Hi there, and welcome.

I understand your pain, problems and frustrations also. I have suffered for years with my neck, arm, hand and finger pain. I've had 4 MRI's, 2 CT scans, Xrays, ultrasounds, EMG's, etc... I should 'glow' by now from all the radiation. After finding degenerative disc desease, 5 bulging discs with moderate to severe spinal stenosis, and bone spurs pushing on root nerves, I finally opted for surgery this past March (it's been almost 6 months) and I'm still in pain. Although my surgery helped some of my neck pain and movement issues, I still wake up every single day in pain and I still have severe nerve damage in my hand and fingers. I haven't returned to work after over a year and a half off. (Since I'm a graphic designer and need perfect control of my hand to do my job).

I tried everything before having surgery. Physio, accupuncture, reflexology, massages, meds, and nothing worked. The last resort was surgery and it did not fix all my pain. I still have time to heal, so all is not lost, but don't jump into surgery as a quick fix.

I had an anterior discetomy and fusion (at C5, C6, C7) with titanium plate and screws, and I will tell you it's a surgery from HELL! 8-1/2 weeks in a hard cervical collar, terrible swelling, trouble swallowing, horrible pain. Don't do it until you've exhausted all your options and get LOTS of opinions and learn as much as you can.

Surgeons are there to correct mechanical problems in our bodies, they can't heal nerves or fix nerve damage.

Trying to remain positive throughout the chronic pain is a struggle, I'm not able to do all the active things I did 3 years ago. I'm a young 40 year old mother of 2, and was very active and fit, but since these problems started I can no longer scuba dive, haven't been hiking or jogging or kayaking, but I've found other things that I can do instead, like walking and swimming. Focus on what you can do instead of what you can't. Get on the internet and google ACDF (anterior cervical discetomy with fusion) and learn about the different procedures. Try some holistic approaches first. Get a massage, try some yoga and meditation to keep you relaxed. Anything you can to keep your mind from focussing solely on the pain will help.

If you have any questions feel free to send me an email. I'm on here quite a bit.

Hope you find some answers and relief.

Take care,
Cathie