Hi,

Well I had the MRI and then I barged in on the radiologist and made him analyse the pics (not as bad as it sounds, I work at the same hospital)!

He found a herniated disc pressing on the left root opening and when I asked how big it is he said: Pretty big...but I´ve seen bigger...

I´ll be seeing my orthopedic surgeon on Thursday and that´ll confirm it all. My PT (and friend) will now -seriously- start working with me. He´s an ortho-manual therapist and very good.

I have a FN Sako in 30-06 that I could put a silencer on without it killing me...

Well it´s good knowing the dg and out of the options - tumor, osteoarthritis and MS (yeah I had em all covered)- I got the best option.

Thanks guys,

C

cewe, Had my MRI this morning but I got no pull at the hospital like you so I guess it be Tues before I get any results. Hope things go well for you.

Yes, it could be a lot worse. Glad to hear it turned out reasonably well.

James, hope yours turns out well.

My doctor's nurse used to be an operating room nurse. When I first injured my neck she said that if it csme to surgery on the back she would seek out a neurological specialist rather than an orthopod.

For what it's worth.

I also have bulging cervical discs C-6-7 and have booked a Plainsgame hunt for August of 2009. Have past injuries of two gun shot wounds, a knife wound, torn right achilles tendon, torn right rotater cuff, torn right hamstring, broken right thumb and wrist and had 6 major skin cancer surgeries on face and back.

Swimming, light dumbell work, walking, and working on a Total Gym for range of motion have helped greatly. The IDD machine at Physical therapy has brought relief also.

Just bought a Searcy 375 Flanged, and have ordered a 450/400 double (Searcy)and a 416 Rigby and 505 Gibbs from Ryan Breeding.

Going in for an epideral injection next Friday and will keep on plugging. Keep active eat well, and exercise on a regular basis and enjoy your years as they come is the best philosophy, as tomorrow is promised to no one.

These hunts have served as a goal and purpose for regaing my health as much as possible.

Good luck and stay positive

So today I took action, I´ll have my 6.5 fitted with a silencer that will reduce recoil quite a bit , and as it´s alredy heavy for caliber I should be able to shoot.

Nothing will stop me. I promise.

I´ll have my orthopedic surgeon write a referral to a neurosurgeon.

Better safe than sorry.

I had a pinched nerve in my neck in 1994 and it hurts like hell right now. Have fun ....

All I can add to this is that I turned up with a missing disc between my 5th and 6th vertebrae in 2003, which terminated my use of "heavy rifles" meaning 9.3x62mm thru .404 Jeffery, etc... The .30-06 was the best I could handle, but I hung on via chiropractic care. Today I am banging away with the 9.3x62mm, and praying that someday I will be able to shoot the .375 again. There is hope for injured shooters!!!

LLS

Well I´ll have a silencer put on my 6.5x55 so I shood be able to shoot that, practise can be done with a .22 or a pellet gun.

Man I´m suprised to see that so many of us have this same affliction.

Feels good getting all this support.

Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by cewe:
Well I´ll have a silencer put on my 6.5x55 so I shood be able to shoot that, practise can be done with a .22 or a pellet gun.

I hope you overcome this injury soon, but be careful, and I agree that a very light-recoiling rifle is best. Perhaps add some mercury recoil reducers to the butt of the 6.5.

500gr: My 6.5 almost weighs as much as my .416, it has a military "bull" barrel and the silencer should just about kill any recoil that´s left.

I guess I´ll have to put my other rifles in mothballs for awhile.

But they´ll keep.

Don't quit the chiropractic and pt. the reason for the arm numbness and positive EMG findings is the stenosis that is occurring in the intervertebral foramen. Increase your range of motion thus giving your neck more of a buffer so you can go back to shooting the big bores again.

Trouthunter: I´ll be continuing the PT/OMT but I´d like a second opinion by a neurosurgeon cause I don´t want to be told somewhere down the line that "You should have come earlier".

My 6.5 will keep me going through the fall and if worse comes to worse à can use it on plainsgame next summer.

Might be smallish for lion though

C

I can give you a blow by blow case of illness discovery, frustration, and recovery. In 2003 I became so debilitated that I could not fire my 9.3x62mm rifle, much less the .375 H&H. Went to my doctor, got x-rays on my neck and discovered that the right half of the disc between my 5th and 6th vertebrae was gone, for all intents. A first we thought I was really out of shooting (which suited my doctor just fine - anti hunter) and I began experimenting with what rifles I could shoot, discovering than the .30-06 was my limit. Meanwhile, I relocated to Texas, and found a good chiropractor while I worked with the .30-06. Fortune smiled and I made the 2004 safari with the .30-06 Mannlicher and a 7x64mm.
On returning home, I became more serious with the chiropractic treatment, because it was obviously helping my neck problem. After two years of chiropractic treatment I was back to the 9.3x62mm, after experimenting with the .300s along the way. Today it's been five years, I am still seeing the chiropractor, and I can handle a 9.3x62mm from the bench without problems, Whooppee!. So, I'd say you should attempt whatever therapy you have available. Chiropractic was something I always stayed away from, thinking it was quackery, until I came to this point in my life and was desperate for ANY relief. It was my last chance, or so I thought, and Chiropractic did the job. Go for it, my friend, and enjoy hunting. I'm going on safari again in 2010 and carrying that 9.3x62mm!!

