Off-Topic Anyone dealt with loss of strength due to pinched nerve (cervical radiculopathy)

[North Coast Miller]

...when you think everything is getting better ....a new pain, or ache,...is this normal in recovering?

...I wouldn’t say you really recover from this

You don't really "recover, you overcome, and that winds up being sort of a lifestyle thing.

It is perfectly normal to have all sorts of stuff pop up when training, mobility, rehab, day-to-day. Even now with my condition relatively stable (according to my neurologist...) I have stuff pop up.

Just a few weeks ago backpacking my entire left shoulder was swept with burning nerve pain that came and went as I adjusted my straps - that was new and very unpleasant. Shortly after that I had to change some of my isometric holds around - isometric military press from the bottom of the ROM caused very deep nerve ache in my left delt - completely disappeared in 10 minutes every time, but still had to be addressed.

In time we begin to ID very quickly the difference between nerve pain and muscular strain, pull, or lingering DOMS.

 

[joziel]

I had 3 sessions with the physio I was seeing. I really rated him for diagnosis and 'getting' what I had, very quickly. But I wasn't very impressed with the follow-ups. The sessions were mostly talking (about things I'd already learnt from my own research) and not checking how I was doing the exercises he'd assigned. Once he saw I could actually move my arm in all required directions, that was pretty much all he wanted to see - no matter that it was incredibly weak.

He told me to work out and that 'I couldn't not build my muscle back up' if I worked out - that's just physics and what happens. And I might not be able to do as much with that arm, but I can build it back up. So it took me a while to get up the courage to work out. I did some pilates sessions. And tonight I did the first strength workout. My left arm was just so weak, I am really down about it I almost dropped a weight on my head, but luckily realised I just wasn't going to lift it in time(!).

Where the heck does this weakness come from? I don't understand the mechanism behind it. The muscles are all there and can't have atrophied this quickly. I feel like if I reach over my right shoulder blade ('good' side) with my left hand and just put my hand on it, then compare that to my left shoulder blade, my left shoulder feels really bony and like it doesn't have a good covering compared to my right. But I have full sensation in my shoulder and arm, so the nerve is ok, right? How does this weakness work? Sometimes, especially when the arm is tired, I can feel this kinda weird clicky/twangy thing on my shoulder if I reach out - no pain but it is a bit like when you hit your funny bone and feels really weird. And I have a lotta knots in the muscles from the spasming that happened when this all kicked off - I thought I might try some acupuncture.

I have occasional twangs and tweaks in my neck and upper back, but nothing bad or consistent. Still doing my McKenzie exercises 4x a day. I feel like I made real rapid progress at first and now I'm just stuck...

 

[Jtjt349]

I had 3 sessions with the physio I was seeing. I really rated him for diagnosis and 'getting' what I had, very quickly. But I wasn't very impressed with the follow-ups. The sessions were mostly talking (about things I'd already learnt from my own research) and not checking how I was doing the exercises he'd assigned. Once he saw I could actually move my arm in all required directions, that was pretty much all he wanted to see - no matter that it was incredibly weak.

He told me to work out and that 'I couldn't not build my muscle back up' if I worked out - that's just physics and what happens. And I might not be able to do as much with that arm, but I can build it back up. So it took me a while to get up the courage to work out. I did some pilates sessions. And tonight I did the first strength workout. My left arm was just so weak, I am really down about it I almost dropped a weight on my head, but luckily realised I just wasn't going to lift it in time(!).

Where the heck does this weakness come from? I don't understand the mechanism behind it. The muscles are all there and can't have atrophied this quickly. I feel like if I reach over my right shoulder blade ('good' side) with my left hand and just put my hand on it, then compare that to my left shoulder blade, my left shoulder feels really bony and like it doesn't have a good covering compared to my right. But I have full sensation in my shoulder and arm, so the nerve is ok, right? How does this weakness work? Sometimes, especially when the arm is tired, I can feel this kinda weird clicky/twangy thing on my shoulder if I reach out - no pain but it is a bit like when you hit your funny bone and feels really weird. And I have a lotta knots in the muscles from the spasming that happened when this all kicked off - I thought I might try some acupuncture.

