A patient recently came into the clinic with a new complaint of a neck pain injury from a cage fight contest he lost from tapping out to a mixed martial art (MMA) neck crank manoeuvre. The neck crank involves pushing the neck to one side as much as possible till the opponent submits to the pain and taps out of the fight. This is why the patient lost. So this is when he came to the clinic because he noticed his left triceps muscle was weak with pins and needles & pain running into his left arm. You can view this video of the neck crank by MMA fighter Bas Rutten below to see why he may have pinched a nerve in in his neck.
Cage Fighting “Neck Crank” Video
So as you may see the neck crank can place a lot of stress on the neck and in the case of this patient he caused a cervical radiculopathy with loss of power to his triceps muscle. As mentioned in MMAmadness.com the neck crank is designed to create a cervical/spinal lock which causes “pulling or twisting the head beyond its normal ranges of rotation”. Neck Cranks are banned from most sports except mixed martial arts and submission wrestling. The anatomical cause of his pinched nerve is currently being investigated through an MRI scan of his neck. It is likely he either caused a stinger injury or disrupted his cervical spinal disc through a herniation or annular tear. Either way this is some mean way to pinch a nerve.