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Herniated Disc c5-c6
I bet you guys get this one a lot.
Ok so I herniated a disc bewteen c5-c6.
It was just affecting my neck, right shoulder blade and right shoulder at first. Then the pains also went up and down the left side of my spine and down my left arm to my elbow. Then I started losing grip in my left hand. So the doc pulled me off of work. Thank god it was a work related injury. Now I am in love with Workers Comp. So it is August and it happened in February. Workers Comp . I can’t sleep much at all. I do wear a neck brace most of the time except when it gets irritated from car rides and when washing it. When I lay down with or w/o a pillow it feels like a balloon is being enlarged from the base of my neck to the base of my skull. So I spend most of my time trying to sleep at night sitting up or slightly reclining on my couch.
One night I was awoken by a strange feeling. I couldn’t move or talk. Then my body started shaking like a bad muscle spasm. It only lasted a few seconds. But afterward I was able to move and talk again. I asked my doc about it and he said it was a seizure. This happened back in mid July. Doc yanked my driving privileges until I get a CT scan and am cleared by a neurologist. Is it possible that the herniated disc can cause the seizures? I have not had one since.
Ok so I herniated a disc bewteen c5-c6.
It was just affecting my neck, right shoulder blade and right shoulder at first. Then the pains also went up and down the left side of my spine and down my left arm to my elbow. Then I started losing grip in my left hand. So the doc pulled me off of work. Thank god it was a work related injury. Now I am in love with Workers Comp. So it is August and it happened in February. Workers Comp . I can’t sleep much at all. I do wear a neck brace most of the time except when it gets irritated from car rides and when washing it. When I lay down with or w/o a pillow it feels like a balloon is being enlarged from the base of my neck to the base of my skull. So I spend most of my time trying to sleep at night sitting up or slightly reclining on my couch.
One night I was awoken by a strange feeling. I couldn’t move or talk. Then my body started shaking like a bad muscle spasm. It only lasted a few seconds. But afterward I was able to move and talk again. I asked my doc about it and he said it was a seizure. This happened back in mid July. Doc yanked my driving privileges until I get a CT scan and am cleared by a neurologist. Is it possible that the herniated disc can cause the seizures? I have not had one since.
HI! my mom is having the same exact problems! Did you ever get a diagnosis? She has had two herniated discs that have been repaired and both times the problems went away. This time, the doc who performed her surgery has retired and no one else wants to do it... Thanks!
Depending on the severity of symptoms, treatments for a herniated disc include physical therapy, muscle relaxant medications, pain medications, antiinflammation medications, local injection of cortisone (epidural injections), and surgical operations. In any case, all people with a disc herniation should rest and avoid reinjuring the disc. Sometimes, even people with relatively severe pain early on can respond to conservative measures without the need for surgical intervention.
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One of the problems with a neck brace or a collar is that they do not provide "axial traction".
Healing is impossible without such traction.
Use of such a brace results in loss of muscle tone, continued inflammation, and a continued degradation of motion without pain.
Axial traction pulls the skull upwards, gently separating the vertebrae, and (hopefully) alowing the disc to resume its normal configuration. Axial traction is necessary along the axis of the spine. There are many devices available, but the simple device that includes an adjuistable head harness, and attaches to a bar upon which you "hang" yourself, works as well as most.
How much traction is a judgemental issue.
The important thing is no axial traction for more than thirty minutes. Some physicians prefer shorter times. Then the axial traction must be released, to prevent atrophy of the musculature. After a break, it can be applied again.
The patient brings the device with him, and if he/she is on a car trip, they stop and attach the device to a hook on a tree branch or a support and apply the traction for ten minutes or so to relieve the pain.
Hydration is absolutely necessary, and this means drinking plenty of fluids, especially in warm weather. The discs must be kept hydrated.
There is a "window of opportunity" available to treat with this protocol.
The more the disc gets "mashed" the more the inflammation and a cascade of unfortunate events develop.
Generally, the drill is to completely alleviate the infection by using oral prednisone in a relatively high dose for a few days. Prednisone, used over a long period, will cause disc deterioration, but on a short-term basis, while undergoing traction, it is appropriate.
