My sister, who has 6 lesions in her brain, got back the results of her spinal MRI last week. Turns out she has between 2 and 4 cervical discs pressing on her spinal nerves! I find it almost too hard to believe that the two things are independent and unrelated, considering that if both were to occur naturally and for "non pathologic" reasons, the most likely cause of either (or both) would be "old age", and she's not even 40 yet. Soooo, I was wondering if there was any MS-related reason why discs could be pressing on her nerves. Inflammation? Degeneration? The info from her doctors has been filtered through her, so is not very complete. All I know is that the neurologist, after seeing the very significant squishing of her spinal nerves, said that consideration of an MS diagnosis would be put off while they dealt with the cervical disc problem, which was an imminent danger. However, the neuro said based on the pressure as seen in the MRI, it was *her* opinion that it did not explain all of sister's symptoms (lack of feeling in limbs, loss of balance, lower body weakness, etc.). My sister then saw the neurosurgeon who said they needed to operate right away and that the damage was already permanent and that she'd need OT afterwards. He didn't address the MS possibility at all, and why should he, since she wasn't there about the brain lesions.

My mom is reading the info from my sister as saying that the problem is "only" the cervical discs, which will be fixed by surgery on Monday (very quick response and turnaround by the neuro profession!!!); I'm reading it as saying that they are addressing one problem and will go back and revisit the topic of brain lesions later, but that it by no means indicates that the brain lesions are innocent.

And I can't help worrying that the cervical disc problem may have been caused by MS, since I have a hard time believing that she would have two statistically rare neurological problems at the same time.

Thoughts? Thank you! (I asked her how the neuro thought the cervical disc problem happened, and sister was-justifiably-irritated with me, and said no. As if she doesn't have enough to worry about.....I shut up and came here! She has done nothing to injure her neck.....)

As one who had this surgery in 2001, I can say it helped tremendously! The pain and weakness in my arm was gone. And theybegan to question the MS diagnosis because the timeline of symptoms started with that pain with an auto accident a year prior to the MS diagnosis. I am told that whiplash can cause these cervical discs to rupture and press on nerves. I am also told that the banging around in the skull of the brain with such impact as an accident presents, can cause lesions or scarring in the brain which can mean nothing or can have residual effects.

So they may be related but MS does not cause discs to slip (at least I don't think it does).

and about 3 or 4 years later was rearended in my car 3 times in one crappy winter. No, I said that wrong. I should say 3 different crappy drivers, not paying attention to traffic ahead, hit the rearend of my car in one winter; one had no brakes, knew it, but was out driving on the icy roads anyway. Another was going along at the speed limit (40 mi.per hr), never looked up to see the intersection ahead with cars waiting at the red light. My car was last in line waiting at the red light, she hit me without ever looking up or slowing even. The 3rd time was similar to this, where I was (last again!) in a line of stopped traffic and was hit by someone yacking away without watching ahead.

After each hit, I had neck pain for a few weeks, which went away and nothing else happened ('least not right away anyway). At that time, I was already absorbed in trying to stay on-the-job while trying to keep my MS foot drop, imbalance and fatigue from showing, I let the rearending stuff go out of thought.

The 2nd spring following the winter of those rearendings, my right arm became a mess; I'm right handed too. It hurt like he_ _, the muscles on it twitched 24/7, the pain and weakeness worsened on upward movement so that I couldn't use my right arm to reach up and touch my head, wash my hair, or barely write anything on paper. Lying down to sleep was the only time that produced pain in the site of injury, my neck, but that was lost in noise of what was going on in my right arm. I went to an ortho doctor (not my neuro) who dxed it as tennis elbow, told me to do these certain sets of exercises, and so on.

1, I'd tried to play tennis once in my much younger life, didn't have the coordination for it, so gave it up. I don't remember completing 1 game even. 2, the exercises (involving pulling a rubber band hooked to a door knob out in various angles) produced even more pain and no relief.

I finally went to my neuro. As I had expected, she told me it was MS doing this to my arm. I loved that neuro (now deceased), she was a good listener. I knew if I felt strongly that it was not MS, but something else (which I had no idea what that something else could be), she wouldn't remain stuck in her view. I just happen to lack the energy to convince or talk at the time.

