u/Aari848

Hi everyone,
I recently had an MRI of my cervical spine because I’ve been having problems with my neck and right arm, and I’m trying to understand how serious the findings are.
My appointment with a neurosurgeon is still more than a month away, so I’m asking here in the meantime. I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have had similar MRI findings, especially athletes or people involved in combat sports.
Here is the MRI report:
C5/C6: Small disc protrusion, mainly extending toward the right neural foramen, causing moderate narrowing of the right C6 neural foramen.
C6/C7: Spondylosis (degenerative changes) with a broad-based, bone-supported disc protrusion with components extending into both neural foramina. There is moderate to severe narrowing of both C7 neural foramina, with compression/impingement of the C7 nerve roots, more pronounced on the left than the right.
C7/T1: Small broad-based disc protrusion with a left foraminal component, but without definite nerve-root compression.
No significant spinal canal stenosis.
No spinal cord damage/myelopathy.
No abnormal changes within the spinal cord.
The cervical spine is somewhat straightened.
I’m a combat sports athlete, and this is obviously worrying me quite a lot.
I’ve already had what was essentially a proper C6/C7 disc herniation in the past, which caused numbness and weakness in my right arm. I still have problems during training, particularly with certain types of head impacts, which can trigger symptoms.
My main questions are:
How serious do these MRI findings look to you, particularly the C6/C7 foraminal stenosis and C7 nerve-root compression?
Has anyone here had similar findings and been able to continue combat sports?
Is it realistic to continue training and potentially compete semi-professionally, or is that something I should seriously consider giving up?
For people with similar MRI findings and symptoms, did you eventually need surgery, or were you able to manage it conservatively?
How dangerous is continuing to take occasional head impacts with this kind of cervical spine problem?
If you had similar problems, what did your neurosurgeon/orthopedic spine specialist recommend?
I realize nobody on Reddit can diagnose me or tell me whether I personally need surgery. I’m mainly looking for experiences from people who have been in a similar situation, especially combat athletes.
I’m trying to get an idea of how bad my situation potentially is and whether there is realistically a path back to training and competition.
Thanks in advance to anyone willing to share their experience.