For a 200 pound patient, 60 mg a day to start with is one protocol. After four days, the dose is tapered by 5 mg a day until you reach a maintenance dose of 5 mg for two additional weeks. Clearly, this is something that can only be determined by a physician.
The absolutely positively wrong thing is ultrasound. This only agravates the problem and furether inflames the nerve root.
Similarly, "muscle relaxants", though often prescribed are contraindicated.
Sometimes surgical intervention is necessary, but this should only be considered as a very last resort.
At one point, forced movement of the head through the limits of pain is necessary.
If this is not done, the patient will eventually end up with a "frozen shoulder" at best, and at worst end up partially paralyzed.
Maintaining and developing muscle tone requires exercises. Isometric exercises are sometimes recommended, with the patient placing the flat of his hand against his forehead, back of head, right side of head and left siade, and attempting to move his head against his hand for periods of ten seconds or more. Then a break. With repetitions.
Other exercises include sit-ups. When you perform a sit-up, you can sense the neck muscles tighten.
A CT is inappropriate for determining the etiology of a seizure. Both an MRI and an MRI would be useful, but there are other tests.
Healing is impossible without such traction.
Use of such a brace results in loss of muscle tone, continued inflammation, and a continued degradation of motion without pain.
Axial traction pulls the skull upwards, gently separating the vertebrae, and (hopefully) alowing the disc to resume its normal configuration. Axial traction is necessary along the axis of the spine. There are many devices available, but the simple device that includes an adjuistable head harness, and attaches to a bar upon which you "hang" yourself, works as well as most.
How much traction is a judgemental issue.
The important thing is no axial traction for more than thirty minutes. Some physicians prefer shorter times. Then the axial traction must be released, to prevent atrophy of the musculature. After a break, it can be applied again.
The patient brings the device with him, and if he/she is on a car trip, they stop and attach the device to a hook on a tree branch or a support and apply the traction for ten minutes or so to relieve the pain.
Hydration is absolutely necessary, and this means drinking plenty of fluids, especially in warm weather. The discs must be kept hydrated.
There is a "window of opportunity" available to treat with this protocol.
The more the disc gets "mashed" the more the inflammation and a cascade of unfortunate events develop.
Generally, the drill is to completely alleviate the infection by using oral prednisone in a relatively high dose for a few days. Prednisone, used over a long period, will cause disc deterioration, but on a short-term basis, while undergoing traction, it is appropriate.
For a 200 pound patient, 60 mg a day to start with is one protocol. After four days, the dose is tapered by 5 mg a day until you reach a maintenance dose of 5 mg for two additional weeks. Clearly, this is something that can only be determined by a physician.
The absolutely positively wrong thing is ultrasound. This only agravates the problem and furether inflames the nerve root.
Similarly, "muscle relaxants", though often prescribed are contraindicated.
Sometimes surgical intervention is necessary, but this should only be considered as a very last resort.
At one point, forced movement of the head through the limits of pain is necessary.
If this is not done, the patient will eventually end up with a "frozen shoulder" at best, and at worst end up partially paralyzed.
Maintaining and developing muscle tone requires exercises. Isometric exercises are sometimes recommended, with the patient placing the flat of his hand against his forehead, back of head, right side of head and left siade, and attempting to move his head against his hand for periods of ten seconds or more. Then a break. With repetitions.
Other exercises include sit-ups. When you perform a sit-up, you can sense the neck muscles tighten.
A CT is inappropriate for determining the etiology of a seizure. Both an MRI and an MRI would be useful, but there are other tests.
First of all, you should not be wearing a neck brace.
Wearing a brace has contributed to your problems and the pain.
Wrong railroad track, and the train is headed for the wrong city. The place is called the "Place of Nightmares, things that go bump in the night, and Perpetual Pain".
The reason is that a neck brace (or a collar) causes atrophy of the musculature that prevents the disc from being further crushed and irritated. Wearing a neck brace will cause you to end up partially paralyzed permanantly. You won't be able to hold a pencil and may end up using a walker. As the muscles atrophy you become more dependant upon the neck brace to take the place of the destroyed musculature. For the same reasons, muscle relaxants are contraindicated. You follow the reasoning?
