I'm recovering from neck surgery (bone spurs removed and burst disc repaired) and I thought I'd share some of the symptoms in case this ever happens to you. For awhile now when I was grappling if someone got me in a certain position it would be like an electric jolt was shooting down my right arm and chest. Sometimes down left as well, but mostly right. The pain would be so bad I'd just immediately go limp for a few seconds...which of course did not help my grappling. I tried just fighting through this for months and months but it didn't seem to get any better. I thought I had some sort of arm or chest injury. But one day I noticed when I was rotating my neck I could recreate some of the same pain. I kept trying to push through, but then I started losing strength in my right arm. So much so that one of the muscles in my right tricep stopped working and started atrophying. Finally went to a neurosurgeon and learned I had bone spurs and a ruptured disc (now I knew exactly what Tito Ortiz was feeling and it isn't a good thing). Had the surgery and now I'm on my way (hopefully) to a full recovery. Moral of the story is if you have these symptoms don't try to 'push through it'. Get an MRI and hopefully they'll figure out the problem and take care of it. Maybe if I'd have gotten the MRI earlier we could have rehabbed it rather than gone with the surgery. Ten plus years ago I had a similar bulging disc issue with my back. This caused pain running down the leg that really sucked. Same neurosurgeon fixed me up that time and I made a full recovery. So again when you have symptoms it is good to let them use the diagnosis equipment and figure out what is wrong. I'm guilty of it too (of avoiding the doctor). Hopefully I won't get those types of injuries again. I'm going to train a little less intensely. Unlike Tito my livelihood does not depend on it (and I'm older than him to boot).
Oh yes and by all means don't forget neck strengthening exercises (and back). I started doing neck bridges after the injury and it seemed to help, but that was too late. I'm definitely going to be doing those very regularly in training from now on. Thanks Moi. I think I'm on my way now...
Thanks for the info, always good to know what various problems have felt like. Best of luck on your recovery
Weight training when done with your head not like me because i injured myself too 10 years ago and theses years are wasted, doing squats and deadlifts which i will never do again. But a good weight lifting routine will really help keep you injury free and young. I love P90X but i also love to lift weights 5-6 times per week. I am still getting prolotherapy treatments every 2 weeks they have saved my life, and got me able to train, i got laxed ligaments in lower and upper and hip.
Pilates and other postural exercises. If the pain is in you arms it is the brachial plexus which originates in the neck. Make sure your posture is sorted before you start training again.