I have occasional twangs and tweaks in my neck and upper back, but nothing bad or consistent. Still doing my McKenzie exercises 4x a day. I feel like I made real rapid progress at first and now I'm just stuck...

You may want to find a different PT... I went to one and was really discouraged, it was a terrible experience,...then over the next month I realized I was driving myself crazy by not having somebody at least monitoring what was going on...I now have a PT I can trust, and honestly everytime I leave there I feel less worried and alot more encouraged,...this whole experience has made me feel mentally and physically weak and challenged me in every way,...came out of nowhere and though I feel progress it is nonetheless discouraging,..but I'm gathering that it's a matter of being patient as possible, and just appreciate the baby steps,...I've noticed it doesnt get better daily ,...more like weekly or even bi weekly.
And like I said in my earlier post, there are all kinds of new aches and pains as I work to improve posture and what not....I really feel for ya
As this is a tough one!..hang in there..
I'm glad I found this forum,...seems like the only place to gather tangible information on the whole net,...everything else ate dr offices basically cheerleading/advertising surgery

 

[joziel]

You totally have it with this: " somebody at least monitoring what was going on" and with this ".this whole experience has made me feel mentally and physically weak" - that's partly why I feel I just need someone on side. I'd already thought I needed to find someone else. I'll see how things go for a few weeks and then try to find someone if I need. (I've stopped seeing the other guy. He does want me to email and update him in 3 weeks so he knows how things are.)

This thing has kicked off a load of other stuff too, which I haven't mentioned because it doesn't seem relevant - but because I was sleeping on my back and right side (injured left shoulder), I was using only my right hip to turn over, not my shoulders - which hurt. After about 3 nights I managed to sprain my hip - I woke up in the night feeling like my leg was about to pop off. That took 3 weeks to recover, during which time I could only sleep on my back - I dare not risk trying to turn to my right side any more....

Sleeping on my back only for 4 weeks, then brought back this lower back pain I get from time to time towards the end of the night. (MRI was normal a few years ago when I last got it.) So I was waking up early and had to get up (back pain stops when I get up).

Then I had this genius idea that I should wear my trochanteric belt to see if that helped the back pain. (I had this from years back when I first had the back pain.) After 48hrs wearing the belt, I realised that my left thigh was numb. Because the belt had damaged the nerve running over my left hip. (You couldn't make this sh*t up, I tell you!!! It should be a comedy sketch....!!!) It's called meralgia paresthetica. I stopped using the belt as soon as I realised this had happened (48hrs) but a week later, my thigh is still numb. Sheesh.

So basically everything I do to try to make something better, screws up something else. It's farcical. My doctor has referred me to a rheumatologist because he reckons some of this is due to me being hypermobile.

Anyway, it's all a lot to deal with at once. The physio didn't want to know about all of this, he wanted only to know about one condition, to assess and diagnose it and then do follow ups for it. Ho hum.... Well it's good to know that other people are going through this too...

 

[Jtjt349]

Update on my status, bout a month of PT now, could not do 1 pushup last month, did 10 today then another 20 on my knees,...felt great as I had not attempted one since my arm collapsed under me a month ago...I did do wall pushups on the daily,
I have an MRI scheduled for next month, everything takes forever,..only complain I have is when I move in certain directions I can feel the nerve more or less "threatening" me, also
I have trapezius/rhomboid area pain on the opposite side, ..somewhat intermittent, ..hoping it's from over compensation,...North Coast, are you familiar with this pain on opposite side?

