By Echelle, Pure Matters
Back in February, I took myself to the emergency room to rule out that I was having a heart attack. Because I have Mitral Valve Prolapse, I'm a little more sensitive about anything possibly heart related than the average person.
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After having two EKGs and X-rays of my spine and neck, the ER doctor's diagnosed a pinched nerve and possible peripheral neuropathy. If you've had a pinched nerve, you know the symptoms can be very similar to those of a heart attack in women including pain and weird tingly numbness running down your left arm. So I preferred to be safe than sorry and made the five-hour trip to the ER.
The doctor prescribed 800 mg of Motrin (ibuprofen) for me to take when the pain became unbearable but said it was ok to switch to 800mg of Aleve (naproxen) if I felt that the Motrin was not working (which happened in my case). I was also supposed to follow up with my regular doctor within four days.
When I followed up with my doctor, she said a lot of rest was in order so the nerve could heal. If I continued to aggravate it, I could do permanent damage. But resting did not mean sitting on my butt for a few months -- it meant I still needed to exercise and be active. I just couldn't do the exercises that would aggravate the area: push-ups, weights, or anything else requiring upper body exertion.
Since February, I've been taking it easy with exercises, making a pointed effort to stay hydrated, and been very careful (with the exception of one weekend of rich foods and drinks at a wedding) with my nutritional intake. I even cut out sugar for two weeks.
I feel as though the pinched nerve is very close to being completely healed. I just need to have another check in with my doctor in a couple of weeks. Here's hoping she's going to give me great news!
Source: http://blog.purematters.com/fitness/recovering-from-a-pinched-nerve