Just diagnosed with Cervical foraminal stenosis after what I thought was a shoulder injury....TMS in

Back in August this year I injured my hands at work which worsened my CMC arthritis that I got following a fall at work back in 2018. I even posted a long winded thread about it on here (this one is also long winded too sorry).
It has been a difficult time for me. I am a 60 year old male generally fit and healthy and workout two to three times per week, but have been suffering depression and anxiety since August this year.
After my holidays I returned to work on modified duties to accommodate the thumb arthritis. Part of my job involves putting wheelie bins out in the street and bringing them back in the following day. There is usually about 10 wheelie bins each time with quite a long walk each way approx 50 metres.

I have always in the past pushed the bins to and from their locations. But this time that aggravated my thumbs with the extra vibrations, so instead I had been pulling the bins behind me (one bin at a time) which was more comfortable and a lot easier on the hands at the time. Going over surfaces like lawn is a lot easier pulling the bin than pushing.
I had been doing this once weekly for a couple of months with no issues.
About 3 weeks ago I was bringing empty wheelie bins in from the street, being empty they are quite light and roll easily.
After finishing I felt this sudden burning pain in my left shoulder, it was like someone had flicked on a light switch and it was on fire. I iced the shoulder area where it was sore to touch and took it easy for the rest of the day. I assumed I had strained my shoulder and reported it to management hoping it wasn't a rotator cuff injury.
I went to my doctor and saw a physiotherapist as well. The ultrasound scan said a bit of bursitis but the rotator cuff are ok. The Physiotherapist treated the shoulder blade pain with heavy massage for the knotted up spasming muscles under the left shoulder blade. That seemed to help to an some degree but there was still burning and weakness in the left upper arm with areas of muscle around the shoulder blade very tender to touch. Because the pain was felt in the left shoulder including tender to the touch I assumed it was the shoulder that was the problem...as did the Physiotherapist. The pain did briefly switch to the right shoulder blade which was strange but generally settled back into the left side but still switches occasionally.

But about a week later I was doing a bit of overhead work when the neck suddenly became hot and painful, dreadful burning pain in my neck and upper shoulders. It is worth noting that I had never had a neck problem before this in spite of some lower back issues years earlier.
Now the neck hurt terribly and sleeping was difficult, I asked my Doctor for a ct scan thinking it may be a disc or something. The scan result showed "no evidence of central canal stenosis but moderate neural foraminal cervical stenosis at left c3/c4 level which could potentially affect the c4 nerve root" no disc bulges or herniations reported. My doctor said it needs long term management, but lots of people have it but are often asymptomatic. He also advised strongly against any SURGERY to correct the Stenosis, too risky!

The physiotherapist had previously been applying heavy massage to my neck (which really helped for a while) and shoulder areas wasn't too concerned, but after reading the scan result didn't do anymore hands on massage, instead she gave me stretching exercises to do with a focus on nerve sliding stretches.
I have noticed that sometimes this "new" neck pain was terrible but other times barely noticeable depending on my stress levels and activities at the time. While most of the burning pain is felt in the muscles behind my neck and upper shoulders there is also some referred pain into the left arm with some numbness in little and ring finger that comes and goes, the arm pain moves around a bit but probably still on the course of as nerve.

It's strange because the scan says c3/c4 nerve root, but the numb little and ring fingers aren't even served by that nerve root! Being in such a depressed state for several months because of the pain in my thumbs from arthritis I was in no way prepared for such a scary diagnosis as cervical foramen stenosis!

If you google it the results are terrifying...degenerative with worsening pain, loss of arm strength with possible paralysis.....sounds like a death sentence for something that come out of nowhere after moving some wheelie bins differently to how I used to move them.
I know doom scrolling isn't good, but while "Doctor Google" says you can't do this and can't do that, it's a severe disability, you may not be able to work anymore, shouldn't walk far, can't ride a motorcycle anymore, it even says that a c4 nerve root can refer pain into the lower legs (which doesn't make sense to me).

But my physio says I can return to my workouts (pec deck and tricep pushdowns) as long as I start lighter and gradually build up, she also said it's really common and not to worry too much, I can do pretty much anything as long as I am not lifting too heavy and try and avoid overhead work which will aggravate it.
I think it was an injury from moving bins but she says it has probably been there for years and would have happened anyway and the bins were just something you were doing at the time when it became symptomatic...."you could have been sitting on the couch watching tv when it happened". I do feel that they are "treating" the x-ray, rather than the patient!

I have a history of lower back problems following an injury in the 1994 which responded very well to Dr Sarno's 'healing back pain' book even after years of pain. I had numb or burning toes sciatica both legs etc (normal ct scans) which pretty much resolved when I realised that my depression and mental state was more than likely the cause after discovering TMS and Dr Sarno's book.
I wonder how much of this new neck pain problem is TMS in spite of the physical findings? It is a scary diagnosis...am I officially disabled as of 3 weeks ago when prior to that my only problem was my arthritic thumbs? I think a degree of pain is probably partially TMS with many people.

At present I am living daily in total fear of eminent debilitating, chronic worsening pain.
Do I wrap myself in cotton wool make sure I don't trip on a step and sever the C4 nerve and lose the use of my left arm? or carry on like nothing has happened?

Necks and spinal chords are really scary, I hate living like this! The prognosis for spinal stenosis is dreadful!
And guess what.. I am now getting gripping pains in my left and right (but mostly left) calves and ankles....because I read that C4 nerve root level can radiate pain to the lower legs....and I've hardly felt a thing from the painful thumbs that have plagued me since August...this Brain of mine is a big problem!!!

 

Dr David Hanscom is a back specialist who stopped his own back pain with mind/body work. He is interviewed on this website and says this about spinal stenosis https://www.lin.health/insights/dr-david-hanscom-spine-surgery-back-pain-relief-expert (Dr. David Hanscom on Spine Surgery & Science-Backed Pain Relief | Lin Health):

"I have deep expertise in spine surgery and structural problems but my current interest has gravitated towards the physiology of chronic disease. It turns out that we're doing a lot of spine surgery on anxiety. I will tell you unequivocally that as people age, their discs dry up, they lose water content and they degenerate. So, people develop degeneration, bone spurs, ruptured disc, herniated disc, arthritis, spinal stenosis, and none of those have been shown to cause back pain - none of them. The correct term is, “normally ageing spine".”

At the bottom of the webpage are links to Dr Hanscom's resources, his websites and books.

 

Thank you so much for the l

Thanks so much for that link. Great reading and indeed astonishing!