Once the muscles atrophy they are difficult to re-constitute. Isometric exercises and sit-ups are sometimes prescribed.
Instead, your physician should have prescribed axial traction, for short intervals several times a day, plus an anti-inflammatory. Generally this is oral prednisone. How long is controversial. One protocol recommends fifteen minutes of gentle traction followed by a two hour break, then more traction...etc. That means a dozen sessions a day for several weeks. The device can be brought along with you when you travel. Axial traction devices are available without prescription for about $40 U.S. Axial traction pulls the head upward gently along the axis of the spine. It is a harness that you attach to a hook (generally in the middle of a door) and you gently lower yourself (not hang yourself) until you feel the decompression, It allows the inflamation to go down, and the disc (hopefully) will ease back into the proper position.
Opiates are contrandicated.
Discs are not vascular structures and do not heal well.
The big question is whether the situation can be salvaged at this time.
Maybe. Maybe not.
After a period of traction range of motion exercises through the limits of pain are necessary. This seems contrary to common sense, because normally you think that "pain" tells me I will cause injury if I move my head in such a way as to induce pain. If you don't do this you will begin to "self-splint" and the range of motion you have will become increasingly limited. Range of motion exercises include rolling the head three hundred and sixty degrees through the limits of pain.
When you ride in a car, get an inflatable cushion to sit on.
The discs must be kept hydrated and drinking fluids (electrolytes) every day is a must. High glucose levels affect osmolality and will cause more pain.
Based on what you say happened, I do not believe you had a seizure, nor should your driving priviliges have been revoked.
Wearing a brace has contributed to your problems and the pain.
Wrong railroad track, and the train is headed for the wrong city. The place is called the "Place of Nightmares, things that go bump in the night, and Perpetual Pain".
The reason is that a neck brace (or a collar) causes atrophy of the musculature that prevents the disc from being further crushed and irritated. Wearing a neck brace will cause you to end up partially paralyzed permanantly. You won't be able to hold a pencil and may end up using a walker. As the muscles atrophy you become more dependant upon the neck brace to take the place of the destroyed musculature. For the same reasons, muscle relaxants are contraindicated. You follow the reasoning?
Once the muscles atrophy they are difficult to re-constitute. Isometric exercises and sit-ups are sometimes prescribed.
Instead, your physician should have prescribed axial traction, for short intervals several times a day, plus an anti-inflammatory. Generally this is oral prednisone. How long is controversial. One protocol recommends fifteen minutes of gentle traction followed by a two hour break, then more traction...etc. That means a dozen sessions a day for several weeks. The device can be brought along with you when you travel. Axial traction devices are available without prescription for about $40 U.S. Axial traction pulls the head upward gently along the axis of the spine. It is a harness that you attach to a hook (generally in the middle of a door) and you gently lower yourself (not hang yourself) until you feel the decompression, It allows the inflamation to go down, and the disc (hopefully) will ease back into the proper position.
Opiates are contrandicated.
Discs are not vascular structures and do not heal well.
The big question is whether the situation can be salvaged at this time.
Maybe. Maybe not.
After a period of traction range of motion exercises through the limits of pain are necessary. This seems contrary to common sense, because normally you think that "pain" tells me I will cause injury if I move my head in such a way as to induce pain. If you don't do this you will begin to "self-splint" and the range of motion you have will become increasingly limited. Range of motion exercises include rolling the head three hundred and sixty degrees through the limits of pain.
When you ride in a car, get an inflatable cushion to sit on.
The discs must be kept hydrated and drinking fluids (electrolytes) every day is a must. High glucose levels affect osmolality and will cause more pain.
Based on what you say happened, I do not believe you had a seizure, nor should your driving priviliges have been revoked.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hi, Herniated disc may cause pain that may be referred and perceived as occurring in the back of head & shoulders (as electric sensation), arms or chest, rather than just the neck. Other symptoms may include vertigo, nausea (dizziness) and stiffness. Seizures from herniated disc are a least likely possibility and you need to evaluate with a neurologist, if there is any possibility of neurological disorder. Hope it helps.
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