Left pec, lat and tricep not firing.. weakness especially in tricep.

Hi there. Im contending with one hell of a frustrating issue that i cannot get to the bottom of. About 1 month ago, i went to bench press and experienced a severe lack of strength in the left tricep. I didnt notice injuring myself beforehand.. To coincide with this, the upper left portion of my back was in pain with slight muscle spasms in the left pec and lat.

I subsequently went to visit a physio who ironed out a few knots in that region along with a possible impingement in the pec minor area ( upon him pressing here i noticed my tricep hurt) . After physio, pain was eliminated in my back .

He initially thought it was a nerve impingement but i have no numbness or tingling sensations..

After a week long rest he recommended getting back to the gym and training low weight high volume.. this in turn has returned some strength to the upper left area. But.. im noticing that my left pec..lat and tri are not firing and consequently no pump... im not sure but it feels as though my shoulder isnt stable.. no pain but left shpulder doesnt feel comfortable .. moreso an awkward feeling with any over head pressing movement. Lastly i still have these slight muscle spasms.

Any thoughts hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hey Euphmorning,

Same exact issues here, only mine are on the right side, and I have an ever so slight numbness at the tip of my right index finger. I experienced a terrible pain in my upper neck on the right side after playing basketball one night 5 months ago, and the pain was so bad that I could hardly turn my head to the right. The pain subsided over the course of a week or so, but it was replaced with insane weakness in my right arm; I couldn't even get a ball into a basketball hoop from 3 feet out. Shortly thereafter, I noticed significant atrophy in my right triceps and chest.

My strength has since recovered to the point where I can shoot 3 pointers, but both my chest and triceps are still small and flaccid. I also get constant twitching/fasciculations in my triceps, chest and lats. I had an MRI done, and that showed bulging discs at C5-C6 and C7-C8, with mild to severe foraminal narrowing in both. My neurosurgeon still remains perplexed, however, citing that those nerve roots and their associated branches don't innervate the pectoral muscles. The brachial plexus is a fairly complex nerve system though, and based on my own research, there appear to be branches that do in fact innervate the pectoral muscles.

Have you looked into Brachial Neuritis (also goes by Parsonage-Turner Syndrome and Neuralgic Amyotrophy)? Several folks on this forum mentioned having the same exact issues we're both having, and were diagnosed with this disorder. Thankfully, it sounds like recovery is highly likely if this is in fact what we're suffering from. Curious to hear others who've had similar symptoms.

Hello, hope this finds you well...reading the thread and much of what you are experiencing is very similar to what I have gone through.

Wanted to ask to see if there are any updates on your recovery?

I never really received a firm diagnosis, but I can tell you that I've regained a significant amount of strength (~80%) since the initial episode. The fact that I did regain strength gradually over time without any strength training, combined with the length of time it took to regain the strength, leads me to believe it was some type of neuritis caused my trauma to the brachial complex. I still get fasciculations in my right triceps & chest every so often, but they've decreased considerably -- both in terms of frequency and intensity.

If you're going through something similar, would just suggest an ample amount of rest. Like I said in my initial post, it took a solid 5 months of abstaining from weight lifting or contact sports to recover an appreciable amount of strength, which makes sense given a nerve regeneration rate of 1"/month.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for getting back to me, I’m glad you’re well on your way to a healthy recovery.

Unfortunately for me, I’m 2 1/2 years into my ordeal and have made significant progress, but still have issues. I’m back to 60-70% strength.

I continue to have spasms/fasciculations in my right tricep and numbness and tingling in my fingers. No one took me serious when I would explain my difficulty and I believe that prevented me from the proper care.

The twitching was a serious issue mentally...mostly because googling “muscle twitches” gives you 1000’s of pages that suggests that you are dying the horrible death of ALS...I don’t think that’s a concern at this point, but it was a serious scare until I got some reassurance from a Neurologist.

I hope I recover...one step at a time.

Thanks again

I can tell you this happened to me just over 1 year ago. The first 2 months I spent worrying about ALS, Parkinson's, etc. EMG showed that the issue was in my neck yet they also said I have carpel tunnel. They did not think it was anything more than a pinched nerve. MRI showed narrowing as described by someone else's post. I was having twitches, etc and it gave me a ton of anxiety. Fast forward, one year, I do traction 3-4 times a week, TENS 1-2 times per week and now am able to train 5 days a week. I can still do all heavy weights with my legs, back and biceps. Yet any pressing movements are still only about 50% if that, after 1 year. One head of my left tricep is basically gone as well as I have a depression in my left upper chest. I took pics from the first day I recognized the muscle loss and have taken them every few months. Unfortunately, I have not seen much progress as far as size of the muscle, yet my strength continues to improves. It is almost like something ate my muscle, kind of crazy. I am hoping the muscle will actually grow back. Anyone whom has been through this please update on your recovery if you can.

Thanks.

