Doggcrapp....was that you who mentioned...

MR. BMJ · May 11, 2012

...a few years back that you had forearm/arm atrophy from I believe a shoulder injury?

If that was you, can you give us a breakdown on the cause, and what you did to make it better?

I don't have anything that severe, but I get frequent neck strains w/ some non-ideal shoulders, and my left arm is a few reps weaker on a lot of exercises. This may be totally different than anything you mentioned, but even if it doesn't pertain to my benefit, maybe others can get something out of it.

THANKS!

BigRick82 · May 11, 2012

I'd like to know to. My left shoulder is definetly weaker from atrophy from cervical spinal stenosis

DOGGCRAPP · May 11, 2012

It was a combo of a couple things....a few years back

1) When I was sleeping on my side (I no longer do) the situation of my shoulders being wider than normal and going so deeply into REM sleep would have me wake up from time to time in positions that were really messing up my neck and shoulders (badly)....one time i woke up with my head off my pillow and my shoulder impinged badly....and my neck seemed so out of whack it was ridiculous.

2) ON that same side (my right side) as the impingement and neck problems and in the same time frame......i was working long hours, stressing way too much, trying to get 16 hours out of every day.....and ended up stressed so much that i got shingles...and it went down the same shoulder and arm that i had the problems sleeping on. That really put the Kaboom on it. Yet i kept sleeping on that side and it seemed to happen overnight a few years back....my right arm strength rapidly dropped and my tricep, and forearm on that side started to atrophy.

The MRI wasnt good with serious compression of the C vertebrae, nerve entrapment and shoulder impingement (and the shingles really screwed up that nerve pathway to boot)

So i went aggressive with it

1) chiropractic
2) forced myself to sleep on my back and got a (hollowed out chiro) pillow that would not bend my neck forward (was losing my natural curve in my neck) .....laying on my back i got sleep apnea and i had to pick my poison....wreck my shoulder and arm sleeping on my side and have no sleep apnea or lay on my back and be able to train and have no atrophy but have sleep apnea and have to use the machine....sucked but i picked the machine and being able to train and have normalcy in right shoulder and arm
3) extensive stretching program for shoulder and neck (broomstick dislocates and a decrompression kit for the neck kind of like this traction kit **broken link removed** but i rigged it up my way (i have a free standing chinning apparattus and i got some chains and jimmyrigged this up to this where i get into it and while holding the lat bar i stretch downward....not forcibly but enough to decompress and it does every single time (i can feel/hear it) <----that device i hooked up has been a godsend probably the most important thing i did.
4) Regular visits to the ART doctor

The above cured and reversed it....and i have virtually everything back now...maybe just 10% atrophy ( if that ) now and im being generous with that...and i blame that on the shingles which really did a number on me (most painful thing ive ever been thru in my life)...the shingles left a flat spot in my right shoulder...a little less tricep than at my best and the top of my right forearm is maybe 10% less like i said but nobody but me would ever notice unless i pointed it out to them.....my business partner got shingles about 6 months after me and we both decided maybe it was a good decision to stop working so hard.

Ive kept up on all the stuff above especially sleeping on my back, and the ART visits and i do the broomstick stretching and neck decompression as I feel I need to (about 2x a week) ...only takes like a minute or two. And like i said im pretty much back to square one. Scary as hell going thru it though as it comes on rapidly (did for me)

Now thats disk stuff and nerve impingement stuff...I have seen 2-3 bodybuilders have bad shots and really screw up their nerve on one of their arms and get some bad atrophy (one guy was on musclemayhem.com)....if thats the situation I dont know if there is any coming back from that.

thebrick · May 11, 2012

Had to deal with this last year... my cervical nerve root impingement was so advanced (w/bone spurs and disc degeneration on my C vertebrae) I had to be fused at C4-C6.

I had a symptom of sudden left bicep weakness 2 years prior which was a warning. 2 years later and without warning it was suddenly very ugly from my neck all the way to finger tips on my left side. Pain, tingling, spasms, weakness.

Training tips if you suspect you have this condition:
Avoid any heavy overhead presses and avoid letting your head extend out in front of your body in a strained position (vulture neck). Sleep flat like DC said.

Its taken me a year to get back.

MR. BMJ · May 11, 2012

Wow, thanks for the information, DC! You more than answered my questions.

I have had similar problems with my neck like you have in regards to sleeping. I've never had a trap tear or anything like that, but have had them strained so badly at times I felt like an invalet (sp). It's one of the most painful experiences i've had to unfortunately go thru. I noticed that sleeping on my back with correct pillow leverage has helped.

I think what makes it worse is that i've had left shoulder problems for awhile now (nothing severe) and when I do certain exercises, I have to really be careful of the extra stress that places on my left trap, due to the strength imbalance from the right side. When I do standing hammer or dumbell curls, I come up a rep or two short from the right side, and while it has not really atrophied, it is smaller than the right....at least I notice.

I'm going to take a look at trying to implement a few things you discussed.

Is there anything you can share when looking for an ACE specialist?

DOGGCRAPP · May 11, 2012

I think you meant ART specialist and assuming that it took me two times to find the right one.

First guy wasnt the guy.

I would go here and punch in your zip code and then look for someone who has some experience with athletes if you can....

Active Release Techniques: A.R.T.

MR. BMJ · May 11, 2012

Thanks so much, i'll take a look at that!

lol, yea, you are correct, I meant ART and not not ACE....I don't need anybody messing with my car

Heh heh heh

Amazon Doll · May 12, 2012

What really sucks is how many doctors steer their patients towards surgery when the stuff DC suggests solves the problem.

tkav1980 · May 12, 2012

I'm dealing with atrophy/weakness in my right shoulder/bicep right now. It's been months. I went to a doc and got an x-ray on my neck/upper back that didnt show any problems with the vertabre, but the doctor seemed to think it was a nerve impingement. Unfortunately without health insurance there isn't much I can do about it right now since I cant afford the MRI, EMG study, or any type of prescribed treatment. Kind of blows but It's slowly getting better.