Getting older sucks
I was born with a 3rd degree club foot on my left side. This lead to an operation when I was a few months old and a major operation again when I was eight years old to allow my stance to be more balanced and my weight to rest on the flat sole of my foot instead of rolling to the side. One of the consequences of that operation at eight years old was that my left leg and foot never fully grew to adulthood as a match for my right leg and I was told that as I got older my leg length differences would likely contribute to spinal difficulties later in life.
I am always cracking my back and popping my neck to relieve tension. In February 2023 I suffered some rather severe neck pain on my right side that seemed to be brought on by poor posture after spending several days in a row at my drafting table. My neck became sore and after a day or two the pain started to extend down into my shoulder, followed by additional pain radiating down through my right elbow and ultimately into my drawing hand where I began feeling numbness in my index finger at the tip where I press into a pencil. This really sucked and I was in a lot of discomfort for about a month. Not debilitating discomfort, but a long series of days and weeks that just didn't dissipate. I eventually underwent physical therapy in April and May and things recovered and I was feeling better.
Until early September 2023 when I woke up while traveling to Minnesota and suddenly the pain returned full force and I was wincing from a sharp stabbing in my shoulder when I tried to push myself up out of bed. The pain was almost exactly like what I'd experienced in February only this time it hadn't been precipitated by a week of marathon drawing at the drafting table. Maybe this was just the actualization of the news I'd gotten at eight years old about cumulative spinal problems? It would be about three weeks of pain and aching in September before I could return home and get a doctor's assessment of the situation, and when I did speak to someone in person the doctor said that we ought to try a cortisone steroid injection in the shoulder as that would surely alleviate the pain. Well, it did. Almost immediately I felt better and I was able to go about my business like normal. I underwent additional physical therapy doing exercises that would work out my shoulder and arm strength and I was advised to try and learn how to sleep on my back. I am a lifetime side sleeper with my right or left arm raised up over my head underneath the pillow. I was told that position isn't doing my shoulder pain any favors and may possibly be contributing to the difficulties I've been experiencing. Still though I had felt that the underlying contributing factor was my body posture while drawing. I'm right handed and I've spent the majority of my life leaning over a table with my right arm extended forwards and my back hunched over a table. Surely that's what caused my pain in February 2023 and the September flare up was just an aggravation of the previous pain brought on by a weird sleeping position for too long during the night.
Well, maybe not. Around two and a half weeks ago I woke up again to some really uncomfortable neck pain... only this time it was on my left side. This pain was the sort that felt like bad stiffness. I was noticing it big time when I was driving because when I was stopped at an intersection it was a really hard for me to rotate my head left or right to look out the side windows to observe any oncoming traffic. Once again though over the course of a day or two the pain spread from my neck down into my shoulders, shoulder blade, left elbow, and then down into my hand in the form of numbness from the knuckle of my index finger down to the tip. Lying down to to sleep is really harsh because if I roll at all onto my left shoulder there's a deep stabbing pain in my armpit that is really painful, and there's no way I can push myself up from a reclining position with my left arm.
After about ten days of suffering I made an appointment with the doctor's office where I was observed and it was postulated that I might have bone spurs in my neck, and they had me go in for x-rays. Here's what the report said from the x-ray findings:
"Cervical spine: Mild to moderate mid and lower cervical uncovertebral hypertrophy. The upper chest is unremarkable. No prevertebral swelling. Cervicothoracic junction not well seen on swimmer and lateral views. Loss of normal cervical lordosis. Moderate C5-6 and C6-7 disc space narrowing with anterior osteophytosis. No listhesis.
Left shoulder: Imaged chest is unremarkable. Mild to moderate AC joint space narrowing with osteophytosis. Humeral head well positioned in the glenoid."
Here's what the doctor analysis of the x-rays shared:
"I wanted to reach out about your recent Cervical/Shoulder XR. Imaging did demonstrate degenerative changes at a few levels of cervical spine (especially the lower levels) which goes along with your symptoms. I think it would be reasonable to keep with PT and NSAID/tylenol for now. If symptoms aren't alleviated with meds/PT, can proceed with cortisone injection/Sports Med referral. If you have questions/concerns, don't hesitate to reach out to our office."
...so far that doesn't tell me a whole lot. I don't know if this is injury related, or repetitive stress produced from bad posture, whether it's permanent, or recoverable, and then whether this is just age related. Is it arthritis?
I mentioned the findings to my mother and she said "oh yeah, you're my son. I've got that too, so it make sense that you too would have degenerative issues with your neck bones." Really?
