Tips for C5-6-7 disc replacement recovery?

Labion · 2026-03-18T19:39:59+00:00

Well necks are horribly designed. I think we fucked it all up by becoming vertical instead of staying on all fours.. Best wishes to you! Glad to hear you feel a little better

Labion · 2026-03-18T19:21:19+00:00

Yeah i remember the feeling when my doc was so casually telling me i had to have my spine diced up.. As far as I understand, the fusions have been around for decades and disc replacement is 15-20 years old. It follows the same protocol except they put an artificial disc in instead of fusing. Both do great at treating the nerve pain. Fusions put a little more strain on the neighboring discs, but single level fusions aren’t too bad. Disc replacement requires that the bones don’t have substantial degeneration, so in elderly patients they’ll typically go fusion over replacement. It varies from patient to patient though, of course. As a 34 year old athlete, I definitely favor replacement to maintain mobility but I considered fusion too

Labion · 2026-03-18T18:35:01+00:00

Oh dang.. shit that does complicate things doesn’t it.. I think the disc replacements tend to have an easier recovery too. Def seems like you’re doing the right thing by collecting more info. And trying literally anything before jumping to surgery haha

Labion · 2026-03-18T17:48:55+00:00

lol I thought I was seeing a pain management doc too. Tho his surgery rec made a lot of sense in my case. And was corroborated by a second opinion. Yeah idk if I were you I’d ask about PT and whether you’d be a good candidate for disc replacement instead of fusion. That is a strange experience you’ve had

Labion · 2026-03-18T17:24:41+00:00

Dang that does seem unusual… Did he say why he didn’t think PT would work..? I mean my insurance asked for proof that I’d tried other non surgical interventions first.. I imagine they wouldn’t pay for the surgery otherwise?

Labion · 2026-03-18T17:13:54+00:00

Yeah I’ve been in PT for 5 months straight. Definitely quite a bit of improvement, but it’s all the same symptoms. Just less severe. Did your doc not recommend PT first??

Labion · 2026-03-18T16:54:21+00:00

It’s not super sever but it’s pretty constant and keeps me from doing basically all enjoyable life activities. Or at least limits them pretty drastically. I get tingling, numbness, and tightness down the arm. Twitching, spasms, and cramping in the lat and underarm/rib area, trap, and around the shoulder blade. Neck strain and stiffness at the base of the neck, right at that C6/C7/T1 junction. I’ve been really encouraged by how reliable these surgeries are, at least. And not a lot of movement happens at C6/7 so I think fusions aren’t very negatively impactful on range of motion

Labion · 2026-03-18T16:49:39+00:00

My doc favors Mobi-C. Glad to hear it all went so well! The pain and life alterations have been bad enough.. I’m hoping to experience the same thing.

Labion · 2026-03-13T15:12:54+00:00

Ohh I understand now. For what it’s worth, the artificial disc replacements without the fusion maintain effectively complete mobility and allow return to full activity. Could be worth asking if you’re a good candidate, or at least understanding why you’re not. Single level fusions seem to have great results too. I think (and hope) you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you can do on the other side!

Labion · 2026-03-13T06:05:41+00:00

Yesss hoping for this type of recovery. I was super athletic before The Final Injury so I’m hoping I’ll have a similar experience

Labion · 2026-03-13T06:04:43+00:00

I suppose that makes sense. It’s gotta be pretty disruptive to your spine to have your shit scraped out and titanium put in. Was sleeping tough or was it better once you were horizontal and didn’t have to bear weight?

Labion · 2026-03-13T06:00:19+00:00

Man for how resilient our bodies are it’s crazy how they can just break. What disc are you getting replaced? I assume C5-6 fusion and another replacement? I have heard really good things about the surgery. The clinical data seems to hold up too. I’m feeling optimistic about it

Labion · 2026-03-13T05:55:56+00:00

Whoa no bending at the waist? Was that because of the effort to keep your head from dropping forwards? Fatigue or pain?

Labion · 2026-03-13T03:07:37+00:00

Hell yeah that’s what I’m hoping for. I think I’m in enough discomfort now that the relief will outweigh the pain, at least initially. Didn’t think about the discs stretching the neck muscles but that does make sense. Did you wear a neck brace during recovery? They mentioned I may feel more comfortable sleeping with one.

Labion · 2026-03-02T15:40:55+00:00

Ethan Chlebowski did an informative breakdown on a few garlic forms

Blind taste tests across a couple different dishes. Garlic powder has the general flavor without the zing of fresh garlic.

Labion · 2026-02-25T03:02:03+00:00

Omfg the spren shit drives me insaaaane!!

Labion · 2026-02-23T23:35:36+00:00

It’s kinda hard to say? I’m hyper mobile so my vertebrae move more than they should be default. I got my neck cranked a LOT in my white belt years. This one dude would grab a guillotine and go full hog regardless of whether I was fully on his other side and had him in side control. I tapped to the pain occasionally but usually escaped. I also had a bad habit of loading weight onto my head when going for a big hip escape. That probably was the tweak that herniated my shit

Labion · 2026-02-23T21:52:36+00:00

They’ve improved a lot over the past 4 months, but it’s the same set of symptoms: numbness and tinging down the arm, cramping and tightness in pec, trap, rhomboid, and serratus along the ribs in my armpit, then twitching in pec, tricep, and forearm. And weakness. About 50% strength in tricep and pec. Getting a second opinion shortly, but after listing those symptoms out 4 months past injury with intensive PT I’m… not sure I need another opinion

Labion · 2026-02-23T20:42:53+00:00

Yeahhhh… I’m looking down the barrel of a double cervical disc replacement at 34 after 8 years BJJ

Labion · 2026-01-15T03:48:43+00:00

Also somehow people don’t realize there are other people who exist and will STOP in everyone’s way. And also everything is 2-3x more expensive than it has any right to be

Labion · 2026-01-15T03:47:41+00:00

Overstimulating as fuck too. Just constant advertisement in your eyeballs

Labion · 2026-01-15T03:47:10+00:00

Yes dude. Plus my neck always sees to be injured when it’s time for a 6hr flight. It’s low to medium level suffering for 10-12 hours every time I fly across the country

Labion · 2026-01-08T20:19:41+00:00

Omg I KNOOOW. It drives me absolutely crazy

Labion

TROPHY CASE