Herniated Neck

[vimstr]

Hello Tom,
I'm in my 30s, I have a herniated c6-c7, I've always been in good shape going to gym regularly doing cardio and weights, had really strong traps/shoulders, 1 day doing some sport activity I had this pain in upper back on the side that got worse, went to the Dr. they diagnosed Muscle spasm got treatment for that & pain was almost gone 1 day out of nowhere got this sharp pain in my arm, did MRI turned out my c6-c7 is badly herniated. It was the worst pain I had in my life in my arm. Couldn't even lie down. Saw couple of Dr. 1 of them top one told me we can do surgery or wait and with the help of medication see if the body can heal it. Now 1 month later I basically only rested & walked around to stay active & used Sauna around 3 times a week & I feel absolutely improved a lot less pain and just a bit in my forearm and hand, numbness in my index finger is almost gone 95%. Dr. said 1 more month and then we'll know if you'll need the surgery or can continue & if all goes well after 3 months overall you'll be completely healed and back to normal.

This is my MRI report:

Dropbox - mri.rtf - Simplify your life

So I've got a few questions if you don't mind.

1. I'm planning to buy an ergonomic chair since my job requires me to spend long hours daily (8+ hours) at PC and that's why I messed up my neck in the first place with my posture I assume (My neck doesn't have any curve basically in the mri picture!!) the chair I chose is the best out there BUT it doesn't have any headrest as do all the high-end ergo chairs. Is that ok? (I've done research about it there's no definite answer)
2. I stopped working out since few weeks ago completely and as mentioned only been walking to stay active. I asked my doc if I can hit the gym now he said at your own risk so what's your suggestion? Doing something like low reps high sets or do light weight etc? Or should I just wait until at least 8? 10? weeks overall & start? (I just do normal weight lifting stuff to stay fit+gain muscle+stay in shape and I'm a tall guy fyi. Don't remember the last time I did squat in my life for example, I avoided it or any move like that because of the lower back)
3. Now I'm taking a pain killer daily a combo pill of ibprufen and paracetamol & trying to take as few pills as possible (1-2 pills a day) would that have any side effects in the next 2 months on me? and would it be ok if I take more since it says every 6 hours I can take 1 but I don't and just wait until the pain would get somewhat bad and then I take half and if pain persists I'll take more (Dr. said it would not and taking 1 pill every 6 hours is fine if u feel pain)

Sorry if not all the questions relevant to the forums here I'm new here.
Thanks in advance.

[John Petrizzo]

Sorry to hear about your neck trouble. Based on the fact that you stated that you are already feeling 95% better just a month from the initial injury, I don't think you should even be considering surgery at this point. In regards to your specific questions:

1. I don't think it matters much if your chair does or does not have a headrest. Simply getting up and moving around periodically, or regularly changing your position while seated can help minimize strain on your neck. Additionally, making sure your work station is set up appropriately (making sure your monitor is at eye level would probably be the most important thing for you) should be helpful.
2. I would highly recommend you get back in the gym and start training. If you are considering surgery, then I would want to know whether or not performing your usual activities is irritating. I suspect that they will not be.
3. I am not an MD, so take what I say about your medications with a grain of salt. You want to use the meds to help control your pain, but don't take them more than you need to. If things continue to improve, then I would talk to your doctor about gradually weening yourself off them. You are basically taking Rx strength Tylenol and Advil neither of which should cause you much trouble, but both have been associated with side effects (liver problems, GI distress, etc.) when taken chronically.

I hope that helps.

[vimstr]

First off I meant to say "Hi Mark (Rippetoe)" don't why I said Tom!
Anyways... Tx mate appreciate your comments. My priority is not to undergo surgery and up until 2 weeks ago I had an insane pain in my arm & even at some point the pain was so much that I was almost like fk this I'll do surgery if this continues. So now that it's going really well I wanna keep it as it is & not risk stepping backwards in the recovering proccess & in 2 weeks I'll see my doc again & he mentioned at that point we'll know if surgery needed & also that would be a better starting point for gym activities I reckon. I'll write here how gym activities go once I start them.
When I'll start what's the best way to start & continue? I used to use maximum weight I could handle & do the usual 3x8 routines for example. How should I change that now u suggest? Should I go heavy+low reps? or high reps+light weight etc etc?