I have another doctor appointment on August 5th that I'll be asking the above questions and maybe I'll get some guidance. I did put in the request for physical therapy appointments but I haven't been able to get anything yet because the office is currently busy without any openings. Hopefully I'll hear more tomorrow.
I am always cracking my back and popping my neck to relieve tension. In February 2023 I suffered some rather severe neck pain on my right side that seemed to be brought on by poor posture after spending several days in a row at my drafting table. My neck became sore and after a day or two the pain started to extend down into my shoulder, followed by additional pain radiating down through my right elbow and ultimately into my drawing hand where I began feeling numbness in my index finger at the tip where I press into a pencil. This really sucked and I was in a lot of discomfort for about a month. Not debilitating discomfort, but a long series of days and weeks that just didn't dissipate. I eventually underwent physical therapy in April and May and things recovered and I was feeling better.
Until early September 2023 when I woke up while traveling to Minnesota and suddenly the pain returned full force and I was wincing from a sharp stabbing in my shoulder when I tried to push myself up out of bed. The pain was almost exactly like what I'd experienced in February only this time it hadn't been precipitated by a week of marathon drawing at the drafting table. Maybe this was just the actualization of the news I'd gotten at eight years old about cumulative spinal problems? It would be about three weeks of pain and aching in September before I could return home and get a doctor's assessment of the situation, and when I did speak to someone in person the doctor said that we ought to try a cortisone steroid injection in the shoulder as that would surely alleviate the pain. Well, it did. Almost immediately I felt better and I was able to go about my business like normal. I underwent additional physical therapy doing exercises that would work out my shoulder and arm strength and I was advised to try and learn how to sleep on my back. I am a lifetime side sleeper with my right or left arm raised up over my head underneath the pillow. I was told that position isn't doing my shoulder pain any favors and may possibly be contributing to the difficulties I've been experiencing. Still though I had felt that the underlying contributing factor was my body posture while drawing. I'm right handed and I've spent the majority of my life leaning over a table with my right arm extended forwards and my back hunched over a table. Surely that's what caused my pain in February 2023 and the September flare up was just an aggravation of the previous pain brought on by a weird sleeping position for too long during the night.
Well, maybe not. Around two and a half weeks ago I woke up again to some really uncomfortable neck pain... only this time it was on my left side. This pain was the sort that felt like bad stiffness. I was noticing it big time when I was driving because when I was stopped at an intersection it was a really hard for me to rotate my head left or right to look out the side windows to observe any oncoming traffic. Once again though over the course of a day or two the pain spread from my neck down into my shoulders, shoulder blade, left elbow, and then down into my hand in the form of numbness from the knuckle of my index finger down to the tip. Lying down to to sleep is really harsh because if I roll at all onto my left shoulder there's a deep stabbing pain in my armpit that is really painful, and there's no way I can push myself up from a reclining position with my left arm.
After about ten days of suffering I made an appointment with the doctor's office where I was observed and it was postulated that I might have bone spurs in my neck, and they had me go in for x-rays. Here's what the report said from the x-ray findings:
"Cervical spine: Mild to moderate mid and lower cervical uncovertebral hypertrophy. The upper chest is unremarkable. No prevertebral swelling. Cervicothoracic junction not well seen on swimmer and lateral views. Loss of normal cervical lordosis. Moderate C5-6 and C6-7 disc space narrowing with anterior osteophytosis. No listhesis.
Left shoulder: Imaged chest is unremarkable. Mild to moderate AC joint space narrowing with osteophytosis. Humeral head well positioned in the glenoid."
Here's what the doctor analysis of the x-rays shared:
"I wanted to reach out about your recent Cervical/Shoulder XR. Imaging did demonstrate degenerative changes at a few levels of cervical spine (especially the lower levels) which goes along with your symptoms. I think it would be reasonable to keep with PT and NSAID/tylenol for now. If symptoms aren't alleviated with meds/PT, can proceed with cortisone injection/Sports Med referral. If you have questions/concerns, don't hesitate to reach out to our office."
...so far that doesn't tell me a whole lot. I don't know if this is injury related, or repetitive stress produced from bad posture, whether it's permanent, or recoverable, and then whether this is just age related. Is it arthritis?
I mentioned the findings to my mother and she said "oh yeah, you're my son. I've got that too, so it make sense that you too would have degenerative issues with your neck bones." Really?
I have another doctor appointment on August 5th that I'll be asking the above questions and maybe I'll get some guidance. I did put in the request for physical therapy appointments but I haven't been able to get anything yet because the office is currently busy without any openings. Hopefully I'll hear more tomorrow.