@windyshores

I definitely think the stress about my husband and also doing so much more around the house, the yard and with the childcare contributed to this getting a bit worse. However, it's not to the point where I'm getting any numbness or tingling, no loss of leg function etc. Just some annoying aches and pains sometimes in different areas of my arms. Totally manageable so far with Advil (try not to take it too much, sometimes need to do a five-day stent and that can help a lot.) Sometimes I'll take Naproxen but rarely. I've been told the short dose of prednisone could give enough relief to do kind of a reset if that makes any sense at all.

I went to acupuncture yesterday for the first time in years. My husband is going and is getting relief so I decided to try it while I have the opportunity (less kids in the summer, easier to leave during naptime). I will say it did give me some relief from pressure I was having in my neck area. I tried a new pillow a couple weeks ago. It's supposed to be a good neck pillow. However after using it for a little over a week I stopped because I had developed new pains I'd never had before. I've gone back to my old pillow and I'm still not where I was before I started using it but it's getting better.

I agree that the steroids are a bandaid. I would do it this one time just to get relief and see if it helps with a kind of "reset" as the doctor mentioned.

I love Bio Freeze! The other night I went to bed and my upper arm was hurting so I used BioFreeze and within minutes the pain went away. It works great for me, I just have to get the professional grade which I can find now on Amazon. Before I could only get it at my chiro's office.

I've been told chiropractic is probably not a good idea with cervical stenosis. Any thoughts on this?

I've never done Tai Chi. How did you learn how to do it and do you go to classes or do it at home? I've heard people say Yoga is also good. Any experience with that?

My acupuncturist said massage would be really helpful so I might try to schedule that. My husband rubs my back at night before I go to sleep but it's not the same as a full massage.

How do you release shoulder muscles? I'm terrible when it comes to exercise. I would do them if someone would teach me so I don't make matters worse. My schedule prohibits me from physically going to see a PT but I can see mine virtually. Not quite the same but it's something.

I'm not sure if I showed you the results of my recent cervical neck x-ray. I shared it with someone else on Mayo Clinic Connect who has had surgery for cervical stenosis. Her situation was way worse sounding than mine with numbness, losing feeling in hands and legs, loss of bladder control, things like that. She is highly recommending I get the MRI and consider surgery based on the results of my x-rays. But my physical therapist, acupuncturist and chiropractor all said they don't think I need the MRI at this point (two of them saw the results of the x-ray). Thoughts?

No acute fracture.
Vertebral body heights are maintained.
Intervertebral disc heights are normal.
There is worsening anterior spurring spanning C5 and C6.
There is similar uncovertebral joint hypertrophy.
There is worsening, now severe narrowing of the right neuroforamina at C6-C7 secondary to progressing degenerative changes. The remaining levels on the right side have also shown worsening neuroforaminal stenosis.
The left side is stable, with narrowing noted at C6 to C7.
Prevertebral soft tissues are unremarkable.