level 2 acdf surgery,chiropractic manipulation damage

[curlman]

Thank you for offering your service,sometimes it's hard to get any answers.I have recently had 2 acdf surgerys 6 months apart,c-6 to c-7 in Nov.09 and c-5 to c-6 in June 2010.My first surgery and recovery went very well,I was progressing through phys therapy pretty good and my dr. decided to send me to a work hardening program to prepare me physically for my return to work(const/ land surveyor).This is where my story gets very interesting,while at the therapy facility I was having difficulty performing the upper body exercises because of neck and upper-body soreness.So the head phys.therapist/MTC offered to "help me out",he then performed 3 seperate chiropractic manipulations on my neck(without even consulting me on what he was about to do),first he popped my mid-back,he then laid me on a table and proceeded to "decompress my spine" by pulling my head outward and twisted my neck in each direction several times(chin to the sky),he then pushed my chin to my chest and pushed extremely hard on each vertebrea disc starting at c-1 & ending at c-7.This caused me unbelievable pain and ultimately resulted in destroying my c-5 disc.My surgeon had to go back in and repair the damage,he told me that there were pieces floating around within my spinal column and it may have caused unknown future damage.I am currently having alot of difficulty recovering,I am having migrain like headaches about twice a week and my neck hurts and aches all the time,my rt arm doesn't work like it used to,I can't rotate my rt arm from palm down to palm up(I can rotate it about half way),it causes severe pain in my elbow and wrist.When I try to force it(with my other hand) to turn over it hurts my wrist,elbow and shoulder.My rt. arm (and left arm)become fatigued very fast and cramp after doing simple tasks.I have tried all the exercises, I have had an emg study,ct,and new mri all were negative.My question is, do you think that what the therapist did to me could have done permanent damage to my spinal cord and to the nerves,my dr. believes this is almost certain. My dr. has decided to send me to an orthopedic specialist for my arm.I'm really tired of the tests,any help or advice would be very appreciated.And for anyone having acdf surgery,never let a non-qualified therapist perform any type of neck manipulations on you at all ! Thank you for your time....

[curlman]

Thanks for listening, no the therapist wasn't a licensed chiropractor.His/her title is PT/MTC(physical therapist/manual therapy certification).I've found out that people can get this certification over the internet! Far from being a licensed chiropractor,and pretty scary if you ask me. I've also found out that the therapist should have discussed the procedure in detail with me before they were performed. He/she should have gotten my CONSENT,and we should have discussed the  benefits vs. the dangers,and the dangers of cervical spine manipulation (even to a healthy person) are real and extremely under-reported acording to recent studies. I just hope that no one else out there lets a chiropractor or therapist perform any type of unecessarry manipulations or harmful treatments on their cervical region! And you are right, no amount of money can return me to the way I was before and it won't take away my pain, but maybe I have a strong legal case and maybe it will help my family recover from this horrific event.When someone loses their career and everything else is in jeopardy that you've worked for,for years, it makes a huge impact and totally alters ones life.I hope that others out there listen to my words, and never hesitate to question your physician. Any advise would be much appreciated...Thanks YALL!

[allmymarbles]

I wonder if your physical therapist was licensed to act as a chiropractor. Can you sue him? That won't help your bodily injuries, but will at least allow you to pay for the damage. In any case, when there is actual damage to the spinal column this does not call for chiropractic adjustments, which are normally reserved for dislocations.

I am really sorry that you have suffered at the hands of this person.