Quote Originally Posted by 7rider View Post
Thanks. Yeah, I've discussed this with my Dr.
He said I have three options for treatment:
1. Traction.
2. Epidural steroid injection.
3. Surgery.
#'s 2 and 3 are not thrilling for me. I'm holding the prescription for the injection in case I reeeeally need it, but I'm using that as a last resort (surgery is off the table unless things go extreme). He knows I'm seeing my chiro for traction (she is not doing adjustments on my neck) and he's fine with that, and I'm actually getting the home kit from him on his recommendation.
Well, you won't like my experience, but I had to have the fusion. Stupidly, I got back on the bike too soon, and now am having instability in an adjacent disc. Massage, specifically trigger point release, has been a Godsend and my arm/delt problems are gone, for now.

When my ortho went in, he found the discs were much worse than the MRI showed. I had one disc slammed against my spinal cord, so it's good I had the surgery. You can be asymptomatic, but the problem will still be there, even with steroid injections. BTW, I've had several steroid injections in my lumbar spine & they didn't make me fat, aggressive or anything else. I don't think you get enough steroid for a long enough period to have those problems.

I also suggest that we cyclists have a much higher pain threshold than the majority of the population. My ortho seemed to think I should have had a lot more pain, looking at my cervical spine, than I experienced. So, I think it's important that we really pay attention to these problems.

I do ride my road bike, but my current limit is about 2.5 hours. I'm having lumbar problems that limit my cycling. Lumbar & cervical problems seem to go hand-in-hand. Be sure your core is strong.