best treatment for c-spine condition

[Judyadd]

Background-severe head/neck/face injury 1996 (32 y/o female) via assault-includes totally severed left carotid artery,removal of saliva gland,severed facial muscles et al; required reconstructive surgery- Present condition 2004 (43 y/o female)-MRI Impression C-spine-Herniation c5-6/c6-7 left lateral in location with stenosis in the AP diameter & encroachment upon foramina left side,small bulge c3-4. degenerative changes identified with narrowing of disc spaces at c-56 c6-7. Increased signal within bone marrow compatible with degenerative changes - Symptoms include: chronic headache; moderate pain behind left shoulder blade radiate deep in armpit; tingly,numbing left arm to fingers causing hand to curl; mispronounce words; difficulty swallowing and concentration; feeling of something in throat; problematic sleeping-muscle relaxers,anaprox prescribed- no relief after 6 weeks. Questions(s): What does increased signal w/in bone marrow mean? what is AP diameter? What wold be best treatment eg. type of exercise? effective Rx? manipulation? Epidural? other? How can I protect this condition from worsening? Any advice greatly appreciated, I have no insurance. Judyadd

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-CS]

1) The increased signal within the bone marrow simply means that the marrow is being lost due to degenerative changes

2) AP diameter is the distance from the front to the back of the spinal canal

3)All of your symptoms are not explained by your spinal problem. I would recommend seeing a neurologist who can help you sort through these problems. Without seeing you I could not recommend a specific treatment.

Good luck

[Qhris]

I feel badly that you have to go through this without medical coverage. I noticed that you are a victim of assault, perhaps you can get medical help through social services in the state that you live in. Try a victims of crime organization, or the social security department and see if they can be of assistance. Perhaps you can get disability coverage if the pain and suffering has made you inable to work.  

Regarding the pain medication, what they have prescribed for you is for mild pain, I believe you can even buy this over the counter in the form of Aleve. If your pain isn't being relieved, you may need a narcotic which you will need to request.  If the doctors won't prescribe it then you can buy it legally online but you will need to fax your medical records to the online physician who will call in a stronger prescription for you, and usually with a couple refills.  Good luck to you and I wish you well. -CM

[caclark]

I empathise with you. I am 1 year post op from C-5 C-6 ACDF with plating for ruptered disc and still have pain. Narcotics did not work for long term pain managment for me. Also I was very concerned with taking any type of narcotic long term.What has given me some relief is a drug called Neurontin. It does not work for everyone and does have some side effects but it is not a narcotic and said to be non addictive if not taken over an extremly long period of time. There are many web sites so you should be able to research. Unfortunatly it is not cheap. I would strongly recomend discussing with your doctor. Also, I too could not sleep due to pain which caused me to be in even more pain until my doctor finally prescribed a sleep aid which also helped. Just wish my doctor would have listened to me earlier, just kept prescribing narcotics even though I told him they were not working. Would have saved me many many months of constant pain.  Good luck.

[AJ1969]

qhris is right. Most states have some sort of Crime Victim's Compensation now.   If no one has told you about it, I suggest asking either the D.A. or the Crime Victim's coordinator. I know we have it in Texas.