C4-5 disk bulge

Hi - I feel like I'm falling apart.  I've got chest pains, lower back pain, and right arm pain referral pain.  Just curious, 12 years ago, I had a cervical fusion of C5-6-7.  There was also a bulge at C4-5, but the neurosurgeon didn't want to do that level as well, since it wasn't really bad.  He had suggested back then that it may get worse because of the added strain of the fused vertebrae.  Off and on, I've had referral pain down my right arm just above the elbow (the same arm that had the initial problems, only different location).  I have learned to try to alleviate any tensions that might be causing it to flare up.  No biggie.  You learn to live with it.  But nearly a year ago, I started with chest pains, angina most likely, but a cardiologist told me that the chest pains may be coming from my neck.

My question is... is it possible for mid sternum chest pain/pressure to be originating from cervical nerve impingement, and if so, what level might it be?

Thanks

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Such a pain is rare to occur due to nerve impingement. But it is not impossible to have pain in the mid sternal area.

To have an idea of the level of the vertebra, you can take the nipple as the landmark. The nerve supply at the nipple area is from the T8 segment.

Regards