 

[North Coast Miller]

Update on my status, bout a month of PT now, could not do 1 pushup last month, did 10 today then another 20 on my knees,...felt great as I had not attempted one since my arm collapsed under me a month ago...I did do wall pushups on the daily,
I have an MRI scheduled for next month, everything takes forever,..only complain I have is when I move in certain directions I can feel the nerve more or less "threatening" me, also
I have trapezius/rhomboid area pain on the opposite side, ..somewhat intermittent, ..hoping it's from over compensation,...North Coast, are you familiar with this pain on opposite side?

Oh yeah. In my case it can present either side, in fact my last bad flareup was on the opposite side of my original issue.

That nagging deep pain in rhomboid area/ under the shoulder blade is also very familiar.

I also get occasional DOMS -like ache right down the center of my deltoid "that's strange, I haven't trained shoulders in days..."

Sounds like you're moving in a good direction, good to hear!

 

[Jtjt349]

Oh yeah. In my case it can present either side, in fact my last bad flareup was on the opposite side of my original issue.

That nagging deep pain in rhomboid area/ under the shoulder blade is also very familiar.

I also get occasional DOMS -like ache right down the center of my deltoid "that's strange, I haven't trained shoulders in days..."

Sounds like you're moving in a good direction, good

Oh yeah. In my case it can present either side, in fact my last bad flareup was on the opposite side of my original issue.

That nagging deep pain in rhomboid area/ under the shoulder blade is also very familiar.

I also get occasional DOMS -like ache right down the center of my deltoid "that's strange, I haven't trained shoulders in days..."

Sounds like you're moving in a good direction, good to hear!

Yea everything seems to be, hardest thing to come to grips with is that recovery takes months not days...I also am coming to grips with the strange numbness/sensation on inside of index and thumb may be a permanent fixture in my life...as it has not subsided...
Somedays a wake up feeling like it may be gone, but it never is..

 

[North Coast Miller]

Yea everything seems to be, hardest thing to come to grips with is that recovery takes months not days...I also am coming to grips with the strange numbness/sensation on inside of index and thumb may be a permanent fixture in my life...as it has not subsided...
Somedays a wake up feeling like it may be gone, but it never is..

My right index is permanently about 50% sensation, feels as though a rubber band had been wrapped around it and left there.

As conditions go, there are some essentially permanent effects that come with this. You'll reach an accommodation with this as you go. The important thing is to do what you can and stay positive, nobody can tell you what your recovery will look like long term.

 

[Tarzan]

Sometimes this type of syndrome can be complicated with a pronator teres issue. Maybe it's not the case with your problems because the problems manifested during a period of inactivity but it's quite common for people who train with poor form with kettlebells to over rotate the forearm in the rack position . Look at some of the older pictures of Pavel and note the ideal grip. He racks the bell with the forearm rotated inward with the pinky finger close to the chin.
Pronator teres issues arising from over rotation can normally be alleviated with some light massage about an inch below the elbow on the soft tissue near the ulna.
A similar type of nerve compression issue can also occur in people who don't do any training if they are side sleepers & tend to cradle their face with their palm as they sleep but they can often find relief from a light massage around that area. If your problems arise in the early hours of the morning after sleeping it could be clue, if you're experiencing those issues in the afternoon it could well be radiating from the cervical disks.

 

[Jtjt349]

My right index is permanently about 50% sensation, feels as though a rubber band had been wrapped around it and left there.

As conditions go, there are some essentially permanent effects that come with this. You'll reach an accommodation with this as you go. The important thing is to do what you can and stay positive, nobody can tell you what your recovery will look like long term.

So, when my symptoms first came on, the pain at night when I tried to lay down to sleep was unbearable, I later found out it was some sort of muscle spasms in my shoulder, level 10 pain, thought I was going to call an ambulance every night,..I would stand up and pace around, the pain would somewhat subside, so I would try and lay down again, repeat all night..did you ever go through that in the acute phase of your symptoms?

