I've been having numbness and tingling in the right arm for 2 weeks. I got
an MRI last Friday, and it showed that I had herniated cervical disks
(that's slipped disks in the neck in layperson-speak) at the following
levels: C3-C4, C4-C5, and C5-C6 (this last level is where it's worst). I
haven't experienced any loss of strength and coordination (yet). Based on
the advice of a friend of mine that has had the same problem, I've avoided
any exercise that could involve bending or stretching of the neck (so just
stationary cycling for now), restricted myself to lifting no more than 10
lbs. at a time, and am taking anti-inflammatory medication. I'm awaiting a
(timely) referral to a neurosurgeon.
My questions to my fellow Masters swimmers:
1. Have any of you ever experienced this problem?
2. If the answer to (1) is yes, then what sort of treatment (medical and
non-medical) did you receive?
3. Are there any specific things I should be avoiding, swimming-wise (certain strokes, drills, etc? I assume diving is out of the question) and exercise-wise?
4. Before I saw what my MRI looked like (I'm an Internal Medicine MD, so I
could see my MRI was abnormal), I had continued to swim, and actually felt
that swimming helped me feel better. Does anyone out there know if swimming can actually put you at risk for this type of injury?
Physicians, as a rule, tend to err on the side of rest and inactivity for
recovery from any injury, so if anyone has any evidence that states that I can
keep up with at least some swimming while I find out what my course of
treatment will be, I would certainly be grateful for that. I've only started
to get seriously back into swimming since last fall, and was actually
starting to feel good about my swimming, so this recent setback has me
really bummed out at present :-(
There is a fascinating article in the April 8, 2002 New Yorker entitled Knife in the Back by Jerome Groopman that I highly recommend you read, especially in light of your comment about seeking a timely referral to a neurosurgeon.
It turns out that herniated disks are exceedingly common, both in populations suffering back pain and in those NOT suffering back pain. (I think this also holds true for neck pain.) Most cases resolves themselves on their own within six months. The reason: the stuff that acts as a shock absorber and squishes out of the herniated disk, pressing on nerves, etc., eventually gets reabsorbed. Moreover, despite the strong economic incentive to perform operations, the evidence for surgery being beneficial--especially spinal fusions--is extremely thin. Clearly this is a situation where "First, do now harm" should be the operative philosophy.
I also recommend you get a referral to a topnotch sports medicine clinic. I'm currently doing research for an article I'm writing on the active rehab of sports injuries. The advice I have gotten from numerous sources is to find the athletic trainer of local professional, college, or high school athletic team and find out A) what doctor they recommend for injuries impacting sports performance, and B) what physical therapists they use to rehab their own athletes. You'll in all likelihood be given stretching exercises to remove strain and spasms from the affected area; and strengthening exercises designed to bolster the surrounding muscles, which will then do the heavy lifting as opposed to the joint itself. This may sound simplistic, but it's really a very powerful one-two punch.
I know exactly how you feel when you say you're quite bummed out about this. But remember: the philosophy of sports med trained doctors is to help active people stay active. I would be shocked if you were told to avoid swimming or encouraged to undergo prolonged bed rest for your neck. The new credo, it seems to me, is "rest is rust."
In terms of swimming, make sure you keep your head down--this will not only prevent pain, but make you swim faster. The old technique many of us were taught--water should hit the forehead so we can "hydroplane" during sprints--doesn't really work. You will have better body position and go faster if you look straight down. You might also want to work on your body role so that breathing will require less in the way of neck-alone contortionism.
Also, I agree about throwing away kickboards for ever, and you might want to avoid any particularly provocative moves--butterfly and breaststroke both put lots of stress on your neck--until the area calms down a bit.
Also check the ergonomics of your regular life--if your monitor, for instance, is too low or too high, this could aggravate neck pain--as could excessive typing, etc.
Did you do anything in the last two weeks to trigger the current tingling and numbness? For example, volleyball spiking or tennis serving? Excessive typing or computer mousing? Anything?
