowly began running. I am now able to run as long as I keep my core strong and keep my weight down. If I stop training and put on weight, the more painful symptoms come back.
To this day, I continue to have flare-ups every once in a while, have some loss of feeling just below the knee on my right leg, BUT I can run as much as I want. I have completed 5 ironmans, 4 marathons and countless shorter distance races since my diagnosis. It is now a non-issue for me and can ride in the aero position for as long as anyone else I train with.
Good Luck!
this happened to me a few years ago when I thought that I had torn some muscles in my right shoulder.After an MRI i was diagnosed with a disc herniation at c5-6 and arthritis. After PT which helped quite a bit but didn’t get rid of all the symptoms, I had an epidural steroid injection and it worked like a charm. For 3 years in a row almost 12 months apart I got symptoms again, got another shot and it went away. Last summer I finally saw a neck surgeon in Baltimore. He looked at all my stuff…I told him what I do i.e. triathlons, marathons etc…He said that I wasn’t bad enough to get any surgery and that I didn’t need to stop running. I asked him about treadmills and he said nah…just keep doing what you are doing and take antiinflamatories and epidurals if needed. He also got me into PT to strengthen my neck and back which I feel has helped alot.
Everyone is different though so be careful. Also get opinions from several surgeons. Larger cities have more cutting edge technology. The surgeons in my town are great, but at 41 I don’t want surgery…i.e. a fusion, so I sought out someone on the cutting edge. Its nice when a surgeon who makes his living operating on people says you don’t need surgery.
I second crichton: I have always had back/neck issues and have fractured both my skull and back on seperate occasions. The more weight i carry the worse I feel, period. I, too, have flare-ups but I manage it with core workouts and weight control and managed to serve 4 years in the Army and do triathlons despite my ‘issues.’ I don’t know how to explain it other than there being a ‘sweet spot’ of cardio/strength that feels best.
Another thing to consider is a cervical pillow for sleeping. I do more damage to myself sleeping at awkward angles than training. Temperpedic makes a nice one.
My thots:
Try conservative first: chiropractic and/or PT (note: not all chiro’s are the same, ART docs are great for muscle problems but Gonstead technique guys (www.gonstead.com) are much better at disc and nerve impingement problems.) Practicing in Milwaukee, I’ve found a wide variety of chiro and PT talent. Moral of the story: Look for a good PT and Chiro like your trying to finding your future wife/husband. It might take a few dates before you know they’re the one.
Good luck.
just wondering how you are doing now? It’s been a couple of years - did you do your IM? I have just got similar diagnosis and am training for an IM too - do I push through the pain and lack of motion/strength this causes? or back off and try to fix this pain and withdraw from IM?
Anyone got advice?
Since this is a worker’s comp injury, I decided not to push through the IM. Bummer!
I haven’t done much the past 2+ years. No running, rowing, mtn biking, jump roping, etc. The workers comp doctor still advises against doing those activities as he is concerned about further nerve damage or aggravation from the jarring or pulling. I have had 2 CESI (cervical epidural steroid injection) since diagnosis. Improvement from both but not enough.
Since worker’s comp in the state of California is SO LOVELY, I have been paying out of pocket for acupuncture and massage – I can’t get PT from the state as you are only allocated 24 sessions and I was going into session #18 when it was decided I should have a MRI to figure out why I was not getting better. Worker’s comp won’t pay for acupuncture or really much of anything except for surgery (I am a 36 yr old female and would prefer to not have surgery) and nerve medication. I have been doing light road biking and some swimming and some indoor gym activities. It is so frustrating to have such limited activities. He also suggested that I don’t work in order to improve recovery time! I can’t afford my mortgage and the other things I need to pay for out of pocket so I can feel better.
I bought a new bed and have some awesome new pillows. Other than that, not much improvement! I was approved for a 3rd CESI however the doctor advised that I not consider it as the risks of the procedure outweighed the benefits. I need to date a PT or a doctor!
Please keep in mind that prior to diagnosis, the pain I felt was when I was at work at the keyboard. Not from running, biking, etc.
Good lucK!
I could write a book about herniated discs at c5/c6 - c6/7. I had mine put down for 2 weeks straight before IMWI 2005 (my 2nd IM). I spent the next two years trying to avoid surgery…you name it I did it: six epidurals, anti-inflammatories, PT, napropath, chiro, massage, new desk, new chairs, new bed, etc. I finally gave in and had artificial disc replacement for c6/c7 (replaces the disc instead of fusion). I had the surgery June 3, 2008 and my pain is somewhat better. The surgeon states that it will gradually get better during the upcoming 10 months as it takes time for the pinched inflammed nerves to settle down.
I suggest you get several opinions. I actually saw 7 surgeons…probably too many but i tend to over analyze things that are important and nothing is more important than your health.
Anyway, PM me with specific questions. Here’s some sites that I found extremely helpful along my journey:
www.spine-health.com
www.adrsupport.org
I’ll share my experience as triathlete and all-around athlete. I’ve had calcification and pain between C6 and C7 due to a college lacrosse injury 15 years ago. My neck was always stiff and sore, and occasionally a pinched nerve would flare up out of nowhere. Those would take me out of commission for 3-4 weeks. Playing water polo in my early 30’s, I was having shoulder problems on both arms so I saw the “best orthopedic doc in town” (Philly, so not a small town). He moved my arms around then told me I had torn cartilage in both shoulders (no MRI). We tried a round of PT, no improvement, so he recommended surgery. I said listen, doc, I’m a 32-year old club water polo player. I’m not enduring surgery just to play this game once a week where I get my ass kicked by a bunch of 20-year olds. A friend sent me to a chiropractor that practices Applied Kinesiology. My friend had good results with this guy so I figured for $45 per visit I didn’t have much to lose.
The chiro ordered x-rays of my neck. Thought that was weird because I came to him with a shoulder problem, but I persisted because my friend said this guy is good. He told me my neck is straight when it should be curved, probably from abuse over the years as well as muscle imbalances. I had done a lot of weightlifting over the years, so my chest muscles were over-developed while my back muscles were under-developed (too much bench press). This caused my shoulders to hunch forward and caused pain when I swam. He performed spinal manupulations 2-3 times per week for 6 weeks and replanned my workouts to sculpt a more balanced body. I figured worth a try, right?
The results were instant and remarkable. My shoulders felt better, neck felt better, everything felt better. I traded water polo for triathlon 5 years ago and I swim totally pain free. I am now conscious of how my workouts effect my body, and I’m careful to keep muscles balanced (triathlon is a good sport for staying balanced). 8 years later, I still go for spinal manipulations every 4-12 weeks as needed.
I’m NOT suggesting a chiropractor with Applied Kinesiology background will be a silver bullet for your problem. I do suggest you explore similar non-invasive treatments.
As suggested in this thread already, all chiropractors are not created equal. I’ve been to 3 chiros; 2 were really good, one was kind of a bum. In your case, I’d be concerned that the injections will provide only temporary relief; that unless you fix the root cause of the problem or do something differently, it will always come back. Same with surgery.
Feel free to PM me on this and best of luck.
Rich