Neck and Shoulder pain after C5-6 fusion.

[Roonie5038]

A little over a year ago, I had C5-6 fused. With a plate and screws inserted. Since then I am having trouble with pain in the neck and shoulder area just below the fusion area. I wake in the morning with a headache then turns to pain in lower neck and shoulders.
I have talked to the neurosurgeon who did the surgery and he shrugged his shoulders and said I have no idea and sent me back to my neurologist. He gave me a series of injections in both shoulders and the pain stopped for a couple days but then came right back. Then we tried message therapy, it helps but only for a short period. And I have tried changing my pillows on my bed and sleeping in different positions and nothing seems to help for long term.
What can I do?
Thanks
Maureen

[williammikewestrick]

I have been having neck and shoulder pain for about 10 years and i'm no better. do you think you can help?

[Dangpain]

I had surgery 9/25/2014 on c4,5,6 since my neck is always uncomfortable and I also experience the numbness down to my toes the doctor told me it has nothing to do with the surgery and my eyesight has been affected also I feel like i struggle to see frequently. Glad to hear Im not the only one!

[Topsyr]

I live in Australia if had a fusion in lower back in 2000 the doctor said he was not operate on my neck untill I lost the use in my left arm the operation on my back worked but my neck is giving me a lot of pain now last week I got a cp scan the family doc said me neck is really bad not to have an op and if eny one say they can fix it run a mile as I hade a fusion on my lower back worked it like being between a rock and a hard place I don't no what to do I know the desicion is mine but it the hardest desicion I've ever made when the pain get to a level 12 out of 10 I want to operate when it esas I don't want to trevor

[caring51]

Hi my name is Vicky,I had my surgery on 08/11/2014 for yhe c5 &6 i had alot before my surgery it was hard for me to look down,when I would pick my head up it would feel like a load and my eft arm would hurt so bad that I could not pick it up.
well after surgery I had a hard time swallowing but after a week I was fine.I did not have to use a neck brace. the nurse just told me to move my neck slowly to the left and to the right and pivk my arms up .so thats what I have ben doing but I still have pain on my left shoulder  going down a little to my arm and I cant sleep sometimes on my left side.I will be calling my doctor for this but in the mean time I feel ok but I am never going to go thur this again.I am taking tylenol extra stregth for now

[Mel890]

Wondering how you are doing had tri level fusion in 2012 of May Ben a nightmare since

[flea999]

Yep the positive out look is good. I can't do many of the things that I used to do, ski, ride horses, a bike yes but really risky because of post fusion balance issues. My problem is that the three level fusion surgery was done on a part of my neck that didn't really need it, and would have been better served with a flexible artificial disc at the level below the fusion. However the fusion that was done is way too curved, and is a standard for that surgery. It is a 20 to 30 degree curve, or in my case an angle from the angle of the screws that are in my neck.. There is a 20 to 30 degree curve in a penny, but who would want their neck forced into such a tight curve? What I hope that people are warned about is accepting this generic standard for treating neck pain that is not helped with physical therapy or drug treatments. I don;t take ANY pain meds, because I can't stand living in some foggy altered state and with no real help for pain, because the cause of the pain is the permanence of the acute fusion. Does everyone have a size 7M foot? How would you like to wear the wrong size shoe for the rest of your life? That would eventually effect almost everything else about your health. from the pain, sleeplessness, worry and general taking away the pleasure of life from the effects of it. What the problem seems to be is that the treatment for compressed discs, neck pain and so forth is not further along in it's accuracy, experience, or outcome related information. More people have cancer and heart problems than neck problems, so I would assume that studying neck problems doesn't get as much funding or attention. What I said above still holds true, the surgeon did ruin my life, I could no longer work -the reason, mostly that I went for the surgery; was told- " I can fix that.", so that I could go back to work, lost my truck, my car, my income, my money my husband, the house that I lived in and in many cases my credibility, because I looked just fine, like a big, healthy bruiser in fact, so hardly anyone that saw me really believes that there is anything much wrong with me; I'm a whiner, a complainer and lazy. I say to myself-"You try living with 24 hr a day pain, 2 to 5 hours of sleep a night for five tears, living on a tiny income and losing every normal part of life that you had built over most of a life time." Even my siblings don't get it. I rarely talk about this to anyone, because who wants to hear it? I'm just hoping that anyone else that has neck pain, gets a second and third opinion, and goes to a surgeon in a populated area, so has lots of experience and doesn't just do a generic fusion on your neck! I can still walk almost anywhere, and have been a painting fool, so yes I have taken some of my life back and get pleasure from a few things. Chocolate.