30yo C6-7 ruptutre
 

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.

Unless the surgeon had a really good reason for the surgery to be done immediately, I'd get a second opinion. I had ACDF in January and it went fine, no problems now -- but my doctor didn't insist that I have the surgery the next week. I had time to investigate options - for me, surgery was the best answer. I think you should ask another doc and weigh that with how you're feeling. Just my .02
Kelly

What disk was yours, and how long ago was the surgery?

oh and what was your recovery time?

Mine was C6-7 with a boatload of scar tissue as well. Surgery was Dec. 13, 07. Recovery time - it wasn't bad at all. I was off work for six weeks but I don't think I needed to be off that long necessarily. My doctor is very conservative (no lifting over 2 lbs the first six weeks). I'm still on some restrictions (no lifting over 20 lbs) but I'm using 10 lb weights at the gym and back to my regular workout for the most part aside from bench pressing. I have x-rays June 3 at which time I expect to be fused -- in March (12 week point), I was already halfway fused. No problems, no range of motion issues, no pain ... it really wasn't bad at all. That being said, I'm in decent physical shape and had good muscle tone going in to surgery and I fully believe that assisted in my recovery. I do sometimes have muscle spasms if I overdo it - but they are pretty minor. Would I have this surgery again? Absolutely. Good luck.
Kelly