pain and numbness getting worse

  Dear Dr.
  I was injured five months ago. Had MRI there is a herniated disc at c5-6.
  The Drs. have  told me that it is degenerative. I was also injured about a year
  year ago in the same area of the upper back and was diagnosed as contusion
  of the back. My concern is could the herniation have happened as a result
  of the old injury and it now shows on MRI as degenerative disc herniation?
  I also have had an EMG I dont have the complete rsults yet.My pain is a
  nerve pain and it is in my neck , shoulders, arm, and hand. Its worse on left
  side but is affecting the right side also.The pain and numbness continue to get worse
   I'm going to PT again I do the traction at home it relieves the pain for a
  short period of time then with the least bit of activity from using my arms
  the pain is back to where it was.The physical therspist is doing ultra sound
  and heat.I have this pain during nite and all through the day.I can't
  imagine lliving with this for ever.

[CCF NSG MD / gsh]

_
Dear DD,
It is tough to say whether the injury had anything to do with your degenerative disc in the neck.  Degenerative changes in the cervical and lumbar spine are very common so it may be safe to say that the injury may have contributed to your problems.
The pain typical for a C5/6 disc is in the thumb and index finger.  There may be some associated numbness in a similar distribution and perhaps some weakness of the bicep muscle.  
The first line of treatment for a herniated disc is conservative therapy, essentially what you are doing.  Disc material has lots of water in it and, with time, will shrink away and take the pressure off the nerves.  If, after about four to six weeks you find no improvement in your symptoms, surgery may be considered.  The EMG will add supportive data to the impingement of the nerves by the disc.
If you find no relief from your pain you should consider a visit to a spine surgeon.  The results with surgery for such problems are quite good and the vast majority of people return to excellent functional status in a short period of time.
Good luck.