neck pain

[Zedik]

So I have had significant neck pain for about a year, i can pinpoint it back to doing pull ups cause the next day i was unable to move. Once it got better I just lived with it and worked out as best as I could. Doctors refused to give me an MRI, they said it was just a pulled muscle becuase there was no pain down my arms.

Long story short I re-aggrevated it and finally got an MRI after 13 months in pain. They found two herniated discs in my neck and some narrowing of the cord and of the nerve root going into my left arm. Oh and now I have numbness in my arm too.

Has anyone dealt with this before and what treatments worked for you? What kind of timeline did it take to recover? This is so frustrating and I am just trying to get a feel of what to expect. Thanks for your help.

[optionsdude]

Man I feel your pain. Has the shooting pain from your neck all the way down to your hand started yet? Mine started out with neck and trap pain then some tingling in my left hand. Did some PT and suffered through it for a little over a year. Then the excruciating pain from the base of my neck started shooting down into my hand. It was so bad I can't even explain it. Dr put me on neurontin first cancelled most of the pain but really messed my head up. Depression, mood swings, other feelings are normal side effects. I just switched to lyrica about 2 or 3 weeks ago. This was better but still get on a downward spiral if I get a negative thought and dwell on it. I have two discs that are basically gone and one thats so so. They are going to fuse my C7-T1 vert.s and give me a disc replacement between C5-C6. Not trying to be a downer but you could be in for something like this or risk permanent nerve damage which means whacko meds or pain for the rest of your life. I am going under the knife on the 26th. I am not saying go out and get surgery by any means, but if nothing else works and there is nerve root impingement you could face permanent nerve damage.

[brokendown]

See if the Doc will let you try Prednisone thats what I use, I have bulging and herniated disks in my neck that cause arm pain and headaches(migraines)

Optionsdude

I have had some problems mentally at times , getting pissed off and depressed, the Prednisone helps with that too I am not sure why, but my thought is your neck is causing you head pain, its either the tension doing it or the stiffness is causing a change in the blood flow to the brain.

My problem gets worse if I raise my head upwards , of course you could be completely different

[F4iGuy]

I get muscle strain at the base of my neck as a result of whiplash injury. I don't know if it would be appropriate for you but seeing a chiropractor helps.

[optionsdude]

Brokendown when I started getting the shooting pain I did cortisone shots and the medrol dosepak (methylprednisolone). This did absolutely nothing the neurontin did take most of the pain away but is only masking the problem and possibly causing mental damage. I finally had my surgery last week first 2 days were rough opiates make me puke. The anti nausea meds did not help. But that pain pump they give you after you wake up was something else, I felt no pain but the sore throat and could barely swallow water. Released after 2 days and nights in the hospital. No collar or brace. I had a fusion at c7 t1 and a disc replaced between c5-c6. So far so good been home 4 days and was instructed to take it easy try not to lift anything over 10-15lbs. Walk for 15 min intervals as many as I can. PT guy said I could step it up to stationary bike in 2-3 weeks and do walking lunges then as well. F4iguy I was seeing a great chiropractor and when she saw my MRI even she said I would need surgery. I did get temporary relief from chiropractic but even chiropractic cannot fix bad nerve impingement. I can't say the surgery was all peaches and cream hell yes it hurt but not as bad as I thought. Has been getting better everyday. Typing like this takes me forever because I have to take breaks when my neck tightens up.

[brokendown]

I hope you recover quickly optionsdude , everyday should get better for you. Hang in there and do as the Doc says

[Zedik]

I went to see the ortho doc on May 10th. He scheduled me for surgery the next day. He said since it had been a year already and PT didnt work that nothing was going to fix it, usually they dry up after a while but not the case for me. Anyway, I got my c3 and c4 fused, I was really miserable for about a week. I was able to do some light cardio after 10 days post op. I guess I am about 3 weeks now, have been doing light lifting, basically doing only my warm up weight so I dont feel like a bum not being in the gym. My post op pain is gone but the original symptoms are still there, pain in my neck radiating to the left side, no arm numbness or weakness. I guess it will take some time for the nerve to heal. I am keeping a positive attitude, shit if anything I will still be in pain and I will just get used to it, but you can bet I will lay off the 365lb shrugs forever.

[brokendown]

I was always been glad my pain was in the right arm, I probably would have thought I was having a heart attack if it was in my left side.

If you have carpel tunnel surgery with bad nerve damage I think they say it will take a month to heal each inch of nerve damage..10 inches = 10 months. Hang in there things should slowly improve.

[yannick35]

After surgery look into prolotherapy to strenghten the ligaments and tendons. I went to a chiro for a year and a half and that got me so much worst. Now i have been getting prolotherapy treatments for 2 years once or twice per month and after 9 years of pain i am so much better.