Hello,
My son who is 25 had ACDF three weeks ago today. His was of c5/6. He felt great within days after the surgery and noticed a lot of the numbness and nerve pain has gone away. Still no feeling in pink fingers but a significant improvement. He had post op appt. last thursday and still feeling good. Doctor lifted some of his restrictions but told him be cautious and listen to his body. After a couple of days of driving and increasing his other activities (yard work, house work...) he all of a sudden started getting a new pain. He said it is painful at the base of his neck. I have been doing a lot of reading about this and it seems this is completely normal for this type of surgery. According to some info I found, your muscles and ligaments have been traumatized by the surgery and are now trying to find new ways of functioning around the fusion. Hope that makes sense. Could also be muscle spasms. He had weaned off of the percoset a week after surgery and doing really well but in light of this new pain, yesterday they put him back on pain meds as tylenol wasn't doing anything for him. He was so depressed yesterday and feels like he was making great strides and now has taken several steps backwards. Anyway, I hope you are able to find some relief in your pain and I joined this site hopefully to help better understand his situation and for added support.