 

[North Coast Miller]

So, when my symptoms first came on, the pain at night when I tried to lay down to sleep was unbearable, I later found out it was some sort of muscle spasms in my shoulder, level 10 pain, thought I was going to call an ambulance every night,..I would stand up and pace around, the pain would somewhat subside, so I would try and lay down again, repeat all night..did you ever go through that in the acute phase of your symptoms?

My last flareup felt like someone had used one of those police door breaching rams to smash my left shoulderblade. Pain was 8/10 to 10/10. Could not sit up straight or raise my left arm higher than my collarbone. By start of third day I had set up appts with neurologist for later in the week and my GP wasn't returning my calls - went to emergency room.

I recounted this in the thread a few pages back, rec'd a shot of Toradol and started a course of dexamethasone, was there for about 20 minutes including wait time. By noon I was able to eat a big lunch and get some sleep, pain was cut in half and by nightfall was down to about a 3/10. I highly recommend anyone in acute agony from this get to the local ED. They won't do diagnostics like MRI or even xray but they can offer some effective palliative care, esp if you already have a diagnosis.

Neurologist prescribed a second round of steroids, was on for about 2 weeks and symptoms were 80% gone by the time I had recovered from the meds. Neuro speculated it could have been small piece of disk, scratched nerve, definitely wasn't just muscle spasms.

 

[Liberty Prime]

Has any of you experienced pain in your ear? During my last flare up, I had severe pain in the left part of my neck, shoulder blade and trap. It even got to my ear. Now that most of those symptoms have subsided, I still feel pain in my left ear, but not all the time. It reminds me of what I felt when I had otitis

 

[Jtjt349]

My last flareup felt like someone had used one of those police door breaching rams to smash my left shoulderblade. Pain was 8/10 to 10/10. Could not sit up straight or raise my left arm higher than my collarbone. By start of third day I had set up appts with neurologist for later in the week and my GP wasn't returning my calls - went to emergency room.

I recounted this in the thread a few pages back, rec'd a shot of Toradol and started a course of dexamethasone, was there for about 20 minutes including wait time. By noon I was able to eat a big lunch and get some sleep, pain was cut in half and by nightfall was down to about a 3/10. I highly recommend anyone in acute agony from this get to the local ED. They won't do diagnostics like MRI or even xray but they can offer some effective palliative care, esp if you already have a diagnosis.

Neurologist prescribed a second round of steroids, was on for about 2 weeks and symptoms were 80% gone by the time I had recovered from the meds. Neuro speculated it could have been small piece of disk, scratched nerve, definitely wasn't just muscle spasms.

Yea I was suggesting the pain in the shoulder would be from muscle spasms, at least that's what I gathered was locking my shoulder and arm up,
It was strange how during the day the pain was manageable, until the moment I tried to lay down at night, the nerve would light my whole shoulder up with level 10 burning pain all the way down my arm,

 

[North Coast Miller]

Yea I was suggesting the pain in the shoulder would be from muscle spasms, at least that's what I gathered was locking my shoulder and arm up,
It was strange how during the day the pain was manageable, until the moment I tried to lay down at night, the nerve would light my whole shoulder up with level 10 burning pain all the way down my arm,

Body position and posture are huge factors. You're doing well when you can get good sleep. This is also common with sciatica.

 

[Jtjt349]

My last flareup felt like someone had used one of those police door breaching rams to smash my left shoulderblade. Pain was 8/10 to 10/10. Could not sit up straight or raise my left arm higher than my collarbone. By start of third day I had set up appts with neurologist for later in the week and my GP wasn't returning my calls - went to emergency room.

I recounted this in the thread a few pages back, rec'd a shot of Toradol and started a course of dexamethasone, was there for about 20 minutes including wait time. By noon I was able to eat a big lunch and get some sleep, pain was cut in half and by nightfall was down to about a 3/10. I highly recommend anyone in acute agony from this get to the local ED. They won't do diagnostics like MRI or even xray but they can offer some effective palliative care, esp if you already have a diagnosis.

