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Nzoner's Game Room>Herniated disc in neck...
penguinz 08:14 PM 03-02-2022
Anyone ever have to deal with this?

Causing nerve to get pinched and left arm is all but paralyzed and throbbing with insane amount of pain.

Already getting atrophied. Over an inch in circumference lost already.

MRI tomorrow and hopefully surgery or something to fix soon.
[Reply]
Skyy God 09:09 AM 03-03-2022
Probs herniated C5-6 with left nerve root impingement.

Push to just do ESIs, skip PT, and go straight to surgery.
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penguinz 09:12 AM 03-03-2022
Originally Posted by Chiefnj2:
What's your age range 30's, 40's, 50's?

Depending on your age, they may want you to try PT and injections first. The epidural injections are typically done in sets of three. My non-medical advice is that if the first injection does nothing, don't bother with the other two.

If you google "cervical nerve distribution" you will get lots of pretty diagrams on how the nerves distribute and you can figure out on your own which level is affected. You mentioned your arm, but not your fingers, so it's likely the C5 root.

Feel better.
When it is at its worst it is in my fingers. 47 years young.

I just had a cortisone shot in my AC joint on the same side a week before all this happened. That pain is starting to come back as well.

Personally I will go straight to the surgery if the ortho will do it. I hate stop gap measures for anything. Even if the injection works and keep it under control for 10 years I would rather have the surgery now. Why just delay more pain and do it when older and recovery will be more work.
[Reply]
penguinz 09:14 AM 03-03-2022
Originally Posted by Cave Johnson:
Probs herniated C5-6 with left nerve root impingement.

Push to just do ESIs, skip PT, and go straight to surgery.
From the initial visit and x-ray he said it looks like C7-T1 which he said is not common. There was so much inflammation though that he didn't want to say for sure it was that joint and not C6-C7.

Inflammation is down quite a bit now and getting MRI today.
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penguinz 09:17 AM 03-03-2022
Also want to just get it over and done with ASAP as we have already booked and paid for family vacation to Glacier in June so want to be as recovered as possible. Would not be a fun drive if in discomfort from recovery.
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J Diddy 09:19 AM 03-03-2022
I’ve got one in neck and one in lower back. Lower back was scheduled to have surgery but was canceled because of my heart. Pain sucks and led me to apply for disability. Medical marijuana has done wonders.
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Reroka 09:32 AM 03-03-2022
Originally Posted by stonedstooge:
Does the DEA harass you? I go to a pain clinic in a large city hospital and the DEA virtually runs it with an iron fist.

Had a cage installed at C5-C6 in 1999 and it controlled that area, but threw off the alignment of my spine above and below that point.

Now I've lost the fine motor skills in my right fingers (can't write and difficulty typing nor throw a ball anymore) and they want to run 2 wires up my back into my neck and try to shock the nerve. They implant a rechargeable battery pack in your lower back to provide the stimulus
No one hounds me.
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Skyy God 09:39 AM 03-03-2022
Originally Posted by penguinz:
From the initial visit and x-ray he said it looks like C7-T1 which he said is not common. There was so much inflammation though that he didn't want to say for sure it was that joint and not C6-C7.

Inflammation is down quite a bit now and getting MRI today.
T-spine is a little tricky.

Just be glad it’s not C2.
[Reply]
Chiefnj2 09:43 AM 03-03-2022
Originally Posted by penguinz:
When it is at its worst it is in my fingers. 47 years young.

I just had a cortisone shot in my AC joint on the same side a week before all this happened. That pain is starting to come back as well.

