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How to stop/reverse muscle loss?
Neuropathy | Last Active: 1 day ago | Replies (7)Comment receiving replies
@johnbishop A mix of injuries over the years, plus using a vibrating massager (which damages nerves), plus bad posture.
Rebuilding muscle is very hard / sometimes impossible when the nerve that tells the body that there is a shoulder in need of nutrients isn't doing that. Therefore, protein powders and creatine (which I take anyway) can only do so much. I'm also taking Magnesium and Vitamin B12 for nerve health.
Mostly I am hoping to hear tips and tricks from those who managed to regain strength in muscles affected by traumatized nerves (whether by deformation, demyelination, etc).
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@uzi187 Thanks, John for inviting me into this discussion. My muscle loss was from nerve compression and nothing helped until surgery decompressed the nerves. I had a whiplash years ago, and developed bones spurs inside the central canal because of a collapsed disc. I was able to regain muscle after recovering and rehab. I also have thoracic outlet syndrome or TOS which caused compression of nerves and blood vessels in the shoulder. I have done a lot of physical therapy for that and myofascial release which helps. Posture is vital to good body ergonomics and many spaces the nerves travel through are so small that bad posture may contribute to some of the compression. That is something you can work on. Core strength supports everything up the spine and connects to the shoulder mechanics.
I don’t know what your doctors advise or if you have a physical compression that may be helped by surgery or physical therapy. When a nerve is completely compressed, the electrical signal cannot travel through to contract the muscle and without those signals, muscles start to loss mass. Nerve impulses slow down with compression and may contract the muscles in a weakened condition. Nerves also depend on blood supply and oxygen to keep them alive. If you have a peripheral nerve that gets cut, it may have some ability to regenerate. For example, my husband had hand surgery that left numbness, but now after 6 years, feeling is starting to come back. If you have a problem with a spinal nerve due to an injury or arthritis, that may be a different story as to if it has an ability to recover. You need to know and define where the issues are.
They can do therapy using electrodes to contract muscles to rebuild them, but you still need a nerve signal to make it functional.
I’m curious about your mention about vibration massage being bad for nerves? I have not heard that and physical therapy clinics have large vibrating “Power Plates” to assist with getting muscles moving and loosened and assisting with stretching as part of rehab and physical therapy.