hernitated disc in c4-c5 and c5-c6

I have  a herniated disc in c4&c5 and c5 & c6. I had my MRI done and come to find out the c4-c5 disc is buldging on both right and left side a 'pinching' my spinal cord. I went for psychical therepy for 1st time today and left in tears so the dr refered me to surgon. I  have numbness in both arms terrible headaches and times were i cant hold my head up and the list goes on. i have tried chiropratic care and it takes pain away for maybe a day, pain meds,& the psyical therepy. Someone suggested cotozone shots but going to see surgon end of week. Very scared and dont know what to do. does anyone have any suggestions on what to do or just go right to surgery? any suggestions will be very much appriciated please and thank you.

[toolmaker]

I think surgery should be considered as the last resort.

[Kalvin]

I feel for you, I've been through the whole neck thing myself, matter of fact I'm still going through it. And I Know, those headaches are awful. Whether or not they want to do surgery right away really depends on how severe your condition is. If you have a severe impingement of the spinal cord, they need to get in there and fix it so you don't have any permanent damage. If its not, they might just want to treat you conservatively for awhile.

I have personally never tried the injections, but I know they have helped a lot of people. Talk to your Doctor about them. Its kind of encouraging that you said that you felt better for a day or so after seeing the Chiropractor, because when I was at my worse, nothing helped. Maybe if they can get your pain under control, you can tolerate some gentle Physical Therapy. Anyway, Take Care and let us know whats going on.

[skmedlin27703]

I have had cortizone injections and nerve blocks and such... the relief is very temporary if at all... the last injection caused fluid to leak from my disc and it caused more pain than I had to begin with.  My advice is to hear the doctor out and research anything that is expressed as an option to you... and most importantly ask questions! If you don't understand or think there is something different you can try that the doctor doesn't mention... ASK!  Good luck!

[CityGirl35]

Hi
I feel your pain, I have c5/c6 herniation that cause really severe headaches, my neurologist, said it was a mild herniation that shouldnt cause me much pain, but it does the headaches knock me down for 2-3 days, I get chills, violently ill , and blurred vision, and numbness in parts of my face. I take torodol and haved tried imitrex , this only takes the edge off the pain, and I sometimes get shoulder and lower arm pain. The headaches a brutal. Do you expierience these symptoms? If so what did the Dr. do for you? Im desperate to try and get back to a normal life. I also have a s1/l5 moderate herniation that causes sciatica, any bit of advice would be greatly appreciated! Like you I tried traction physio but had to stop because the symptoms got worse.

Thank you

[breezilyfl]

I went through similar pain as everyone has mentioned. I was so bad I couldnt use my left arm at all and the pain was beyond belief. I had a cervical fusion the end of Januray and Im doing ok. Still have some numbness and pain but it will either get better or the nerve is damaged. Im going to PT because of the left over pain and my muscles in my neck and shoulders have been wacky since the surgery. I wish you the best!