@candrgonzalez I did loose at least half of my muscle mass in my shoulders and upper arms, mostly on the back where I didn't notice it happening because of atrophy from spinal cord compression at C5C6. Along with that there was weakness, exhaustion and pain when I had to raise my arms. Pushing a shopping cart or driving a car were very difficult. Now, as I approach the 3 year anniversary of my decompression surgery, a lot of muscle has come back from physical therapy, but not all of it. There is still a deficit of about 25 % missing. Perhaps that will continue to improve. Time will tell. If I had had surgery sooner, I probably would have more muscle now, and I would have done it sooner, but I could not find a surgeon willing to help me for 2 years. My case had an unusual presentation of symptoms that was misunderstood by 5 surgeons. That's why I came to Mayo. Epidural injections help by reducing inflammation which relieves some pressure and they may help for awhile, but the effects are temporary and it won't fix the problem. If the spine issues progress further, at some point, injections may not help any more. The injected steroid also interferes with getting a good MRI image. I had to wait 6 weeks after an injection to get a new MRI and it showed progression of bone spurs.