degenerative disc disease

My MRI shows bulging discs in C4-5, 6-7, c7-t1.  I have numbness, tingling and pretty much continuous pain radiating from the right side of my neck down my right underarm, elbow and hand. My orthopedist does not recommend surgery at this time but the pain and loss of use of my right little finger due to numbness is increasing  What should I do?

[tippytoes71]

I would say to get a 2nd opinion!!! Of course they're going to look at the degree of the bulging discs before they determine surgery & or what's causing the nerve pain. But the numbness, tingling & radiating pain is definately "nerve pain". Now you have to find a specialist (Neurologist, Neurosurgeon, etc) that's willing to look & find out what's compressing the nerves (ie: disc material, narrowing of the spinal canal or foramina, etc) I know nothing about this part of the spine though as all of my problems are in my lumbar spine. I've had nerve pain for the past 26 months now & I'm losing hope that it'll ever go away. & even with the surgery (partial left laminectomy & micro lumbrar disectomy to remove the disc matter that was laying on the nerves that go to my left leg) I STILL have the nerve pain, but I also waited for 14 months to have the surgery, which has caused permanent nerve damage. BUT if I had waited much longer I could've ended up with a lot more permanent damage (including drop foot) & I'm lucky the permanent damage isn't worse considering how long I did wait. I definately wouldn't wait too long to get that 2nd opinion. You also mentioned "degenerative disc disease" without saying anything about it in your message??? Do you know which disease it is? ALL a Dr or specialist will say about it is that "it's a normal part of the aging process but can also be seen in younger people with damage or a lot of 'wear & tear' to the spine".
Good luck.