I'm new here so please be patient lol. I've had surgery on my l4 and l5 (fusion) with hardware in 2008. I had it removed in 2010. I had surgery on my l5 s1 in May. I had to have another surgery in August because I had an abscess in my incision. I have had bone spurs in my neck which hadn't bothered me in a few years. But within the last 3 months or so I have had constant pain and numbness in my shoulder blade arm and wrist. I had an mri done and it says: i have mild to moderate DDD at c4 -C7. C4-5. mild posterior disc bulge and osteophytosis measuring 2-3mm and mild spinal stenosis.Canal measures 9mm. moderate right and severe left neural foramnal narrowing. C5-6 mild disc bulge and osteophytosis measuring 2-3mm. canal measures 9-10mm. Moderate right and severe left neural foraminal narrowning. Severe bilateral neural foraminal arrowning. C-6C7 mild disc buldg and osteophytosis 2-3mm. Mild central spinal stenosis. Canal measures 9-10 mm. moderate right and severe left nueral foraminal narrowing.

I have a very good neurosurgeon but I want help in understanding what my mri means. My right side is constantly in pain and numbness and my thumb and part of my arm are constantly "itching". The tingling is getting like pins and needles. I'm getting headaches and have trouble sleeping. I am on 10-325 norco and soma. They're not working well anymore. I hope I wasn't too confusing. Any input would be amazing. Thank you for reading and posting any input. It's a huge help.

heather,

Hello and welcome, happy to see you have come to be with us, it a great place to be. As you can see we have a great number and caring fellow members here, where you have find a supportive and relaxing place. Have fun looking into the different forums. Our shoulders are here for support in many ways.

Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Darlene

Welcome heather1620.

Hello heather1620,

Welcome to the NeuroTalk Support Groups!

I'm very sorry you're in so much pain.

I'll leave the link here to the Spinal Disorders & Back Pain Forum

There are posts in the "STicky" threads at the top of that forum that may be of help to you with understanding the MRI terminology.

Medical Dictionary & MRI/CT Terminology

Take care there.

Thank you for the Mri dictionary link. It was helpful. Has anyone experienced the itching in hands and wrist? It feels like I'm going to scratch until I bleed. My arm has started doing the same in various places. I'm using "infused" rubbing alcohol and it helps but just briefly. I feel like nobody understands how I feel. I feel alone and defeated. I know there are others with more severe medical problems but I would like to know that there are others out there that can relate to what I'm feeling.

I know how you feel , I have had surgery on c4-c7 in 2009 and I am back in pain with all kinds of issues but I also experience the itching that you talk about . my arms and hands itch... I think it is caused when the nerves are starting to feel again .. not sure though but my fingers itch all the time ... they go from numb to itchy and numb again .. you are not alone