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 :-(
hi all. well, i'm not sure if i had the exact same problem. but i think it's related. i basically went through all the same phases and symptoms that have been described here, ending with a visit to the neurosurgeon and mri machine.
the report: for someone who's 27, it's a more unusual condition. a form of stenosis i believe it's called. my c4/c5 disks were impeding on the spinal canal and intially, pinched my nerve and my right arm became useless with compromised neck range of motion in back. had they seen it in the beginning, they might have operated. but because of my age and 3 months of physical therapy, i have healed mostly, though i'm still building without therapy now. no surgery.
my question: unfortunately, i was preparing for an upcoming big meet in november. i'm no star by any stretch of the imagination, but i'd been making good progress until i'd lost 3 months of decent swimming. even now, i haven't joined my workout group cause i'm probably not ready for the same intensity. but i've had almost a couple months of some solid consistency. conditioning, relearning and adjusting my stroke. i still intend to compete, regardless of results. so the longwinded question ends with - are there things i should just really avoid? can i in fact still dive off the blocks? my old coach mentioned that diving with proper streamlined form, with your head natural and guarded by your hands and arms is supposed to stabilize you, and should prevent jarring. it should be ok. i used to do the jerky pikey dives where i could just burst forward, particularly for breastroke, which is my specialty, actually. so now, i'd like to hear from all, professionals and first-handers, alike, what i really should avoid. am i crazy for even competing again. i'm a little creaky, but i don't know if this means i should not. i'm planning on going to a test meet (test for me, that is) in between, just to see what my new compromised times would be.
any advice for breastroke is also appreciated.
thanks very much
hi all. well, i'm not sure if i had the exact same problem. but i think it's related. i basically went through all the same phases and symptoms that have been described here, ending with a visit to the neurosurgeon and mri machine.
the report: for someone who's 27, it's a more unusual condition. a form of stenosis i believe it's called. my c4/c5 disks were impeding on the spinal canal and intially, pinched my nerve and my right arm became useless with compromised neck range of motion in back. had they seen it in the beginning, they might have operated. but because of my age and 3 months of physical therapy, i have healed mostly, though i'm still building without therapy now. no surgery.
my question: unfortunately, i was preparing for an upcoming big meet in november. i'm no star by any stretch of the imagination, but i'd been making good progress until i'd lost 3 months of decent swimming. even now, i haven't joined my workout group cause i'm probably not ready for the same intensity. but i've had almost a couple months of some solid consistency. conditioning, relearning and adjusting my stroke. i still intend to compete, regardless of results. so the longwinded question ends with - are there things i should just really avoid? can i in fact still dive off the blocks? my old coach mentioned that diving with proper streamlined form, with your head natural and guarded by your hands and arms is supposed to stabilize you, and should prevent jarring. it should be ok. i used to do the jerky pikey dives where i could just burst forward, particularly for breastroke, which is my specialty, actually. so now, i'd like to hear from all, professionals and first-handers, alike, what i really should avoid. am i crazy for even competing again. i'm a little creaky, but i don't know if this means i should not. i'm planning on going to a test meet (test for me, that is) in between, just to see what my new compromised times would be.
any advice for breastroke is also appreciated.
thanks very much