Personally I will go straight to the surgery if the ortho will do it. I hate stop gap measures for anything. Even if the injection works and keep it under control for 10 years I would rather have the surgery now. Why just delay more pain and do it when older and recovery will be more work.
On the issue of why delay, a fusion at one level will stress the adjacent levels. You have two bones that used to have movement between them that are now fused together. The surrounding levels have to compensate which can hasten their degeneration, and which in turn could lead to another surgery in the future. It's a bigger problem with the lumbar spine than the cervical spine, but it isn't uncommon.
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blake5676 09:51 AM 03-03-2022
Chiropractor here. There's a difference between a herniated and bulging disc, but if you're asking my two cents I'm much more inclined to recommend fusion surgery in the neck than the lower back. I'd say 80-90% of my pts with cervical fusions are successful to very successful. There's just less weight bearing stress in the neck than the lumbar spine so anatomy is in your favor there.

ESI's are a 50/50 proposition for most. And a stopgap at best if you have a weakened disc and any significant degenerative change/stenosis. Same with chiro and/or PT. None of those options are permanent fixes. I suppose neither is surgery which does come with some drawbacks, ie ROM loss, more stress on joints above and below fusion, etc. But as far as pain relief and overall favorable outcome, I'd push for the surgery.

All that being said, it sounds like you've only had an x-ray thus far. You (your doctor) can make an educated guess on what's going on based on dermatomal distribution of pain as well as degenerative change on x-ray, but they're just guessing without actually having an MRI. You don't see nerves and discs on plain films and you generally don't see inflammation either. You'll know a lot more about best option after those results.
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Coochie liquor 10:36 AM 03-03-2022
Damn bro, hate to hear that. Here’s to a good surgery, and fast recovery. Bless up!!
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scho63 10:48 AM 03-03-2022
Originally Posted by penguinz:
The pain is insane. Worse than when I had pancreatitis and not even close.
No shit. I had pancreatitis once back in 2012 and it was the most excruciating pain I ever felt. Much worse than my gout attacks.
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DJ's left nut 10:53 AM 03-03-2022
I have a bulging C7 that I can largely manage. But yeah, when it gets too inflamed and that disc sits in between the vertebra and gets everything tense, it's just agony. Can't move your head anywhere and pain will radiate down both sides. With mine it can sometimes 'slip' to the left, right or center. When it's either side, I can typically get through it alright. But man, when it slips straight out the back, it just locks everything up, including my upper back.

I feel ya, dude. To have that level of pain constantly would be brutal. My orthos have all given me the same advice - management and making sure not to do things that force it out of alignment. I've gotten to where I'm even aware of what I do with my head when I yawn because tensing those neck muscles during a yawn and then turning my head will absolutely lock all that shit up. After awhile it became second nature so I don't deal with it nearly as often as I did in my 20s and early 30s.

But it sucks when it goes out and if the doc says surgery is a good idea, it's hard to argue otherwise. It's just such a debilitating spot to have pain because it impacts everything in your body from that point down.
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DJ's left nut 10:56 AM 03-03-2022
Originally Posted by penguinz:
When it is at its worst it is in my fingers. 47 years young.

I just had a cortisone shot in my AC joint on the same side a week before all this happened. That pain is starting to come back as well.

Personally I will go straight to the surgery if the ortho will do it. I hate stop gap measures for anything. Even if the injection works and keep it under control for 10 years I would rather have the surgery now. Why just delay more pain and do it when older and recovery will be more work.
My feeling on surgery has always been to look at it as a last resort.

Because there's just nowhere else to go at that point. And rarely is surgery a permanent fix. Little stuff like a micro discectomy don't worry me much because there are still fallbacks from there. But man, if you're talking about fusion, there's just nothing left to do after that and if in 10 years you're looking at problems starting to re-emerge, you don't have another option available.

Baby steps when it comes to cutting on your body, man. Leave yourself another lever to pull as you age as often as you can.
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Hog's Gone Fishin 10:58 AM 03-03-2022
I got an erection so big it destroyed my whole vertebrae / CP
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DJ's left nut 11:04 AM 03-03-2022
Originally Posted by Hog's Gone Fishin:
I got an erection so big it destroyed my whole vertebrae / CP
I got one so big it destroyed my wife's vertebra.

But hey man, you do you.
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