Neurologist prescribed a second round of steroids, was on for about 2 weeks and symptoms were 80% gone by the time I had recovered from the meds. Neuro speculated it could have been small piece of disk, scratched nerve, definitely wasn't just muscle spasms.

Hey, have you considered the problem may be parsonage Turner syndrome? My dr, seems to be leaning more towards that due to the pain level , followed by weakness and atrophy....I'm kind of at a loss here cause it seems like you and others in these forums seem to be more well versed in this thing than my primary care dr is...
Is the level 10 pain in the shoulder possible from nerve in neck?..cause my primary care doc says no...
But like I said , not sure what or what he doesnt know cause he is not a specialist or neuro.

 

[North Coast Miller]

Hey, have you considered the problem may be parsonage Turner syndrome? My dr, seems to be leaning more towards that due to the pain level , followed by weakness and atrophy....I'm kind of at a loss here cause it seems like you and others in these forums seem to be more well versed in this thing than my primary care dr is...
Is the level 10 pain in the shoulder possible from nerve in neck?..cause my primary care doc says no...
But like I said , not sure what or what he doesnt know cause he is not a specialist or neuro.

I have to say based on my own personal experience and what and how I recovered that 100% you can have a level 10 pain in the shoulder, shoulder blade etc from cervical nerve issues.

The fact I went from a 10+ to a 3 in a day from a shot of toradol and some steroids confirms this. You really need a neurologist, and MRI, and a second opinion if possible so 2 sets of professional eyes are looking at this.

The guy that refered me to my neuro wound up having surgery to remove a bit of disk that was impinging a nerve and too big to be resorbed.

Primary care Dr is not fit to disagnose w/out an MRI. Neither is the neurologist for that matter.

 

[Jtjt349]

I have to say based on my own personal experience and what and how I recovered that 100% you can have a level 10 pain in the shoulder, shoulder blade etc from cervical nerve issues.

The fact I went from a 10+ to a 3 in a day from a shot of toradol and some steroids confirms this. You really need a neurologist, and MRI, and a second opinion if possible so 2 sets of professional eyes are looking at this.

The guy that refered me to my neuro wound up having surgery to remove a bit of disk that was impinging a nerve and too big to be resorbed.

Primary care Dr is not fit to disagnose w/out an MRI. Neither is the neurologist for that matter.

Yea...its a bunch of stressful bullshit, I have an MRI scheduled for this sunday, I havent even had "real" pain for damm near 3 months now, but ever since he said this couldnt have been a herniated disc I've just been thrown for a loop of health anxiety wanting some answers, my neuro referral has been stuck in limbo for bout 2 months now,...
Trying to just live my life out here but the overlying stress remains

 

[North Coast Miller]

Yea...its a bunch of stressful bullshit, I have an MRI scheduled for this sunday, I havent even had "real" pain for damm near 3 months now, but ever since he said this couldnt have been a herniated disc I've just been thrown for a loop of health anxiety wanting some answers, my neuro referral has been stuck in limbo for bout 2 months now,...
Trying to just live my life out here but the overlying stress remains

Stay strong, brother.

 

[Bassmonter]

Hello fellow members.

I have read every single post and found it very informative.

So here’s my story.
I just turned 43. Been an avid gym goer since the age of 16.

Back in August 2019, a new seated leg press machine was acquired by my gym. It had a weird kinda lumber cushion as part of the support for your back which I thought was a bit weird. Anyway, on my last set, which is normally the whole stack, on the last couple of reps, I felt a pull at the back of my neck. I didn’t think nothing much of it. However, when I woke up the next morning, I felt pain like I have never felt at the back of my neck, shoulders, chest and the whole of my left arm. I couldn’t move my neck left, right, up or down. My chin was tucked into my chest and slightly to the left. I could only turn when I turned my whole body. At this point, I could only guess that this is the after effects of the pull I felt on my neck from the previous day.