I have the exact same thing. I was a powerlifter, swimmer, basketball player, welder. Insanely active in my 30’s. I dislocated a vertebrae in my lower back sharpening lawn mower blades, of all things!
I had sciatica so bad I couldn’t walk 100 feet without my legs giving out, let alone the excruciating pain. A double fusion later and I’m 100% fixed. BUT...
I still get pins and needles and minor muscle spasms in my legs. Which is fine with me compared to what it was like before.
THE NECK:
So I’ve always had this weird pain when I would look upward. Not a big deal. I thought I could tough it out.
I pretty sure I got it from swimming and jamming my hand on the edge of the pool on my turns. I’d do an open turn for an extra breath instead of a flip turn. I’d work out heavy and then swim so I would be as sore. Worked great.
I ignored the pain for a couple years until my bench press felt wired on that side. It hurt my shoulder and lat and tricep. So I took time off. Let it heal.
And about 10 weeks into “letting it heal” I picked something up at work, not even really heavy but awkward, and had a searing pain in my neck to my shoulder. Like debilitating pain.
2 rounds of steroids and still couldn’t sit on a bench with my elbows on my knees. Couldn’t even put my arm on the arrest of my truck. Terrible pain!
MRI showed pinched nerves in C5 C6 C7.
I’m scheduled for surgery on Jan 20
I know by now, after have two other spinal surgeries on my lower back that I’ll be ok but some small symptoms will continue because of nerve damage. But if I can get back to bench pressing and push downs, I’ll be happy. I’m not a spring chicken but 8 months ago I could still hit 275 for three sets of 6
Not I’m lucky to get the bare bar.
Scared me. And it hurt.
I’ll come back with updates. But give me a couple months.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Choyer27

I have the exact same thing. I was a powerlifter, swimmer, basketball player, welder. Insanely active in my 30’s. I dislocated a vertebrae in my lower back sharpening lawn mower blades, of all things!
I had sciatica so bad I couldn’t walk 100 feet without my legs giving out, let alone the excruciating pain. A double fusion later and I’m 100% fixed. BUT...
I still get pins and needles and minor muscle spasms in my legs. Which is fine with me compared to what it was like before.
THE NECK:
So I’ve always had this weird pain when I would look upward. Not a big deal. I thought I could tough it out.
I pretty sure I got it from swimming and jamming my hand on the edge of the pool on my turns. I’d do an open turn for an extra breath instead of a flip turn. I’d work out heavy and then swim so I would be as sore. Worked great.
I ignored the pain for a couple years until my bench press felt wired on that side. It hurt my shoulder and lat and tricep. So I took time off. Let it heal.
And about 10 weeks into “letting it heal” I picked something up at work, not even really heavy but awkward, and had a searing pain in my neck to my shoulder. Like debilitating pain.
2 rounds of steroids and still couldn’t sit on a bench with my elbows on my knees. Couldn’t even put my arm on the arrest of my truck. Terrible pain!
MRI showed pinched nerves in C5 C6 C7.
I’m scheduled for surgery on Jan 20
I know by now, after have two other spinal surgeries on my lower back that I’ll be ok but some small symptoms will continue because of nerve damage. But if I can get back to bench pressing and push downs, I’ll be happy. I’m not a spring chicken but 8 months ago I could still hit 275 for three sets of 6
Not I’m lucky to get the bare bar.
Scared me. And it hurt.
I’ll come back with updates. But give me a couple months.

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I am going through this exactly since December 30th. Just wondering if it ever got better or what you did from this point?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Euphmorning

Hi there. Im contending with one hell of a frustrating issue that i cannot get to the bottom of. About 1 month ago, i went to bench press and experienced a severe lack of strength in the left tricep. I didnt notice injuring myself beforehand.. To coincide with this, the upper left portion of my back was in pain with slight muscle spasms in the left pec and lat.

I subsequently went to visit a physio who ironed out a few knots in that region along with a possible impingement in the pec minor area ( upon him pressing here i noticed my tricep hurt) . After physio, pain was eliminated in my back .

He initially thought it was a nerve impingement but i have no numbness or tingling sensations..

After a week long rest he recommended getting back to the gym and training low weight high volume.. this in turn has returned some strength to the upper left area. But.. im noticing that my left pec..lat and tri are not firing and consequently no pump... im not sure but it feels as though my shoulder isnt stable.. no pain but left shpulder doesnt feel comfortable .. moreso an awkward feeling with any over head pressing movement. Lastly i still have these slight muscle spasms.

Any thoughts hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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I am dealing with this exact issue. I have been having these symptoms for a little over a month and although it seems I am regaining some strength in my left pec and lat, my tricep is still pretty weak and obvious atrophy In both my pec and tricep. I am going to the doctor and have an appt with ortho Tuesday. I’ve freaked myself out because a lot of what pops up are serious medical disorders. Anyways, I was just checking in on your progress. Please update.