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Originally Posted by jkl626
Very Interesting. Where is your disc bulge? Mine is C5-6. I keep feeling that there is a connection between bulging discs and TOS. Dr. Jordan wanted to do a Brachial Plexus Nerve Block with Pulsed Radiofrequency to help with the nerve pain in my arm also, but after I saw him last that pain has not been too bad. I didnt go through with it,because I was not convinced and it scared me a little. Also there is not that much research on it.
The Facet block he recommended is for my disc also to see if some of the pain is coming from there. He thinks Cervical epidurals should be the last thing because they are more risky.Did you do the epidural and facet block together? Who did them for you? Did it make your TOS symptoms worse?
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My neck MRI from August 2011 showed a disc bulge also at C5/C6. But a redid the MRI recently (April 2012) and there was no indication of the bulge. According to my doctors, discs regenerate over time so I guess that's what happened. I had the epidural done first in December 2011. After that didn't help, I did an EMG which came back negative. My doctor said that medial branch nerve damage does not usually show on the EMG so he convinced me to get the facet block (in January 2012) to see if it helps and to confirm his diagnosis for Cervical Facet Syndrome. Because it gave me some relief I did the ablation in February.
The doctor who did these in NJ (as I am from NY). After I went back to him for follow-up to tell him it didn't help, he told me to go to physical therapy (for the second time). I went for 10 weeks and I got worse. So I am not sure if the epidural or block particularly made me worse, or the physical therapy or the combination of all this. But I am much more worse now. But on my follow up after 4 weeks of physical therapy, the same doctor told me I was faking my pain (in better words) and that he had no idea what to do next. The entire time he was also only focused on my neck and told me he did not know where my right shoulder, arm and hand pain or the pain in my occipital lobes was coming from.
The epidural is basically a lot of steroids injected into your cervical spine. The block is usually either a numbing medication, steroid, or a combination from what I was told. Even if you are able to confirm that the bulge may be causing some of your symptoms, I don't believe these procedures can make you entirely sure.
My current doctor is also having me do a block to my brachial plexus (lower trunk). I am going ahead with it next week to see if my cervical ribs are compressing my lower trunk since that is what he believes (and I need some answers).
Let me know if you have any other questions.