Well anyway, I stuck to my guns and convinced her, I felt strongly that this thing in my right arm was not MS related. She said "Ok then, let's do an MRI on your spine and see what going on."

When I saw her on follow up, she was really upset, demanded to know what I had done to my neck? I had no idea, as I thought it was my arm, not my neck. She showed me the MRI. I nearly passed out. It was awful. My spinal cord was pressed up against the inside of the neck column bones and squeezed narrow in the place that 2 flat tires that once had been normal disks that resembled tires full of air. After I recovered from the near passing out shock of what I saw, I began to ask her what could cause this.

She showed me the nerves that were pinched that came out between those toppled disks that ran down the arm to the hand, and explainded how that produces all the arm problems and symptoms I was having. She told me the usual causes, one of them was whip lash most commonly produced in car accidents. I then told her about the 3 rearendings and the few weeks of neck pain that I'd had each time.

She then explained that it takes time following injury for disks to degenerate.

She scheduled me in with a neurosurgeon, and I drove home. I pulled over off the road a couple of times (into parking lots and parked BTW) as I drove home to put my head between my knees to keep from fully passing out. I'd never reacted to anything in this fashion before. But, those films were so horrid I guess I just couldn't absorb the shock of what I saw.

This was IN addition to existing, similar type threats posed by MS. Plus, at the time, I was still somewhere between shock, denial and mourning my MS dx -- coming to terms with that alone was still years away.

Now getting back to task.., I went to the neuro surgeon. I was not ready (literally coudn't stomach it) for the surgical procedure he explained to me. After a very emphatic "no" from me, he offered some isometric expercises to try. I started the exercises and SUPRISE, I was able to get things calmed down to point I was out of pain (at least the intesity of it anyway) and gain back use of my arm.

That was all years ago now. I no longer have that same revulsion reaction when I think of the surgury, and am now more calmed about the thing and mentally prepared to undergo that _ _ _ _ neck surgery. Those isometric expercises aren't doing the job as well as they had early on, so, I went back to my neuro about 2.5 years ago to see if we could get the surgery option back on the table. She ran spinal MRIs and discovered an MS lesion on the area of the cord that would be manipulated by the surgery. She said the surgery would be too risky with that volitile lesion there, and to keep the isometrics up without pause, take a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDS) like Advil, and wait a couple of years and see.

I had another spinal MRI done 2 mos. ago. I now have more spinal lesions to add to my list, but, the one that was new (2.5 years ago) in the area of the damaged disks is now inactive. I have just moved and haven't had time build confidence in my new doctors yet, but, when I do, I will once again pursue seeing if the surgury is something I should do or not.

In short, I wish I'd had the "guts" to have gotten that surgery back when I could have years ago. Isn't hindsight always 20/20?

Over time, I've developed cognitive and memory problems from brain lesions, but one thing that I remember vividly is the series of near pass outs over seeing pics of my spinal cord, and the feelings that whole thing produced. I also remember where I was in my abilty to deal with MS, work and recent rejection by my husband (tore my heart up) making me single parent of our two very active young sons at the time too. To say I was more than overwhelmed is truly an underexpression of my state of mind at the time. This is to say, any guilt I feel now because of my decision back then, I can forgive myself for, as I still remember well the fearful, confusing place I was in at that time. I'm out of that awful place now and have been for a half dozen years or more now.

Here's a good one I've heard along the way - "Time heals all wounds and wounds all heels".

My unforgivable regret though, is I never took any legal action against any of those drivers that rearended me. But, maybe time...naaah, not gonna go there.

Hey Texas, IMNew2Tx, too

My sister said the same thing-that seeing her MRI literally made her sick, it was so horrible to look at. FWIW, her surgery was last Monday, and she was home within 24 hours, it was that easy!!!! My mom couldn't believe they'd really send her home that quickly, but they did and my sis was up and moving around (albeit with a sore throat). AND she's already getting tingling sensations in areas that had been numb for a long time, indicating returning feeling already! As I indicated in another thread here, her neuro is now blowing off the six lesions found in her brain after finding the nerve compression in her neck, which I'm not sure is a good idea, but I guess she'll eventually know one way or the other, for better or worse, eh, if it's something more....

