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

[Nova Scotia Mike]

So I'm a month and a week into this and it has been slow to heal. Pain is minimal now thank god. My right arm is still quite weak and tires very easily. I can lift a gallon of milk with it but I don't trust it yet to go for a bicycle or motorbike ride yet, it's too weak. By the end of the day my neck is still feeling it on the right side and it is tired of holding up my head. Thumb, pointer finger and middle finger on right arm are still mildly numb. Sleeping through most of the night again but do start tossing and turning in the early morning hours are the pinched nerve says "I've had enough of laying down".

 

I noticed mid-morning yesterday that I had some visible yellowing happening on the fingernails of my 3 numb digits.
 

 

 

I got a little panic'd about it and did some googling. There does not seem to be any link to cervical rad & yellowing fingers (phew) but there is a rare condition that can cause it Yellow Nail Syndrome . I did a bit more research for about few hours before I realized the cause of my yellowing was this

Edited May 13 by Nova Scotia Mike
Photo added

[SwampNut]

Your dick is yellow too, isn't it?

 

[Nova Scotia Mike]

35 minutes ago, SwampNut said:

Your dick is yellow too, isn't it?

 

 

I'll have to get some handheld mirrors and special lighting to investigate.

[jon haney]

On 5/13/2025 at 11:07 AM, Nova Scotia Mike said:

 

I'll have to get some handheld mirrors and special lighting to investigate.

"That's what she said"😆

Edited May 16 by jon haney

[02XXCA]

On 5/13/2025 at 9:07 AM, Nova Scotia Mike said:

 

I'll have to get some handheld mirrors and special lighting to investigate.

Make sure your Upload bandwidth is up to the task before you start your live streaming.

[superhawk996]

I've had various neck and back pains forever, occasionally they go well beyond annoying into debilitating.  I don't think I've ever had hand weakness, but have had occasions where it might hurt so bad to lift something that I'd drop it.  Going to a chiropractor seemed to help make flareups go away, but since they always eventually go away I can't say with certainty that the chiro helped, but I think so.  There have been a few occasions where I feel an instant change with an adjustment, but have also gotten lucky and been able to crack the right spot on my own.

 

I went to a chiro regularly for several years and was in almost constant discomfort/pain, when I stopped it mostly went away.  I think the main cause was the axial adjustment(?) where they lock your hips to a table and yank your head to stretch your spine.  Sometimes it would feel great, sometimes it hurt a lot, it mostly depended on who did it.  All chiros claim that they tailor their treatment to the person and 99% of what I see done is exactly the same for everyone.  The exception is those who use a drop table, that seems to be a targeted adjustment.  I've never seen one on the west coast, but had one done in South Carolina.  I didn't have a big pain and while he was doing it it kinda seemed like nothing was going on, but I felt better afterwords in a way that I've rarely felt with the 'normal' twist and pull type adjustments.

 

 

[blackhawkxx]

4 hours ago, superhawk996 said:

I've had various neck and back pains forever, occasionally they go well beyond annoying into debilitating.  I don't think I've ever had hand weakness, but have had occasions where it might hurt so bad to lift something that I'd drop it.  Going to a chiropractor seemed to help make flareups go away, but since they always eventually go away I can't say with certainty that the chiro helped, but I think so.  There have been a few occasions where I feel an instant change with an adjustment, but have also gotten lucky and been able to crack the right spot on my own.

 

I went to a chiro regularly for several years and was in almost constant discomfort/pain, when I stopped it mostly went away.  I think the main cause was the axial adjustment(?) where they lock your hips to a table and yank your head to stretch your spine.  Sometimes it would feel great, sometimes it hurt a lot, it mostly depended on who did it.  All chiros claim that they tailor their treatment to the person and 99% of what I see done is exactly the same for everyone.  The exception is those who use a drop table, that seems to be a targeted adjustment.  I've never seen one on the west coast, but had one done in South Carolina.  I didn't have a big pain and while he was doing it it kinda seemed like nothing was going on, but I felt better afterwords in a way that I've rarely felt with the 'normal' twist and pull type adjustments.

 

 

Have you ever tried a inversion table?  I have one and use it daily, it really helps.

[superhawk996]

42 minutes ago, blackhawkxx said:

Have you ever tried a inversion table?  I have one and use it daily, it really helps.

I haven't but I'd like to.

[SwampNut]

5 hours ago, superhawk996 said:

I've had various neck and back pains forever, occasionally they go well beyond annoying into debilitating.  I don't think I've ever had hand weakness, but have had occasions where it might hurt so bad to lift something that I'd drop it.  Going to a chiropractor seemed to help make flareups go away, but since they always eventually go away I can't say with certainty that the chiro helped, but I think so.  There have been a few occasions where I feel an instant change with an adjustment, but have also gotten lucky and been able to crack the right spot on my own.

 

I went to a chiro regularly for several years and was in almost constant discomfort/pain, when I stopped it mostly went away.  I think the main cause was the axial adjustment(?) where they lock your hips to a table and yank your head to stretch your spine.  Sometimes it would feel great, sometimes it hurt a lot, it mostly depended on who did it.  All chiros claim that they tailor their treatment to the person and 99% of what I see done is exactly the same for everyone.  The exception is those who use a drop table, that seems to be a targeted adjustment.  I've never seen one on the west coast, but had one done in South Carolina.  I didn't have a big pain and while he was doing it it kinda seemed like nothing was going on, but I felt better afterwords in a way that I've rarely felt with the 'normal' twist and pull type adjustments.

 

 

 

Sounds like you should try a round of the GHK-Cu blend that Marty and Leon found life-changing.