For what it's worth, I've had many of the same symptoms you mentioned--tingling, numbness, a kind of wooden quality to my fingers--and these all resolved after I stopped typing too much, bought an adjustible keyboard rest (so I can move the damn thing up and down at will and get some variety), and also got a "natural" style keyboard. I know the jury's out on the latter, but it definitely seemed to help me.
I should also point out that I suffered greatly from sciatica on and off over the years, and I have no doubt that an MRI would reveal some heavy duty spinal irregularities in me. However, I've found these symptoms always go away eventually, and the more carefully active I am (that is, after the acute phase has been given a few days to a week or so to cool down), the less I am generally bothered by pains of this sort.
See the thread on hip pain; it's a different injury, to be sure, but the discussion has some overtones you might find useful (including the psychology of sports injury.) Good luck, keep the faith, and I suspect your body will work itself back to health if you give it a chance.
There is a fascinating article in the April 8, 2002 New Yorker entitled Knife in the Back by Jerome Groopman that I highly recommend you read, especially in light of your comment about seeking a timely referral to a neurosurgeon.
It turns out that herniated disks are exceedingly common, both in populations suffering back pain and in those NOT suffering back pain. (I think this also holds true for neck pain.) Most cases resolves themselves on their own within six months. The reason: the stuff that acts as a shock absorber and squishes out of the herniated disk, pressing on nerves, etc., eventually gets reabsorbed. Moreover, despite the strong economic incentive to perform operations, the evidence for surgery being beneficial--especially spinal fusions--is extremely thin. Clearly this is a situation where "First, do now harm" should be the operative philosophy.
I also recommend you get a referral to a topnotch sports medicine clinic. I'm currently doing research for an article I'm writing on the active rehab of sports injuries. The advice I have gotten from numerous sources is to find the athletic trainer of local professional, college, or high school athletic team and find out A) what doctor they recommend for injuries impacting sports performance, and B) what physical therapists they use to rehab their own athletes. You'll in all likelihood be given stretching exercises to remove strain and spasms from the affected area; and strengthening exercises designed to bolster the surrounding muscles, which will then do the heavy lifting as opposed to the joint itself. This may sound simplistic, but it's really a very powerful one-two punch.
I know exactly how you feel when you say you're quite bummed out about this. But remember: the philosophy of sports med trained doctors is to help active people stay active. I would be shocked if you were told to avoid swimming or encouraged to undergo prolonged bed rest for your neck. The new credo, it seems to me, is "rest is rust."
In terms of swimming, make sure you keep your head down--this will not only prevent pain, but make you swim faster. The old technique many of us were taught--water should hit the forehead so we can "hydroplane" during sprints--doesn't really work. You will have better body position and go faster if you look straight down. You might also want to work on your body role so that breathing will require less in the way of neck-alone contortionism.
Also, I agree about throwing away kickboards for ever, and you might want to avoid any particularly provocative moves--butterfly and breaststroke both put lots of stress on your neck--until the area calms down a bit.
Also check the ergonomics of your regular life--if your monitor, for instance, is too low or too high, this could aggravate neck pain--as could excessive typing, etc.
Did you do anything in the last two weeks to trigger the current tingling and numbness? For example, volleyball spiking or tennis serving? Excessive typing or computer mousing? Anything?
For what it's worth, I've had many of the same symptoms you mentioned--tingling, numbness, a kind of wooden quality to my fingers--and these all resolved after I stopped typing too much, bought an adjustible keyboard rest (so I can move the damn thing up and down at will and get some variety), and also got a "natural" style keyboard. I know the jury's out on the latter, but it definitely seemed to help me.
I should also point out that I suffered greatly from sciatica on and off over the years, and I have no doubt that an MRI would reveal some heavy duty spinal irregularities in me. However, I've found these symptoms always go away eventually, and the more carefully active I am (that is, after the acute phase has been given a few days to a week or so to cool down), the less I am generally bothered by pains of this sort.
See the thread on hip pain; it's a different injury, to be sure, but the discussion has some overtones you might find useful (including the psychology of sports injury.) Good luck, keep the faith, and I suspect your body will work itself back to health if you give it a chance.
