Ellena,

I think everyone is different. So when I post about this horrid stuff, it is just based on my own personal experience. (Geesh, ON is horribly painful!) I feel for anyone that has to endure this and go through so much testing. Okay, what I wanted to say is that the C5/C6 USUALLY refers pain DOWNWARDS; shoulders, arms, and in my case it ONLY hurt in my thumbs. But my MRI showed a bad herniation. I have no clue as to why my arms never hurt because based on the dermatome charts they should have. So, I think people are just wired differently. I once asked my PM if I could still have headaches even though the C3/C4 was fused at that time. He basically said anything going on in the neck can refer pain upwards or downwards. And I am finding that to be true. But...just know too that I have osteophytes everywhere; not all were drilled out or taken care of; just the levels that were fused. So, I can still get those headaches they are just not as bad as they used to be and not as often. But when they do come on, I can now kick them out pretty quick. If not, it is facet injections. I had a bad spell last night as a matter of fact and did everything I could do at 1:00 am to stop it. And it finally went away.

Today I had facet injections at C2/C3 and then at L4/L5 and S1. Not pleasant at all but not horrendous either...just pretty badly inflamed facets. But I will tell you what the ride home was totally painfree! I KNOW it is because of the numbing medicine and it has started to wear off so I suspect there will be an increase in pain for a couple of days or so and then the steroid SHOULD start kicking in. If I get good relief from these, then he will go ahead and do the the Radiofrequency Ablation later on.

Hang in there Ellena; although it might seem like there is not much hope but there is! I went through the conservative bit for 3 years before anything was done. And that was very unusual. It is just that one NS refused to do anything. But my second NS sure did! And I think your doc sounds like he is on the right track. If you can't get any help then the very best recommendation I can make is to find a SPINAL pain management doctor. The one I have now was my saviour! And his background is in Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology. Pain Medicine and CERVICAL PATHOLOGY, meaning headaches coming from the cervical spine. I thank God I found him because there are not that many that have that background. I think I lucked out and only because a friend of mine told me about him 3 years ago or so. And he found the problem in ten seconds flat. Why then I ask myself, didn't the other group of PM's find this OVER THE COURSE OF 3 YEARS?! Ugh, that's another long story and I still get upset when I think about it. Anyway, hang in there...I know ON or Cervicogenic headaches are really difficult to diagnose. But once they are, you are well on your way towards relief of some kind.

Charliebubs,

I can imagine and even relate to feeling dumbfounded. When this all started 8years ago for me I didn't even know WHAT it was or WHY it was happening. Honestly, I thought I was having a stroke when it first happened. And...once I started in trying to find the cause I did NOT know the questions to ask until I started talking to other people going through the same thing. So, don't feel bad. It has taken many years and trials and tribulations and even fusions to get it all taken care of even though I have some residual pain. But I also know ON can be caused by other things...not necessarily the spine. I think that is why sometimes it is difficult for people to get diagnosed. As I said before, they started with trigger points around the greater and lesser occipital nerves. And during that whole time I had some really freaky pains, dizzy spells, nausea...you name it. I just didn't know where it was coming from. Anyway, if you can get the name of the procedure or what it is your doc is planning to do, please post back. The ONLY procedure I NEVER had done was a total destruction of the nerves in the back of the head. My original PM mentioned that procedure in the very beginning. I thought it was a cool idea UNTIL he said that I would never feel the back of my head again. And again, I said, well, so what...it is better than being in pain 24/7! But he said not really...alot of his patients hated the numbness and wished they could feel again. But this procedure he was speaking of was NOT the ablation I was speaking of. I wish I could remember the name of it but I opted out at that time since he had already said I would need a fusion someday. As it turned out, he was right.