Hello all. As the title states Im a 30 year old, with a ruptured disk resulting from car vs bike accident on 1/15/08. I wasnt in much pain at first then it got progressively worse over the next few weeks, till I could barley move my left tricep. I went to an acupuncturist and have been relatively pain free for some time now, with intermittent numbness. I had a surgical consult with a neuro doc and he pushed me into surgery with the fear of complete loss of tricep over time. I am now freaking out, and wanting to postpone the Thursday date for diskectomy/ fusion.

I wouldn't have a surgery if the acupuncture is keeping you comfortable.

Maybe get a second opinion with another surgeon and have the MRI/ films for him to look at, not just the written report.
I'll copy this to out spinal forum for more answers there also.

here-
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum22.html

Thanks Jo.

Hello fish.freak and Welcome to NeuroTalk. I tend to agree w/Jo about getting another opinion if you haven't already. You sound like you have second thoughts about the surgery anyway.

But, as Jo pointed out; we have a wonderful spinal forum of which, she has given you directions. Please check out our other forums as well, and join in anywhere. Glad you found us and do let us know what you decide.

The others have given you some good advice so I'll just welcome you to NeuroTalk fish.freak.

You'll meet some fabulous people here so pull up a chair a make yourself right at home.

Hi fish! Welcome to NeuroTalk! Sorry for the accident - that must have been scary! I take it you were on the bike??

I have to agree with Jo - why mess with something if it's working for you. You can always decide later to have the surgery.

Good luck!!

fish.freak!

Good grief. Sorry to here about your wreck. And even more so about your injury. As far as advice, I can only repeat what you probably already know; weigh the risks and do what's best for you. It may become a bigger issue in years to come, but again, it's up to you to make that call.

Regardless of your decision, know this...

You are not alone.
You are one of us.
And we are here to help.

Hi, Fish freak! Welcome to NeuroTalk!

Oh man, that's nothing to fool with, please keep your appointment!

FF - I have two ruptured cervical disks with osteophytes and stenosis. I have been advised by more than one doctor that surgery is not recommended unless you absolutely cannot stand the pain any more.

You should never be "pushed" into a surgery unless it is life threatening. This is not.

Hi right back at you! My name is Mary Ann and I am now 53 yrs old. I got hurt at work in 1988 when I was checking the production on a machine in the plant, 2 other people had already been hurt on this machine; however, they neglected to tell me about it. The arm of this machine released and picked me up off the floor, dislocated my L. shoulder, and whiplashed my neck. I hit the concrete and when I came to @ 1 hour later I went to a company doc. He said I sprained a muscle in my neck, gave me 2 Darvocet, and sent me back to work. I had to call my husband and he took me to the e.r. They had to put my shoulder back in place. I have been dealing with this for 20 yrs. and I will pray for you. I waited for 10 yrs. to have surgery and by that time I could not feel my arms or legs at times, migraines almost every day, could not turn my head from L to R , or back and forward, had therapy for the past 20 yrs off and on the neck has gotten better but the lower back is only @ 30-40 % better. 2 days after they fused my neck they put a steel rod in my lower back cause I couldn't lean over and tie my shoes, take a shower by myself, shave my legs, or even take care of personal issues. I have also gained 100 pounds. Please do all you can not to give up and the less cutting the better in my opinion. Now they say I have 3 more ruptured discs, 1 above and 1 below where I had my neck done and 1 below the steel rod in my lower back. My doc says that all it is going to do is to keep putting more pressure on the rest or the discs and after a while, I will be straight as an arrow. If I had it to do all over again, I would have probably not had the lower back done at all. I would have taken all the therapy I could get, and especially Aqua therapy it's the best!!!! Hope I didn't bore you but felt like I could share cause I've been there and I am still here!!!