daily nerve pain

my husband fell off a ladder 41/2  years ago,  3 1/2 years ago he underwent surgery to put in a BAC cage between two vertabrae in his neck..  Since then and before then he has suffered nerve pain that runs from his neck all the way down to his left hand with numbness.  Is there any help out there,  I am very worried about him, he was taking a pain killer for some relief but has since stopped using them for fear of becoming addicted!   HELP!


This discussion is related to Is there any treatment for nerve pain.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Pain killers suppress symptoms. They do not cure the disease. Your husband probably has injured the intervertebral discs. The discs may be protruding and pressing on the cord or the nerve roots. If needed, a revision surgery may need to be done.

Regards

[brookefrances]

I have artificial hips. The left hip has been replaced twice, the second time was 5 years ago. Unfortunately, that hip still dislocates and the last time it did, the ortheopedic surgeon in ER vigorously smashed my femur head through the thigh and hip areas for 4 hours when attempting to reduce it. After that dislocation, I was bruised from the SI up to the neck. Worse, I felt extensive burning and muscle aching and fatiguing in my lower butt and upper thigh when walking. Even with 2 -3 PT sessions and hours of home PT weekly for 4 years, I still get signifiant pain. Can anything be done to let me walk in comfort again?  

[brookefrances]

I have artificial hips. The left hip has been replaced twice, the second time was 5 years ago. Unfortunately, that hip still dislocates and the last time it did, the ortheopedic surgeon in ER vigorously smashed my femur head through the thigh and hip areas for 4 hours when attempting to reduce it. After that dislocation, I was bruised from the SI up to the neck. Worse, I felt extensive burning and muscle aching and fatiguing in my lower butt and upper thigh when walking. Even with 2 -3 PT sessions and hours of home PT weekly for 4 years, I still get signifiant pain. Can anything be done to let me walk in comfort again?