Be gone for a bit due to disc injury
About 2 months ago, I just finished up my last cycle and about 2 weeks into pct, I started to have some really bad pain, numbness, mainly running down my left arm and by my left shoulder blade. The pain was so bad that it would wake me up at night.
Went to the doc, he said that he wanted me to go to physical therapy. I started PT and after a few weeks it felt like it was not getting any better. I then got an mri done and found out that I had 2 minimal bulged cervical disk that were pressing on my nerve. It also showed a contusion on my spinal cord. Let me tell you, I never felt pain that hurt so bad and it was constant. I continued going to PT and slowly, the pain started to go away.
I lost alot of strength in my left arm, mainly bicep and forearms. You can see atrophy in that arm also. Very depressing.
I haven't been on this board much as it was too depressing for me, but I am getting back now. I really enjoy working out and was unable to do it at this time. About 2/3 weeks ago I slowly started to get back into my routine again. My regular lifts are coming back close normal except for anything that involves the biceps. I am having alot of trouble with lat pulldowns, bent over rows, pullups (are a joke at this point, although I am up to 3 pullups, not in great form, but I am pushing).
A few things that I learned here. Always use good posture. Keep your chin tucked in so that your spine is in good alignment. Rotator cuff... I never realized how weak they are and how isolation excercises can really strengthen them. I did some reading about working your rotator cuff to improve your bench press. Always drop the weight.... I think this is what might have caused this problem to begin with. When I do dumbbell bench press, once I am done with my set, I lift myself up holding onto the weights until I am up. This puts alot of strain on your cervical spine, so from now on I drop the weight when I am done. Swiss balls.. I never cared for these until now. When I was act physical therapy, they had me do some excercises on a swiss ball and the next day, my sides running from my hip to under my arms were sore for days. The swiss ball really helps with balance and stabilizer muscles.
Well, I am just happy that I did not need surgery and that I am starting to get back to normal. When this all happened, I thought for sure that I was never going to lift again, but I am done with the physical therapy as of last week. My therapist said that I would just need to keep excercising the weak muscles and I should get all of my strength back in time.
