Fusion C-7

[nursejoy1223]

I had surgery on January 4th of this year 2010. I am still having pain mainly in my shoulders and deltoid muscle area. It feels like someone has punched me in my deltoid and "frogged" me. Is this normal, and how long with this last?

[nursejoy1223]

Thank-you for your assisance. I do notice I feel better as time goes on. I am sure it is just going to take time. As you may know, nurses make the worse patients. This being said I think patience and time is what I need. I truly appreciate your responses.
Thank You Joyann Hughes RN BSN

[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.

As you have recently gone through the surgery, therefore this will take some time to normalize your symptoms. Another possibility could be nerves compression by cervical spine that needs to be checked with your treating doctor. Surgery may be successful in your case but depends upon severity and duration of nerve compression. Hot and cold compresses may also be helpful. In addition, avoid/reduce the number of repetitive movements whenever possible. Hope this helps.

[ggreg]

Pain is a good indicator of how your surgery results are going.  Also, I have to assume you have been back to have your surgical area checked, to make sure it is healing well, and that is a good time to ask the doctor when can you resume various activities.  You could even ask for an X-ray if you think it's just plain not healing right, and perhaps even get better pain relief than you are getting now..  You can always go to your regular doc for more followup, ask him the same questions.  If you notice it hurts more when you are up and about and doing things, you can get a soft collar to wear around your neck to protect the area.  Glad you are going to continue your old PT exercises... I still do some of mine and it's been 30 years out, my injury was in the thoracic spine.

[nursejoy1223]

I want to tell you thank-you very much. I am just not real sure how long this should last. I have been through Physical Therapy for several years now on and off. I was planning on using the same exercises after surgery. I am just trying to give my self time to heal and I am not sure how long that is suppose to be. .  

[ggreg]

You will feel severe and then moderate nerve pain for up to six weeks.  And then for many months after that your muscles may spasm and therefore feel achy at times.  The way to ease pain quicker is to eventually get into physical therapy for a few sessions, and then you keep up with the exercises they teach you to improve flexibility and strength in the operation area, thus preventing unnecessary discomfort.  In the meantime, you could probably use some massages a few times a week to help those muscles, plus heat helps pain, too.