ACDF recovery and new pain issues
 

I had two level acdf almost 5 weeks ago. The surgery was successful and the pain and numbness in my right arm is gone :)

I am now dealing with post-surgical pain, soreness and basically the blah's. I have a stabbing pain in the cervical region of my spine and my left shoulder and left upper arm are extremely sore. I started physical therapy 2 weeks post-op and can turn my head slightly, but the pain can be overwhelming. My neurosurgeon has me taking Tylenol for pain but it doesn't do anything. I told him that I have been feeling poorly for the past 3 weeks and he told me to see my primary physician.

I went to my primary physician and told her that I tire easily and my throat is tender and lymph nodes have been swollen for 3 weeks. She ran a series of blood tests and everything came back normal except the Epstein-Barr virus panel which showed the virus had been active in my body in the past (this was news to me). She doesn't know why I feel so poorly and prescribed a Meddrol dose pack to reduce the swelling in my neck and throat. I have not started this yet.

Have others have on-going throat and neck issues after acdf? Will the pain on my left side lessen or go away? I feel like I traded one pain for another except this time, I can't even get anything to help me tolerate the pain. Driving and sitting at my computer seem to make things worse. I have an 80 mile round trip commute to work everyday where I sit at a computer. See the problem? Any advice is welcome. Thanks.

Acdf
 

Hello,
My son who is 25 had ACDF three weeks ago today. His was of c5/6. He felt great within days after the surgery and noticed a lot of the numbness and nerve pain has gone away. Still no feeling in pink fingers but a significant improvement. He had post op appt. last thursday and still feeling good. Doctor lifted some of his restrictions but told him be cautious and listen to his body. After a couple of days of driving and increasing his other activities (yard work, house work...) he all of a sudden started getting a new pain. He said it is painful at the base of his neck. I have been doing a lot of reading about this and it seems this is completely normal for this type of surgery. According to some info I found, your muscles and ligaments have been traumatized by the surgery and are now trying to find new ways of functioning around the fusion. Hope that makes sense. Could also be muscle spasms. He had weaned off of the percoset a week after surgery and doing really well but in light of this new pain, yesterday they put him back on pain meds as tylenol wasn't doing anything for him. He was so depressed yesterday and feels like he was making great strides and now has taken several steps backwards. Anyway, I hope you are able to find some relief in your pain and I joined this site hopefully to help better understand his situation and for added support.

This is exactly what happened to me. My surgery was 6 weeks ago today and my new pain had increased in the past 3 weeks. I am going back to my Dr. on Friday. I also weaned myself off percocet but am going to ask for more when I see the Dr. I have been doing to PT for 4 weeks now and had a progress evaluation today. I told the therapist that I feel worse now than when I started PT. He said that sometimes after surgery, people develop nerve hypersensitivity and it can take months before they calm down. Keep me posted on your son's progress. We are having a similar experience.