Car Wreck, c5-6 fusion, ongoing problem

[cookiepaws]

Three years ago, I was involved in a 5-car mva.  Traffic on the freeway in front of me came to a stop, traffic behind me did not and I was rear-ended high speed, with three cars following that one.  I have experienced ongoing shoulder and neck pain as a result of this collision.  After nearly a year of physical therapy, I was referred to a neurosurgeon, who performed a anterior diskectomy/fusion at c5-6.  Shortly after the surgery, I was in the shower and turned my head to the left; there was a painful "pop" in the left muscle of my neck as my head rotated.  The soreness afterwards was intense.  I called my neurosurgeon, who seemed to think it was muscular in nature and was not concerned.  For about a year afterwards, this continued to be a significant problem.  My physical therapist did not ever have an answer as to why.  In the last year, it has continued to improve  somewhat, but continues to be a problem.  I spoke with my orthopedic surgeon (I also required shoulder surgery), and he suggested the soreness in my neck could be a result of nerve impingement from the diskectomy.  He recommended I see my neurosurgeon to see if he would want to do a scan.

So I have a couple questions.  First, is this a common side effect of the type of surgery I had?  Second, what would the appropriate treatment of such be, or is this something I'm just going to have to live with?  Overall, the neck surgery has helped, but this and a couple of other issues with my shoulder continue to be problematic.

I would very much appreciate any help!