[Pain in both arms, left worse. Pain in neck and back of head. Headaches started up a week ago. Meds: Naproxen 500mg BID and Norco 10mg q 6-8 hrs.
Weakness in left arm is affecting my day to day. Right side weakness is not as severe, but is starting to worsen.
Also, have numbness and tingling in both arms and in shoulders.]
This plus the whiplash mention makes me wonder about possible thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) for short.
Not well known and often misunderstood by many drs.
Often has overlapping sx with c spine issues.
So could be complicated to sort out what is c spine vs what might be TOS.
I suggest getting evaluated by a TOS expert before moving forward with any surgery.
Treatment can be as dicey unless you find experts that really understand TOS.
Whiplash type injuries & sx don't often show up until some time has passed I believe, I wonder about soft tissue injury and possibly TOS, previous whiplash is often a factor with TOS..
Have you had any expert PT , to see if some of it is from soft tissue or trigger points?
TOS forum useful sticky threads -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread84.html
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread125577.html
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread135.html