Ruptured disk in neck

I am towards the end of my second year without any treatment for my ruptured disck (C5). It is from a work injury and I am still fighting with their insurance company for coverage. My symptoms are very bad headachs, tingling, pain and coldness in arm, shoulderblade pain, upper back pain, numbness and pain in thumb, blurred vision when I have the heardachs, and loss of stregth in the arm. I am worried about perminante damage of the nerves what else might I expect?

[caregiver222]

Disc damage often becomes a workman's compensation issue because the pain develops months after the injury and there is often no report of the specific incident. Furethermore the injuries are cumulative, and often involve an arthritic co-factoer.

It helps to have a good workman's compensation attorney, but the speciality does not attract the best or the brightest.

Unfortunately, every time you tell a physician "I feel better" the insurance company uses such a statement to deny a claim. This puts the patient in the unfortunate position of fibbing in order to obtain optimal coverage.

The discs are not very vascular and sometimes they can return to a semblance of normality, and sometimes they cannot.

A program of physical therapy and axial traction plus anti-inflammatories sometimes helps. If not there is a surgical option.

You have my sympathies.

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Hi, Thank you for your question. A multi-disciplinary approach includes: Immobilization using a collar or braces; Physical therapy and manipulation (chiropractic) can also be useful in decreasing muscle spasms that can contribute to your pain symptoms. Medications include painkillers like NSAIDs, and muscle relaxants. Surgical Treatment (of removing bony spurs/osteophytes or removal of intervertebral disc) comes into picture when treatment by non-surgical procedures fails. Hope this helps.