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 :-(
Sorry to hear of your issues w/herniated discs. I had the same disc herniations you are reporting, but w/a few weeks out of the water, a lot of physical therapy, and significant stroke changes, I was able to lessen the pain and get back to normal workouts.
My husband is a physical therapist and a masters swimmer, so he came along to the doctor visits, and gave me great advice throughout the recovery process. I went the PT route, and as others are reporting, posture was one of the main things my physical therapist went over; we did lots of McKenzie exercises, especially at first to make the pain less intense. My PT advised getting back into the water when I felt ready. Once the pain decreased, I got back in, but it was slow going.
Also, as many others are reporting, I never use a kickboard anymore, as it puts too much strain on my neck and back. Workouts were mainly backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle w/a snorkel. My problems were exacerbated by swimming freestyle, especially when I took a breath to the left (I'm a lefty, so that's my natural breathing side). I didn't swim any fly that season.
I felt pretty well recovered after all of the PT and swimming modifications, but I also did a major overhaul of my strokes the following summer. At the time, I had a terrific coach who tuned into my specific issues and agreed to video tape my strokes, turns and dives; he then gave me corrective feedback and drills, and this has made all the difference. Body position, posture, and balance were some of the things he commented on. He was a truly outstanding coach, and I was lucky to have him take the time to do this; I think the stroke changes are one reason that this issue has not flared up again.
I wish you luck w/this and I hope that, at the very least, you are out of pain. There seems to be a range of recovery times/options for herniated discs, but some of the themes w/in the responses are similar. I hope they help. I also noticed that you are in Chicago, and I'm in Glenview. Feel free to send me a PM if you want to discuss further. Best of luck to you!
Nell Cunningham
Sorry to hear of your issues w/herniated discs. I had the same disc herniations you are reporting, but w/a few weeks out of the water, a lot of physical therapy, and significant stroke changes, I was able to lessen the pain and get back to normal workouts.
My husband is a physical therapist and a masters swimmer, so he came along to the doctor visits, and gave me great advice throughout the recovery process. I went the PT route, and as others are reporting, posture was one of the main things my physical therapist went over; we did lots of McKenzie exercises, especially at first to make the pain less intense. My PT advised getting back into the water when I felt ready. Once the pain decreased, I got back in, but it was slow going.
Also, as many others are reporting, I never use a kickboard anymore, as it puts too much strain on my neck and back. Workouts were mainly backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle w/a snorkel. My problems were exacerbated by swimming freestyle, especially when I took a breath to the left (I'm a lefty, so that's my natural breathing side). I didn't swim any fly that season.
I felt pretty well recovered after all of the PT and swimming modifications, but I also did a major overhaul of my strokes the following summer. At the time, I had a terrific coach who tuned into my specific issues and agreed to video tape my strokes, turns and dives; he then gave me corrective feedback and drills, and this has made all the difference. Body position, posture, and balance were some of the things he commented on. He was a truly outstanding coach, and I was lucky to have him take the time to do this; I think the stroke changes are one reason that this issue has not flared up again.
I wish you luck w/this and I hope that, at the very least, you are out of pain. There seems to be a range of recovery times/options for herniated discs, but some of the themes w/in the responses are similar. I hope they help. I also noticed that you are in Chicago, and I'm in Glenview. Feel free to send me a PM if you want to discuss further. Best of luck to you!
Nell Cunningham
