Need some advice....

[moparshar]

38/F :  Just over a year ago I was involved in a major traffic accident.  Since that time I have an MRI that showed narrowing of C5-C6 and C6-C7.  I have had a headache since the accident as well as severe swelling in the back left of my neck with pain going down my left arm and have numbness to my left hand almost every day.  Each morning I wake up and my hand is totally numb.  I also drop items while trying to hold them with my left hand. The V of my back has felt like pins and needles since the accident. The back of my neck on the left side going down my left shoulder is totally numb and extremely swollen.  Anyone looking at me can tell my shoulders are at different hights.
I tried physiotherapy for about 8 months which didn't bring down the swelling or help with the condition.  They also tried accupunture for the headaches which didn't help.
One neuro surgeon looked at my mri and said he didn't feel that surgery would help my conditions, he would not sign a concent for me to return to work or even light duties.  I had seen a second neurologist prior to hearing the news as the wait in Canada can be very long.
The second neurologist sent me for a discogram which I had last week.  When I did that painful test, the pain went down my right side of my neck, not the area that I suffer pain on a daily basis.
The pain in the shoulder is bad enough, but I have had this headache since the accident which gets so severe at times I just want to bang my head off the wall.  It pounding so hard my head feels like it's shaking, it throbes non-stop at my temples.  I can't remember names and have no short term memory.  My son says I have dimentia...(my grandmother had it) as a joke, because I ask him a question then 2 mins later I ask him the same question.  I see people I have known for years and can't remember there names.  If someone calls, I have to write down the message because in an hour I will have completely forgot who called... or even forgot that I had a call.  I have to look at my call display to see if I talked to anyone that day.
I don't take drugs.. never have.  I try to avoid even the tylnol 3 prescribed to me... because I seen people addicted and what it does to the stomach lining.
Since the discogram just over a week ago, my headache has not stopped even for 20 mins.  It's pounding worse than ever and I can't see my neurologist until January.  Pretty much at the end of my ropes.
Hope you have any advice to get me through this time.
Thanks in advance

[moparshar]

Thanks ggreg, already tried massage therapy too.  Good for about 20 to 1 hour then it's back.  The  neurologist said that I had buldging disks that were pressing against my spinal cord. Also had dis-located my left arm and when it was re-set one of the nerves got jammed.  Apparently I will need future surgery for this.
I was hoping just to go back to work, they didn't want to operate on my elbow... in case I needed disk replacement surgery.  It seems like such a long process, and I'm really tired of being sore.  
I was in perfect health prior to the accident and worked out 5 days a week with weights... I cannot believe that it's taking so long to pinpoint the problem.  I bet if I was on some professional sports team it would have been taken care of by now.
LOL- I have to add, all I do is relax...haha, they told me one accident could be fatal for me.  I'm in to much pain to do anything and I've always had a house cleaner due to the fact that I worked so many hours.  Now I have a house cleaner and can't do nothing... I really need to get back to work and get rid of this pain.
Maybe I'll look into another professional message threrapist.
Thanks Greg:)
SC

[ggreg]

Dear Mo,
You sound a little like me, pain in my mid-back from a car wreck many years ago, no headache but I have your short-term memory.  I have come to believe pain and discomfort, and lack of sleep from that, make it hard to focus mentally.  So, I think your memory issues will go away, if and when they get your neck straight, either through surgery or medication or otherwise.  

Those bulging disks can push on nerves, which is likely what is going on.  But the force that caused disk narrowing, it can also wrench adjoining muscles.  That's what happened to me, and to this day, my back muscles will lock up.  Get your shoulders and neck rubbed by a professional massage therapist (not the same as physical therapist).  Those muscles go straight up into your head, which can cause your headaches!  When they relax, see if your headaches stop.  I hope so.
GG