Pinched nerve between C5 and C6

Hey everyone, I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this. I pinched a nerve back before Christmas climbing in the gym, and have been seeing a chiropractor since (first time ever using a chiropractor). I was making noticeable improvement, until a couple of weeks ago when I started back with the pain in my shoulders, neck and upper left arm, and the constant feeling of electricity running through my left arm and hand. I took two months off from rock climbing, and just recently started back to ice climbing which puts far less force on my body than climbing in the gym. The chiropractor is now suggesting I get some imaging done, which I am working on. Just wondering if anyone has experience with how long this takes to recover from, or am I looking at this never fully recovering? Is chiropractic even capable of healing me with this injury?

Thanks for any sharing you may have.

I don't think chiros can heal anything, at all. They can merely adjust you for your perceived comfort. Your body does the healing. Definitely go to a doctor and get checked out / imaged.

I had an L5 herniated disc. Tried chiropractor, didn't help. Then epidural shots to the spine. Again, it did nothing. I delt with it for 2 years but it was quite debilitating (electrocuted if i moved my leg the wrong way). Ended up getting surgery. That was 25 years ago. I am happy with my decision. 

Chiros can be a huge help, but only in certain circumstances. If you injure the soft tissues around your spine and it heals with scar tissue, the scar tissue can prevent the vertebrae from lining up correctly and the nerve gets pinched where it exits the spinal cord between the vertebrae. The chiro can manipulate the vertebrae to line up correctly and stop pinching the nerve. A good chiro may show you stretches and ways to free the vertebrae so it goes back into the correct position yourself. 

Chiros can't help with more serious injuries and can do a lot of damage. So getting imaged is important if there's any serious damage.

It kind of depends on how you pinched your nerve while climbing how you would treat it. If you fell or wrenched your spine a chiro may be able to help. But if you just pinched a nerve during an awkward reach I'd guess you didn't do anything to your spine but just pinched the nerve and irritated it. Once it's irritated and inflamed it swells up and doesn't fit in the space between the vertebrae easily and keeps getting irritated in a feedback loop. Ice and ibuprofen can reduce inflammation and stop the feedback loop. If that doesn't work after a couple weeks ask a doctor about a Epidural Steroid Injection. I'd guess once you get the irritation taken care of you'll make a complete recovery. If you did significant damage like a herniated disc (I'd think you'd remember how that happened) surgery may be required.

Thanks for your message Glowering. You have described almost exactly my predicament. I was making an overhanging move behind my back on one of those cube-shaped holds. There was no blunt force or anything like that involved. Sounds like the nerve remains irritated and inflamed, which matches my current symptoms. I'll probably back off from the chiropractor until I get some imaging done.

Really appreciate your insight.

I had an identical injury a few years ago and my advice would be to avoid chiros and start doing PT daily. Ideally with a professional but there are plenty of diy resources online. Avoid activities that aggravate it and see a doctor if not improving. I was able to recover in a few months but a friend had to get a surgery, so it varies greatly.

I just got a cortisone shot for the same exact problem (check previous posts in this forum). It's worked really well; I'm not getting any of the nerve pain anymore. The pain management specialist doctor also recommended to ice my neck twice a day. I also do a lot of shoulder and upper back physical therapy.

Stop seeing chiros, they're a scam. Deep tissue massage could be an option if you also have tight shoulders and traps like me.

search a cheap xray from a chiro like on groupon

get traction

search spinal decompression 

Lars Hedin wrote:

Stop seeing chiros, they're a scam. 

There are chiros that are scammy and claim it can do things it can't and get you to come too much, but there's plenty of great chiros. Millions of people get relief from them and when you look into info from legit places like the Mayo clinic and Cleveland clinic they say they can provide help for certain conditions.

A 2018 study published in JAMA Network Open is among the latest to weigh in on the pros and cons of chiropractic care for treating low back pain. Researchers enrolled 750 active-duty military personnel who complained of back pain. Half were randomly assigned to receive usual care (including medications, self-care, and physical therapy) while the other half received usual care plus up to 12 chiropractic treatments.

After six weeks of treatment, those assigned to receive chiropractic care:

• reported less pain intensity
• experienced less disability and more improvement in function
• reported higher satisfaction with their treatment
• needed less pain medicine.

I think it's a disservice to claim all chiros are a scam and steer the people away from them who could benefit. As I mentioned above I don't think a chiro is right for the OP's situation. And the OP's chiro should have quickly realized and said, I can't help you with this, and steered him towards another form of treatment.

I agree Glowering. I believe I got some relief from my chiropractor, who has an excellent reputation for nearly 40 years of practice. I do believe now that there isn't much he can do for me at the moment going forward. I'll be getting imaging next week.

Thanks again!

I have the same injury. Had it for years. Dr's have wanted to fuse it many times, including this week. Instead, I'm going to opt for injections and try that.

I have numbness, pain, tingling, Raynaud's, and weakness. Oh, don't forget the grinding and limited movement.

I keep climbing and remind myself that I'm climbing. Yew!

Someday, I'll have it fixed. Till then I keep climbing!

Talk to your Dr, get a neurologist, and have an MRI. Get answers. A chiro won't help you.

I had a c4/5 disk injury that was causing chronic pain for several years. If you don’t need surgery, a good ART chiropractor can be helpful, along with other body work like Myofascial Release Therapy. Everyone is different, but for me, once the electric shocks went away I was left with what I interpreted as extreme chronic tightness in that area from my nervous system trying to protect it.

How I got there, I had one original injury moment, but I reaggravated several times before the pain became very long term. I’d injure, and rest for a couple months until I could tolerate climbing, then inevitably do something that would trigger it again. I had to change a lot of things in my life, and took that time away from climbing to really diagnose the problem. As it turned out, it was many things outside of climbing that was causing the issue, climbing was just tipping it over the edge.

I got through it once I started really addressing it, but it took several years.