Cervical Radiculopathy - pinched nerve

[Nova Scotia Mike]

Hey hey,

 

Have any of you experienced this? I’m one week in and it’s no fun!

 

Nerve is pinched somewhere near C5 C6 in neck resulting in nerve pain on neck, right shoulder , right upper arm, weakness in right arm and some pins and needles in thumb/first 2 fingers on right hand. The pain is real and pretty intense. 
 

I saw an NP last Sunday and she told me to rest and gave me Rx for Vimovo (for pain) for 2 weeks and Flexiril (muscle relaxation) for a week. The muscle relaxer doesn’t seem to much nut the vimovo has me pain free for about 8 hours; it’s twice a day so it’s supposed to get me through 12 hours. I have picked up some Tylenol No 1’s to bridge the gap. Picked up some high CBD reefer but have not tried that yet.

 

Went to physiotherapy yesterday and she did some form of acupuncture with electronic stimulation with a TENs. Seemed a little hokey but I did not need the T1 last night and took my nighttime vimovo later than normal. 
 

I’ve been icing and magic bagging too. 
 

I’m not sure what triggered this for me. I think it’s a combo of being more sedentary than normal recently and I was doing some spring cleaning last weekend and got rid of an old dishwasher. 
 

Once this episode is behind me, I want to do what I can so I never have it happen again!

[rockmeupto125]

Do you have limitation of movement in your neck?

 

[Nova Scotia Mike]

3 hours ago, rockmeupto125 said:

Do you have limitation of movement in your neck?

 

Nope, thankfully not. I actually didn’t take any pills yesterday until a Vimovo at bedtime. Went for a walk in the park with the wife then hit a few breweries up for some suds. Nighttime sucks but during the day there’s minimal pain and really just the weakness in the right arm and a bit of tingling. Next Physio is on Tuesday.

 

Rockmeupto have you had this before too?

[rockmeupto125]

Yes, but there are so many possible causes that it is hard to chase down. Decreased neck mobility is a significant sign.  If your symptoms are improving with medication and a bit of physio then that's a good thing

[Nova Scotia Mike]

On 4/15/2025 at 8:26 AM, rockmeupto125 said:

Yes, but there are so many possible causes that it is hard to chase down. Decreased neck mobility is a significant sign.  If your symptoms are improving with medication and a bit of physio then that's a good thing

 

Shitty man, I feel for anyone that has had to deal with this. Do/did you have decreased neck mobility? Pain? Numbness? What do/did you find helped the most?

 

When I went to PT on Tuesday she gave me a second electro-acupuncture treatment which seems to have helped again, albeit not as much as the first time. She had consulted with others on my behalf (after getting my consent) and said I should keep on resting/icing/heat and if I don't see continued improvements over the next 2 weeks that I should see a chiropractor rather than her as the benefits from chiropractic adjustment would be likely best. She said most likely my nerve inflammation was a result of a herniated disc in my neck.   

 

I am still having to only sleep on my back (I'm a side sleeper). For daily meds, I'm down to a single Vimovo before bed but I still wake up from pain ~4am daily and I'm out of bed due to pain before 6am. Takes about 1.5 hours of being upright until the arm/shoulder/neck pain subsides. During that time the pain is intense; I have found myself wincing in pain several times.  Then for the rest of the day it just slight pain, a weak right arm and some slight numbness in first few fingers on right hand. Nerve pain/effects are strange. I did vape a micro-dose of weed yesterday afternoon (higher CBD content) and was surprised at how much better it made me feel. 

 

I'm really hoping I get this behind me soon. I just picked up a fresh battery for the DRZ and we are starting to get some nice spring weather!

Edited April 17 by Nova Scotia Mike