I just about managed to get into the car and was driven to Accident and Emergency. They did the usual bloods, ECG as my chest and left arm was hurting. I explained to them that I felt a pull on my neck. They did an x-ray but couldn’t find nothing. The pain was like 10/10. They gave me Codeine and Diazepam and sent me on my way.

I called my GP the next morning as the pain was unbearable. I was lucky enough to go in couple of hours later. The GP examined me and noticed weakness on my left arm but wasn’t very significant and said its possible cervical radiculopathy. A term I’ve never came across before. GP prescribed me more codeine and said to ice and heat the back of my neck. I did this religiously. I had a follow up MRI scan which showed bulging of my disc at c6 and c7. By this time, I had seen a private chiropractor and physio therapist. I was also Googling like crazy to see what treatments are there. Like everyone else, absolute last resort is surgery. So, I did the chin tucks, nerve flossing I had a cervical traction device too, the one that you pump up. I used to wear this for like 10-20 minutes 3 times a day. I only did bicep curls with very light weights with only 5KG to regain strength of my left arm.

After around 3 months the pain had subsided and by the 4th I had no pain whatsoever. I had also seen a neurosurgeon who discharged me as there was no concern. The only thing I had was that my left index had like slight tingling. This stayed with me. I was nervous to go back in the gym as I never wanted to experience what I went through.

Fast forward to July 2021 and missing how I used to look, I finally made the decision to start gym again. It was very light workouts 3 x a week. Eventually I can see muscle memory jumping into action and within 4 months, I was nearly back to where I was pre-injury. Then on the 9th of November, I did shoulders and triceps. On this day, I had completely forgotten about my neck as I’ve always been very mindful. I did seated dumbbell presses, then front and rear dumbbell exercises, triceps pull-downs, extensions and finished off one the seated dips machine with full stack. I felt slight pull on my back of my neck and it made really paranoid and was dreading the next morning when I wake. However, I was ok. No pain or anything whatsoever. Then 3 days later on the 12th of November, it hit me….OMG….the same pain had come back. Anxiety and worry hit. I called up my doc and was prescribed Pregabalin and dihydrocodeine which helped me sleep. After about a week the pain had subsided quite a bit. I was very comfortable. By the 3rd week I was happy as the pain was dull. I think it was the Pregabalin doing it’s job as it’s for nerve pain, (I’ll get to this in a bit).

So, on the 5th of December, I was getting my clothes ready for work Xmas party the following day. It was 2am and I had to go to the bathroom. I had inhaled through my nose to clear the back of my nose it and I felt this pull at the back of my neck and then immediate radiating shooting pain to the whole of my left arm which was like amplified like 10 times more than previously. I clutched onto my arm then came back to bed not knowing what to do. I didn’t sleep at all that night. It was just throbbing pain. It felt like my arm was being roasted then an axe being used to cut it off.

I had to go into work though. I just about made into work, did what I had in the hour I was there then came back home. For the next 4 days, this pain was just constant. Then on the 11th of December, the pain reached another level and I was in tears and I have quite a high pain threshold.

An ambulance was called, and they gave me morphine intravenously and this took the edge off the pain. I was given oral morphine twice in the 8 hours that I was in the hospital and felt comfortable.

The doc checked my reflexes, strength etc and said that there’s nothing of concern where any invasive action needs to be taken and advised me to go on max dose of pregabalin which was 600mg daily. I did this for the next 4 days and by this time, my pain was at around 1-4 throughout the day. Very manageable. I then decided to wean off both dihydrocodeine and Pregabalin. I tapered off very fast and 2 days drug free, I was OK. I even checked with my GP and she said I did the right thing by coming off the drug but omg, on the 3rd day after coming off, I had upset stomach, insomnia, retching, anxiety and severe depression hit and my blood pressure was off the scales. I went into accident and emergency, and it turns out that I came off the meds way too quick. I should have tapered very slowly. So, I went back on the meds and I was ok again. Anyway, I’ve managed to come of dihydrocodeine completely but pregabalin is a different beast altogether. If you are reading this and your doc wants to prescribe you pregabalin, please avoid like the plague. I’m not going to go into talking about it’s adverse/withdrawal effects but please do your own research. It’ll take me a at least a few weeks to wean off and the road will be bump with bad withdrawal symptoms so I’m not looking forward to that.

