Post surgical pain after cervical disc replacement

Question

I am 42 and I had a cervical disc replacement surgery C5 C6 level on 07/28/2010 and was told I would be able to return to work in one week. My artificial disc was the prodisc.I was in pain for about three years on and off and then in constant pain for six months before the surgery. I have been in pain ever since I woke up from the surgery(probably even worse.)The surgery fixed the initial problem but left me with another problem. I had two doses of morphine after the surgery and then sent home the same day with only trimodal to control pain(what a joke!) and I didn't have a 23hr observation or a soft collar,no restrictions only don't look up for two weeks.I have suffered a lot since waking from the surgery.I am now having severe muscle spasms in my shoulder which switches from the right to the left side with tightness and still some tingling in both arms. I have been to physical therapy five times with ultra sound and muscle stimulation therapy with some heat and light stretch exercises (twice daily). I am now on Valium and Loratab 5mg pain meds . My doctor is very arrogant and acts like he doesn't have time for me or know why I am having these problems.He sent me to a neurologist to see if I had nerve damage. I was tested and the neurologist said no nerve damage.
My question is will this muscle spasm pain ever go away and what else can I do??
I want to resume to my normal activity and my job if I have still have one and get off the medicines but wonder from what I have been reading from others who had this surgery if I ever will be normal or just a permanent pain in the neck!! Gosh, I really want my pain free life back. Please help? Any advise?

Kalvin · Accepted Answer

Try not to let your Surgeon's attitude bother you, a lot of them act like that. You have to understand their mindset, they deal strictly in theory, you go to them with a problem they fix it, end of story. Problem is, it's rarely that simple. So when you come back to them in pain, what they want to say is, " You came to me with a problem, I fixed it, you should be okay, go away". That's how they think.

I don't know anything ADR's but your post-op experience sounds like mine was after an ACDF. We got to the Hospital at 6am and left at 6 pm, the nursing was so lousy, I was scared to spend the night. I just wanted to get out of there. I was in tremendous pain but I thought I'd be safer at home. 

Tramadol is not strong enough for post-op pain as you found out. I was taking much stronger meds maximum dose for quite awhile after surgery. A lot of Surgeons don't use collars anymore, I didn't have to wear one. With ADR's I don't know, but with fusions supposedly the plate and screws eliminates the need. 

I can only speak to my own experience, but I had very severe pain and spasms for quite sometime after surgery, but I do have a lot of problems in the C-spine. I didn't go to P.T. until 12 weeks, because of pain. P.T. did help my neck pain, it didn't do much for anything else, and I had all the treatments you had. What helped is time.

You have to keep in mind, it's only been about 5 weeks, in terms of recovery for the procedure that I had, that's isn't very long. It's a pretty big deal when they go in there and fool around with your nerves, your body's just trying to adjust at this point. That's what all the spasming is about. As time goes on you should begin to feel better and you'll be able to decrease your meds accordingly.

 I don't know about ADR's but I always tell people that are contemplating a cervical fusion, that this is not the kind of procedure that you're going to walk out of the hospital and feel great, you might even feel worse, I did. I lived in a recliner for the 1st few weeks, it hurt to move. It takes quite a bit of time to recover and its going to be filled with a lot of ups and downs, I know it frustrating I've been there, but you have to be patient. If you can just get through these next few weeks you should be out of the woods and in good shape. And there are advantages to ADR's. You won't have to worry about another surgery in 5 years, like I'm going to be having in a couple months.

If you feel like your getting worse and this guy won't help you, get copies of your records and scans and go see someone else asap.


Take Care

Kalvin · Answer

Thank you for your thoughts, and I apologize I thought you were a he not she.

realtalk86 · Answer

Thanks for your advice. I will try to be patient as I know I am still recovering. I am still trying to be optimistic. It helps to have encouragement and hear about similar stories and compare to see if this is a long term problem and to try to determine if I will ever be normal and pain free again. Good luck on your up coming surgery.Best wishes. If you ever need to talk I am here for you as well.

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