Anyone have experience with a pinched nerve

[bloopsnlate]

About 5 months ago i found out that i had a pinched nerve in my back. I went to the chiro 3x a week and it seemed to go away. Well now i wake up with some pain, which is in the same spot. I was wondering if anyone had battled this problem before and if anyone has some good advice on how to train around it when doing back. Also i have pain in my elbow, should i put heat/cold on it, what is most likely causing the pain in my elbow?Could this be from improper form or is this common when lifting heavy weights etc...

thanks bros....

 

[ItalianMuscle27]

I only get them in my neck.. I usually just goto the chiropractor 2 or 3x in one week, and it goes away by the end of the week. Massage helps out too.

 

[bigjd69]

Be careful with the chiropractor more times than not they can make the problem worse. I always tell people to go for an MRI if the pain persists more than a month. I have had 7 Ortho Surgerys since 94, the most severe was having my neck fused. I had tendonitis surgery on my left elbow last Nov. For your back I would take a week off and see how it feels. Second I would stay away from movements such as the squat, bent over rows, or any exercise that puts too much pressure on your spine until you feel better or find out exactly what is bothering you. Where exactly does your elbow hurt? Sounds like it could be tendonitis, or possibily you could have bone chips floating around inside your elbow, another common elbow injury.

 

[jambookie]

i had touble with a pinched nerve in my back after trying a bit to much weight in the squat rack. it would hurt no matter what body part i was training. i suffered with it for years. going to physio just seemed to agravate it. i went to a chiropracter and it helped but never went away. i then went to my general practitioner and she put me on a anti inflamitory called bextra. i couldn't lift for years but after taking a pill a day for a few weeks and some chiro i was back to normal. whenever i felt something at all i would take one pill a day for a couple of days. i havent taken one in at least a year now and i havent been back to the chiro in at least that long. now i'm back on the weight stack trying to get back to old form. man i tell ya. ask your doc about an anti inflamitory. it saved my ass.

 

[justinjones1963]

I agree with bigdj - stay away from the movements that could add to the problem.

I also agree that you need to be cautious of the chiropractor. I had minor lower back pain and got it treated and it made it worse. I will NEVER got to a chiropractor again.

The problem is most likely the muscles around your spine are not keeping it in line. Also, it doesn't matter if you can squat 500 lbs or deadlift a house - the exercises that got me straight were simple, easy exercises that are designed to strengthen the muscles around the spine to keep it stable. People think I am nuts when I do 'sissy' exercises but it has solved all of my back problems. I dated a physical therapist and she got me on a decent program.

Mine was a lower back problem so I am not 100% sure what exercises you need to integrate into your regimen but here are some links:

http://www.spine-health.com/topics/conserv/backex/backex01.html

http://www.nismat.org/orthocor/programs/lowback.html


On another note I got an inversion table. I love the damn thing.

http://www.sitincomfort.com/inprod.html

Sam's Club has a top notch one for $130 - the damn thing is big though.

As for the elbow I have been suffering from a recurrent elbow injury. Only certain exercises really inflame it - I know it is a tendon though. I had to modify my exercises and give it rest. It took a few months to heal but I didn't sacrifice my workouts too much in the process. If you have good health insurance get it checked out. A tendon can heal, a spur is another story and I can't answer how to fix that.

 

[SOURPUSS]

i have had 3 herniated disks for about 8 years of so and the only thing that has helped me has been lots of water, abs and mild back work outs, streching and massage. i can no longer squat or row of any type but that is just me. make sure you get an mri to see what is actually going on before you go heavy.

 

[bloopsnlate]

My elbow hurts on top, adjacent to where your forearm and bicep merge, i have no idea what a bone spur feels like, but the bone is raised some.. I'm too young (26)to start having problems like this bullshit, i guess i'm going to take a week off and see how i feel, i cant really do any upper back, i tried to do some tonight and it wasn't happening...

Also for clarification, the pinch nerve is in my upper back, not really close to my neck...

anybody else?

 

[NFG123]

About 5 months ago i found out that i had a pinched nerve in my back. I went to the chiro 3x a week and it seemed to go away. Well now i wake up with some pain, which is in the same spot. I was wondering if anyone had battled this problem before and if anyone has some good advice on how to train around it when doing back. Also i have pain in my elbow, should i put heat/cold on it, what is most likely causing the pain in my elbow?Could this be from improper form or is this common when lifting heavy weights etc...

thanks bros....

First, going straight to a chiropractor is a bad idea. They are not medical doctors. I know many ppl on this forum will swear by them, but they have sketchy medical training if you can even call it "medical training."

What you likely need is a cycle of steroids, and I am not talking AAS. 20 mg prednisone po qd x 2 w followed by 10 mg po qd x 2 weeks. (cortisol type steroid). This will provide relief. If you are worried and this has something to do with misallignment or spinal stenosis, other possibilities are back exercisese with a hot compress (see your DOCTOR for this), or local site steroid injections if its refractory to conservative management (basically exercisese and staying away from movements that reproduce the pain).

The pain in the elbow, is likely either a pinched ulnar nerve behind your lateral epicondyle (of your ulna) or it could be medial or lateral epicondylitis. The best hting to do is STOP REPETITIVE MOTIONS THAT AGGRAVATE THE INJURY this means staying away from the gym if that recreates the pain, this will allow the inflammation to die down a bit. you can also try taking some naproxen (3, 220 mg tabs) bid (twice daily) by mouth for two weeks, and see if that deoesnt help. If at the end of two weeks, (you can sling your arm too) it hasn't gone away, you should see your doctor for further evaluation. If its a pinched nerve in the back and it doesnt respond to conservative management after 6 weeks, causes WEAKNESS (not just tingling) or prolonged tingling, you will likely need an MRI to workup it up further.

NFG