Mike,

The original poster said he was scheduled for an ACDF and had tried everything. I don't think a surgeon would have scheduled an ACDF unless it was necessary. Most do NOT want to cut. They will all try conservative treatements first. I know...I went through 3 years of it.

Here's my laundry list:

Medications - All kinds; including AD's, anti-convulsants, opiates
Accupuncture - Helped with the pain somewhat, but came right back after EVERY session
Traction - Ordered by my first NS and actually made me much worse
Physical Therapy - More times than I can even begin to count! Did not help.
Heat and Ice - Only worked at times to help either with the spasms or to numb the nerves
Massage Therapy - Worked well for the trapezius but that's it
Facet injections, Selective Nerve Root Injections and Trigger Point Injections - The relief only lasted a short time; the longest I got was 3 months.
ER Visits - Too many to mention for a shot of Toradol

And yes, I can honestly say that NONE of that worked! This all began in 2000 with a diagnosis of Occipital Neuralgia. That quickly changed to Cervicogenic headaches with variant migraines. Fast forward to 2003 when I found my new spinal PM. He found it was the C3/C4. Two injections later I was referred to the NS. It was my NS that was in shock. Again, you could not see the nerve roots; both my PM and NS pointed that out to me...plain as day. At the same time my C5/C6 was pressing on my spinal cord. But my NS did not want to tackle that until he saw how well I healed from the first fusion. In the spring of 2003 I had the first fusion and in the fall of 2006 I had the second one.

I do understand what you are saying about muscles spasms and such. IF that is ALL I had to be concerned with, I would have kept trying other measures. But, nope, crushed nerve roots don't care what you do, what you eat or what you drink...neither does a compressed spinal cord. If my PM were to see your post he would die. He has has two cervical fusions of his own. Now don't you think being a SPINAL doctor he also would have tried every conservative measure? And he did because he told me about them! He was having me to do the same things he was trying. But in the long run, we BOTH had to have fusions. And he fought it for about as long as I did.

I think what you are doing is confusing muscle imbalances and/or muscle issues with actually damage or compression of nerve roots and/or the spinal cord. Of course a person is going to have pain since the nerves tell the muscles how to work. The muscles actually compensate for what is going on with the spine.

In any case, some people choose to wait it out...I know that too. What I am saying is...if you wait too long, there is the possibility of PERMANENT nerve damage. And actually, no one is forced to have surgery. In my case it was different...it was surgery ASAP based on the seriousness of the C3/C4 level. That is where the phrenic nerve comes out of that controls breathing. Any fall or hit and I could have been paralyzed and/or stopped breathing. I am speaking of motor nerves here and not muscles. My NS never guaranteed pain relief what he was trying to do was to stabilize my spine with both fusions. I am thankful that the first fusion stopped the severity of the headaches I was having and the second fusion gave me the use of my arms back.

It is up to any individual as to what they want to try. But I would definitely heed the recommendations of an NS or OSS; they are the ones that are trained in this area and know what they speak of. And I for one listened and listened closely. No amount of the measures I listed above would have fixed the problem; it just put a bandaid on it...the problem was still there.

So, tell me what would have decompressed those nerves or spinal cord? It certainly wasn't any of the measures I listed above.

Trinab,

You have to do what is best for you. I TOTALLY agree with what Stiffnecked said though...just get it done because I agree...things will only get progresssively worse. And honestly, the surgery is not all that bad. You will probably have some muscle spasms afterwards but that is more or less due to the nerves being freed up. The surgeon can give you meds for that and with time you will be able to do some gentle stretches. Anyway, I would trust the surgeon and what he recommends. Like I said...they know far more about all of this than any of us do.