Good luck getting your herniation fixed! It's truly an amazing surgery. My sis had it done up in Chicago.

When I had sx of a cervical herniation, I went to my family doc. After examining me he said that it could either be a cervical herniation or MS. It was going to take a while to get me into my neuro so he said to go ahead and get an MRI. Well it showed the herniation and he got me in to see a neurosurgeon right away who scheduled me for surgery the next day. I couldn't believe the pain relief I felt even in the recovery room. One of the best things I ever did!!!!

I didn't know u are new 2 Tx 2! You'll have to PM me and let me know what part you are in.

And WOW I didn't see your post re your sister's surg. and speedy recovery either! I am encouraged by what you have to say and by what Cherie and Doydie said too re their surgeries. Maybe they have improved the surgical techniques on disks since I was last 'spained-up on it.. what now? guess 15 years ago by the neurosurgeon I saw.

I have multiple herniated disks in my neck and lower back. I've also scanned thousands of them and have come to several conclusions.

Disk herniations - so many people have them and don't even know it. Disks degenerate before they herniate. Most people are in poor condition from a muscular point of view. They go to the gym and lift weights (or not) but don't give enough attention to the muscles which help to support the trunk. These are the so-called core muscles. A weak core places a big load on the spinal column; eventually, the disks begin to degenerate because they were never intended to do as much load-bearing as they are forced to do when people become soft in the gut.

Now ask yourself when the last time was that you tried to do exercises to strengthen your neck muscles. The answer is probably never. So, the cervical spine and disks are forced to support the head for a lifetime. This is why they try physical therapy to alleviate neck-related problems. Often, it's too little too late. Those who have no neck problem should take advantage of their good health and look into exercises to strengthen the neck, both front and back. The soreness we get from whiplash is actually a good barometer of our poor muscular state-of-health.

Without my anti-inflammatory meds (Naprosyn - you can get a weaker, OTC dose called Alleve) my cervical disks become very symptomatic - my arm buzzes painfully as if it's been plugged into a wall socket! It's awful! But the Naprosyn keeps it in check. I don't want any neck surgery; it's risky - far more so than lower back surgery (I don't want that either) because of the presence of the spinal cord. Infection is a real risk, too. An epidural steroid injection can provide lasting relief...the anti-inflammatory steroid is injected very near the site of the disk lesion. As for the MRIs, the appearance of a bad neck can be exaggerated by the presence of a sprain, which straightens the curve and brings the disks closer to the spinal cord...this is temporary. Also, if the spine is not positioned perfectly, it can appear on certain image slices as though the cord is entrapped by the bone, when in fact it is not.

With medication and rest, most acute spinal problems resolve without intervention. Disk herniations periodically "act up", but surgery is rarely needed...nor is it necessarily the end of your troubles. Scar tissue from the surgery often necessitates a second surgery to remove it.

Hi y'all! I'm a newbie. I too have cervical herniation and spondylosis. A lot of disc degeneration for being 45. Anyhow, I had to strongarm my Dr into getting a brain MRI along with my spinal because I have been having so many symptoms continually for 5 months and on and off for years. He thinks its all in my head, duh! So, I have changed family docs and get to finally see a neurologist on Thursday. Possible MS diagnosis is how is stands now. We'll see. Anyhow, on the cervical disc thing, it's chickens and eggs, who's to say which comes first, I think it is all related. One symptom or another leads us to finding this disease, but no one seems to know where it all starts. Bummer.

When lesions were found on my brain, the doc ordered a lumbar puncture, various blood tests, evoked potential, etc. Although there were other indications, when an MRI was taken of my neck (cervical)...with and without contrast...lesions showed up there too. Wouldn't lesions always show up on another place on your MRI's when you have MS? In other words, if no lesions were seen on Foot Print's sister's other spinal MRI's, would that mean that MS is not an issue? Please excuse my lack of understanding of it. Guess I am just in the beginner stages of learning about it.

sally

Are you saying that there's a conncetion between MS and herniated disks?