My pain is around 2-3 now but I don’t if pregabalin is masking the pain even though I’ve reduced my dose significantly to 200mg daily.

The worrying thing for me right now is that I’m noticing atrophy which is something I didn’t have first time round. This is especially true for my left triceps. When testing overhead extension, there’s around 5-10% strength. Also, when I press my left chest around the side near the shoulders, I feel pain and there’s some atrophy. The left chest doesn’t flex like before. When I feel both pecs, my left pec has become soft. It seems that my thoracic T1-T3 vertebrae could have impinged nerves.

I have an MRi scan booked for the 4th of January. Right now, I’m feeling really nervous due to the atrophy. I thought I had the pain bad last time round, this time it was going above 10 so it's making me think, my disc/s are probably in a mess.

Has anyone been in a similar situation with muscle loss and weakness but managed to make full recovery without surgical intervention? If so, what kind of physio or treatment plan did you go through?


My sincere apologies for the long post but I’m hoping it may help others.

 

[Superzar]

Hi Bassmonter, and sorry to hear what you're going thru. I've been in a very similar situation as you and have avoided surgery to this point. I was also 43 when my event took place, and I'm 55 now.

I wasn't even working out at the time. Just sitting at home relaxing on my computer, turned my head to look at the TV - and BAM! Felt a searing pain from my left shoulders down my arm, but not very intense (yet). Took an aspirin and went to bed just figuring I pulled a neck muscle. Next morning pain continued and began to increase in intensity. It got so bad I went o ER. They just did an X-ray, told me I had some arthritis, gave me an oxy and sent me home telling me to follow-up with GP. My GP ordered an MRI that was scheduled over a month away

Intense pain lasted almost 3 weeks. One afternoon it just suddenly went away, however I had numbness in over my forearm, index and middle finger. I also felt a general sense of weakness on my left side. I wasn't actively working out at the time, so didn't immediately notice any strength/size differences. About 6 weeks into it just before my MRI, I got really worried. I had a good look at myself in the mirror and noticed my chest and tricep had atrophied - the left side looked half the size as my right! I tried dumbbell tricep extensions while lying on the floor. If I recall, on my right side with about 20LB dumbbell I could easily do 20+ reps. With my left it was barely 2 reps!

MRI ended up showing disk herniation at c7 with mild to moderate disk degeneration/arthritis in the whole cervical area. The nerves out of the c7 area affect part of shoulder, tricep, chest, forearm and middle/index fingers. Since the pain was gone, it was decided to try PT to see if strength/size would return.

The PT wasn't really accomplishing to much, and so I decided to hit the weights big time at the gym. I was always mindful of my neck, and never did squats as the barbell runs along the c7. My strength and muscle mass began to return as the months went by, and I was actually getting in the best shape of my life.

To this day I'd say my strength on both sides is about equal, but my left tricep/chest is to this day not as developed. BUT, they're so close you have to look for it as it's not really noticeable. My middle finger has a permanent numbish feeling to it, but that's the worst of it. It took over two years from initial symptoms to get to that point. Pain never returned for me.

I've had a couple of mild flareups over the years, but things always seemed to settle down. Just this past November however I had my worst flareup, mostly some mild soreness behind shoulder and extra middle finger numbness. I sometimes worry the day will come when it will get much worst (due to continuously degenerating cervical), but so far 12 years later still managing fine.

My suspicion is that you may have a more serious initial herniation than myself (also at c7), but will it likely also resolve in time. My understanding is that 90% do in fact resolve eventually. I've also had herniations in my lumbar region over the past 30+ years that resolved just fine.

Good luck with the MRI and keep us posted!