How serious are bulging discs?

[jlcluvsjar]

I slipped and feel at work a little over a year ago.I smashed the back of my head off a wooden step and had to get staples in my skull to stop the bleeding.I had a concusion and then was diagnosed with post concusion syndrome. I had and an contiunue to have severe headaches( about 3x a week). About a month after the accident I started noticing neck pain, my neuroligist and I both thought it was related to the headaches, but he ordered mri of head and neck , workmans comp kept refusing to pay for diagnostic tests until my dr really got on them and then I had to see their dr, they then agreed to pay for the mri. I just got the results I have bulging discs from c2-c6. I have been in bed with extreme neck pain where it even hurts to swallow.Both shoulders are numb, my jaw feels numb( which is freaking me out bc I have never had this feeling before), my fingers and arm are numb on left side. I have tried every preventative prescription medication known, I take a muscle relaxer before bed every night( im supposed to take 3 a day but I have 2 little kids and go to school and they make me fall asleep), I am prescribed percocet for pain every 2 or 3 days which usally helps but since friday has only taken the edge off( another reason I am freaking out , why isnt it working at all?) i had to take 1 1/2 to be able to get up and get my son out of his crib. my dr isnt in and Im waiting for a call back bc i am in such extreme pain and cant sleep. Could the bulging discs be causing all this? how do you fix this disc problem? whats the difference between herniated and bulging? I had the mri about a month and a half ago and just got the results, the pain has been here for a year though, Could there be more damage being done bc I didnt know there was a problem in there?

[IamInAgony]

I have a C5-6 compression with pinched nerve and spinal cord is restricted. My doctor told me I need surgery and referred to to see a Neurosurgeon. I also have 2 bulging discs in my lumbar spine. It is very painful and I have pain going down my left arm and left leg.

If you have not been referred to a neurosurgeon for a consultation, I suggest you ask to be.
If your doctor isn't helpful, I suggest you go see a different doctor for a second opinion. Good luck. I understand part of the pain you are going through. I hardly sleep through the night and take pain pills right before bed.

[christine9295]

Oh and the wierd numbness, I was experiencing that too.. and it is not normal, I know that from my surgeon telling me that you could actually lose feeling in certain parts of the body permanatley, it's important and you have little kids that depend on you for their care.

[christine9295]

Well I can tell you about a year ago I started having horrible pain in my neck followed by my right arm going numb and after getting an mri, it showed buldging and degeneritive disks and they pretty much scheduled me for surgery right away and did repairs between C4 and C6, because they feared that I would lose complete feeling in my right side, since then I have been in worse pain, but the arm numbness is gone, however I would seek a second opinion if possible, and be persistant, because if you are taking prescription pain meds and it isn't really helping there is an underlying condition (unless your like me and naturally tolerant to medications of any kind) especially if the pain is getting worse you don't want to end up with a lifetime of pain because your doctors weren't vigilant in your care. I have learned through this ordeal I have gone through when it comes to doctors you have to be persistant, I am lucky now to have a great doctor but I had to go through a lot to get the care I needed. good luck and keep posting and let us know how you are doing, hope this was helpful.