neck surgery

[bigdaddy59]

i had c5,c6,c7 fusion.i was in an accident and i have had headaches that are sometimes 5-10/ hour.they last for a very few seconds and they are never in the same place.i have pain and numbness radiating down the right outer arm.my neuro has put me on a permanent 50 # wt.limit he has released me to return to work.i work on an ambulance and i was on the 24 hour truck and now i can't do that anymore.i have to drive 100 miles one way to work.my right arm goes numb with tingling. what could be causing all of the pain and numbness? I am 6 months post operative

[bigdaddy59]

he just did the xray and everything is fused .i have had pain and numbness every since the accident.no one seemed to care about the numbness.i am on a permanent 50# wt limit so i can't work on the ambulance anymore and it *****.i am losing 1/2 of my salary from not been able to get any overtime.just wished the numbness would cease.

[kay290]

Your surgeon needs to do another xray to confirm fusion and placement of new discs.You should have already been fused after 6 weeks. You have nerve impingement from something array in your neck.When did the arm symptoms start?

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Thank you for your question. Although without being able to examine you I can not offer you the specific advice on diagnosis and treatment that you need, but I would try to provide you some relevant information about your health concern.

Generally, recovery from a fusion procedure takes time (standard is six weeks) and as everyone is different it may vary as well.  Most of the times, one may experience persistent head and neck pain during and after the recovery period. However, essentially you should avoid excessive exertion for the few months after the procedure. It is not like that you restrict all activities but you should gradually increase your physical activities over this period. Additionally, common complication of a fusion is that there is a possibility that another fragment of disc will compressed and may cause similar symptoms. Therefore, you may check this with your treating neurologist in order to get a precise opinion. Hope this helps.