I had c5-c7 neck surgery 10months ago

[SpunkyD66]

Omg I don't know where to start. I am getting so frustrated with my neck always in pain. I can honestly say that the surgery cured my headaches but my neck and shoulders are always in pain. If I don't sleep in a certain position a nerve must get pinched and I wake to my hands trembling till the point they hurt and to stop it I must sit up and it's better but as soon as I lay back down it starts up again. I am still taking meds 4x times a day plus ib for breakthrough pain. Do I have to look forward to this the rest of my life? If I new that I probably would not have gotten the surgery. I still work everyday but by end of day I am shot. I work at a computer all day and I am sure that doesn't help. I keep telling the doc that I have some pinching going in when I move my neck to the left and my spine is sore he as been great he gives me shots when I ask for them and I have had multiplie times since surgery. He keeps taken x-rays and says it all looks good. I think he should do a MRI to see if something else is going on. You just get so tired of telling them what to do but they should be telling us what we need to do. This time I am going to ask to have a deep injection done in the spine again as I need some relief. This craziness of pain everyday can make a person depressed that is not a depressed person. Anyone have any suggestions for me. Desperate in CT.

[PennyW13]

I am 2 years post ACDF with donor bones and hardware, and next week, I am finally worn down enough that I am going to see a pain management doctor for the first time.  I, too, sit at a desk all day and I have a long commute that puts me in heavy stop/go traffic for 2 hours a day.  I at least was able to convince my boss to let me work 4 days a week, so I am off on Wednesdays.  So, its drive/work two days, spend a day recovering, then drive/work two days and spend the weekend whining.  I do feel better when I get up and move, prior to surgery I was a distance runner.  Now I run about 2 miles a day after work just to stretch, and I walk at lunch.  But I understand.  I still have the pain in my neck, I don't sleep well, I wake  up with tremors in my affected arm (my dominant arm, I might add), I still have numbness in my forearm and weakness in my elbow.  I have had 2 post surgery X rays, and one post surgical MRI, all indicating everything is where it's supposed to be, yet I am still in pain.  I take it pretty easy on the pain meds, but I am finally in such a fix, that I know I need something more than what I am doing.  One thing that really bothered me about my after care was that I was in a hard collar 24/7 for 6 wks, and got no physical therapy.  I have no input other than to tell you I feel your pain, literally.  I hope that you find some relief.

[ellijaygal]

I had a cervical fusion, one level C6 back in 2007. I woke up in awe that my finger, arm, and neck pain were IMMEDIATELY gone. I never wore a brace and that paticular disk has never bothered me again. My fusion was done with hardware and a donor bone was used. BUT BUT BUT once you have a fusion the disks above and below usually do weaken increasing your chance of a herniation at another site.

If your doctor never did an xray or anything to make sure that the fusion worked then he isn't a very good doctor in my opinion. If you do know that it did fuse and you are having these issues it could be a different level bothering you.

I have had issues at other levels but will not go the route of another fusion. It is like dominos. I do physical therapy and exercise to build the muscles around the disks to hold them where they belong as best they can. Even though I have pain at another level the damage to my cord is not to the extent that it was with my first fusion. I have not lost mobility in my hands or arm, but I do deal with pain and occasional numnbness in a few fingers on one hand. All of this comes and goes and is not constant. A fusion is never a fix all for anything at any level. It is simply the best solution available right now for herniated disks.