Herniated Disc C6/C7 - Surgery?

[magaton]

Well, i did it, herniated disc at C6/C7 last Monday Night in the gym doing DB Military Press. I spent 9 hrs in ER Room having muscle spasms from the nerve being pinched. They gave me a total of 8cc's of morhpine and 4 muscle relaxes to give me some relief. I'm now on Vicodine and muscle relaxers every 4 hours. Lots of pain in left arm from pinched nerve.

After i got the MRI on Saturday i was referred to a neurosurgeon. I actually have 7 bulging disc and 1 herniated.

The neuro says surgery is needed. Remove the disc and fuse the verts.

Has anyone gone through this and continued lifting with good results?

Thanks for any replies!

[rissinite]

You might want to read up on cervical disc arthroplasty. Not sure what your surgeon's belief is but if you're young this would likely be a better option for you than a fusion which is going to put stress on the adjacent levels leading to breakdown over time of those "buldging" discs as well. Ask him about his beliefs and read up on the Medtronic "Prestige" cervical disc and Synthes Pro-Disc C; both are great options

[FireGuy]

I had my C6-C7 fused about 8 years ago. Replaced the disk with bone and fastened with a metal plate. Had it done in the morning, left the hospital that evening and missed a total of 4 days of work. Was back in the gym doing cardio almost immediately and lifting heavy again in a few months. Worst problem was a nagging sore throat from being intubated and god forbid you have to sneeze for a few weeks afterwards.

[bass]

sorry to hear it. three people i know did the surgery and none of them had any good results, and one of them got paralyzed from the chest down, but very rare case, he had an infection in the spine right after the surgery. don't mean to scare you but my wife has the same thing and they all said to her they would have been better off just living with the pain. the one who got paralyzed had his fused three times, and the one who had the disc replacements is doing much beter but he still goes once a year to get his nerves laser burned because they keep growing back. its way to complicated for me to explain in details. i really hope you get a good surgeon and get you back on your feet. Try not to get fused because you’ll keep going back…

[Kratos]

you'll do fine if you have the surgery

[whiteowl]

Yes...i had C6/C7 done. Removed disc, inserted cadever bone and screwed titanium plate to 6& 7 to maintain spacing. Wish i had done it 5 years earlier except i may not have had the surgeon i ended up with. Best decision i ever made physically.

[stevey_6t9]

Yes...i had C6/C7 done. Removed disc, inserted cadever bone and screwed titanium plate to 6& 7 to maintain spacing. Wish i had done it 5 years earlier except i may not have had the surgeon i ended up with. Best decision i ever made physically.

the whole cadaver bone replacement scares me... did you require immunosuppressant drugs after the op.

[rissinite]

Most surgeons nowadays don't use cadaver bone, they use a synthetic spacer made of PEEK (surgical grade plastic) and stuff the spacer with your own bone or bone filler.

1 level fusions have almost a 99% success rate, but since you're young there are many surgeons that believe a disc replacement will slow down the "aging" of your cervical spine that is bound to occur post-fusion.

[FireGuy]

the whole cadaver bone replacement scares me... did you require immunosuppressant drugs after the op.

You have the option of using your own bone material. They usually take it from your hip area. Everyone who I have spoke with said the hip took them longer to recover from than the neck.

[Kratos]

Most surgeons nowadays don't use cadaver bone, they use a synthetic spacer made of PEEK (surgical grade plastic) and stuff the spacer with your own bone or bone filler.

1 level fusions have almost a 99% success rate, but since you're young there are many surgeons that believe a disc replacement will slow down the "aging" of your cervical spine that is bound to occur post-fusion.

imo, the cadaver bones were the way to go
there was never an instance of hiv transmission in the US

the only reason they switched was
#1 Medtronic's bone bank stealing peoples bones was bad PR for the tissue bank industry.
#2 the medical device companies make a lot more money on the peek implants then on bone, also bone is a pain in the ass to keep track of, sizes get back ordered and it can expire, so the device companies push it for their own reasons.

[Kratos]

did you require immunosuppressant drugs after the op.

no, that's just crazy
it becomes your own bone, it just acts as a scafold

[whiteowl]

Copy on Krattos. They can take it from your hip but then you have two surgeries to recover from. Mine was 7 years ago..they may have a syntheic replacement now.

[lovbyts]

Update, are you doing the surgery or not? Did you do it? How did things go? I had threads where people dont follow up. lol

[kateross]

My patients herniated their discs doing Military Press too. If you decide Herniated Disc Surgery I recommend to do it with Laser.

_______________________
Herniated Disc Surgery