LLS

MCA: Two years is quite a while, you´ve got more patience than I do.

I´ll stick with my PT (there aren´t a lot of chiropractors aroun and few are as well studied as in the US) and hope for the best.

Cewe,

Sorry to come late to this party; I didn't see your post until now.

I'm a neurosurgeon. Cervical disc surgery is about a third of my practice.

The numbness into the first three fingers of your hand (and I assume you are counting your thumb as finger 1) overlaps the isolated distribution of the median nerve, so it's possible you have "double crush syndrome".
That's cervical radiculopathy, superimposed on carpal tunnel syndrome...the only relavance is that it makes the symptoms feel worse to the patient.
(Just to mention, the C6 nerve root covers the thumb and index finger for sensation, and the C7 root covers the middle finger.)

I don't think you're in too much danger from worsening your condition from firing the particular rifle you mentioned, especially with the supressor attached.
I would avoid shooing much over a 270 Win. though, and even that only on occassion (until you're patched up).

Treatment will be up to you.
If the disc herniation isn't too large, epidural steroid injections can help quite a bit. So can cervical traction in some cases.

The advantage of surgery is that in cases like this, your pain is usually gone immediately after the surgery is over.
Surgery takes about 1 to 1.5 hours (one level fusion with plate), and the success rate is consistanly high.
Recovery after surgery is usually 2 weeks off work (unless you do manual labor), and in this case I'd say no shooting firearms with signicant recoil for 6 weeks, and 12 weeks no shooting magnums/large bore.

Hope this helps.
Sorry to take so long to answer.

Garrett

I hate to join the party late, but I had a pinched nerve in my neck (c6-7) earlier this year, from January to March. I was miserable and in constant pain, just the same as the others have posted earlier. One Monday morning, I woke up in terrible pain: the disk had ruptured. I scheduled an immediate surgery (or as close to immediate as I could arrange. It was very scary as most of my left arm had gone numb and I had lost most of my feeling in my left index finger and thumb ...

To make a long story short, the surgery was painless and fast. I woke up in no pain, and was back at work after 8 days, although I probably should have taken another two or three days off.

There is still some weakness in my left arm and some very minor (10%) numbness in my left hand, but I seem to be getting better progressively. Plainly put, if you're really hurting, get the surgery done by a good, reputable, experienced doctor as soon as possible.

Hi,

NG: You sure are a neurosurgeon -I didn´t bother adding the impinged median nerve, EMG showed that as part of the problem. I was operated for CTS about ten years ago but it hasn´t been bothering me until now. I´ve had the symptoms for about six weeks and I´m now also having muscle twitches in my upper pecs...I´ll be seeing my bone carpenter today and ask for a referral to a neurosurgeon.

AP: I´ve been cut up so much that I´d rather not have surgery but if these symptoms are going to be permanent then the blade is the answer.

The irony is that I was planning to have my left knee replaced later in the fall but thanks to my neck that´ll be put off...

Middleage sucks.

Oh well, I like to think that I´ll be all patched up in a couple of years and then I can enjoy an active retirement...

PS Got my referral but I´ll probably have to wait a few weeks for the appointment. The worst part is the waiting.

My brother in-law is a railroad engineer. He had a badly herniated disk, numbness and atrophy in his left arm. He went the surgery/fusion route. The pain was gone as soon as he woke up. The doctor kept him off of the trains for 6 weeks after the surgery. He says he has had no other complications.

I have a bulged disk in my neck (I went over on my bike) that resulted in numbness in my index finger and some slight atrophy in the arm. Heavy rifle recoil and jarring rides on ATV's made the pain in my arm worse. The doctor told me to take it easy and it might resolve itself. As I had 8 operations on my leg for a crushed ankle, I was relieved to have that option. Two years later I am symptom free and the strength has returned to my arm. No treatment of any kind. I'm lucky I guess.

Ranb

Cewe,
Good news I think..I pinched a nerve roping last week, had doctors and sports med folks working on me all week..It still hurts, but I thought about you and shot about 10 rounds through my .416 and nothing changed!! Tuesday I will go roping. I figure I can hurt doing what I like to do or hurt watching TV or laying in bed...Good timeing huh!!