I know about that post op pain for cervical fussion. Both of us seem to have gone through that experience. It was a 10 at times, but now, the pain is less than I could have thought possible. It was worth it, but boy they make us go through alot to get to that point. ginnie

Hi ginnie.,wel surgery was 1/24/11 and today is 3/14/11,and there is improvement,however still slow,going crazy not being able to do much,no driving,..still have some pain,however i wonder as to how it will be when i am able to do what i was doing b4 the surgery...i am limited as to how far i can turn,and swallowing has gotten better,but not 100% yet..i still have tingling in my arm and legs ,but comes and goes.

I have a similar condition to what you have. tingling and intense pain in my hands arms and shoulders. I have yet to see my surgeon on the 15th to discuss a treatment plan for me. Have already gotten two cortisone shots, two weeks apart, pain usually returns between a week and 10 days. Last week, I had a Stellar Ganglon Root block, a rather painful injection in the front of my neck. that was not as effective as the cortisone shots, but served as a diagnosis of where my pain might come from.

I am also undergoing physical therapy, which involves repeated next traction, heat, ultrasound, and massage. The PT doesn't seem to do that good for me. Some of my own exercises I've developed, seem to work just a little better, and my PT instructor says they are safe to do.

As a computer programmer, my programming days have ended. I cannot use the keyboard anymore, and have to rely on MacSpeech Dictate, a nice program which takes down my dictation. It works quite well, but does not get along with Skype, so I cannot receive calls during dictation.

If you wind up deciding to get surgery, I would be most interested in knowing what type of surgery will be. There are several types, some of which are noninvasive endoscopic treatments, which in my case, I am not a candidate, because my condition is far in advance.

My condition started happening last July, it came on rather suddenly over a period of a few weeks. I do not know the cause of why it happened, it could've been just a simple situation where I slept kind of funny.

John

Hello and of course I wish you well in having your cervical spine evaluated. I have had multipal surgeries on my cervical spine, with all of those symptoms you mentioned. My last was Aug 30th ten weeks ago. I presented with all of what you said and it was a successful fussion C3-7 a big big surgery. I am fine 10 weeks later with more relief than I ever hoped possible. If you do have to have surgery, keep in touch with this list, they helped me through it all and gave me hope that things will turn out OK. This surgery hurt alot, it was a 10 at times while healing, but gosh It was worth it to get the relief from pain that I had. I was on morphine for 7 years after a failed fussion at C6-7. Get second and third opinion, and make sure you understand all the medical terminology. ASK QUESTIONS do not be afraid. Let me know if you need anything as I do have a good knowledge of proceedures. ginnie and by the way good luck to you

hello,

I have had my c-5 thru c-7 fused on june 14, 2010. I have pain now in the middle of my shoulder blades, burning pain. I take two norcos a day and still have pain. The doctor hasn't cleared me to work will I ever be normal again?

[Sorry you still have pain after your surgery. I did go to three months of physical therapy. Were you able to do the therapy after your surgery. I have great mobility after fusion of C3-7. ginnie

I am now 5 weeks post op of ACDF of C5-6 C6-7 with plate and screws. Generally I am pain free as long as I do not do anything stupid. I managed to get a 24 hour stomach bug. My neck hurts for 2 days after that. Hope I did not do any damage to my neck when I was worshiping the bowl. If I am typing on the computer for more than a 1/2 hour I get numbness in my shoulder and my left hand gets numb. Not sure why. My surgeon does not believe in PT after the surgery, doesn't want any of the hardware to move. I go back next week. Hope by rotation has increased so that I feel comfortable to drive and the xray shows some fusion.

[I was sick from the pain. No there was no permanent damage from the visit to the bowl. It did hurt though. I still have issues with swallowing almost 8 months later. Neuro still maintains this is normal. I also have nodes in thyroid that are not dangerous. I need water to drink while I have a meal. I will get my throat check out with a ENTS. Surgial site was long in my neck. Af course all the nodes were moved out of the way also. So I am not real sure yet why there are still swallowing issues. ginnie Post almost 8 months C-3-7

Ginnie,
The swallowing problems could be from the thyroid. I had 3 masses, 2 in front and one in back. Always felt lump in throat. When I started seeing adams apple, that really scared me. I wish you luck.
Saucer

I had my 1st surgery C3 C4 and trimmed C5.This was
in 2006 and it went reasonably good.I still had some
pain but it was so much better that I talked a family
member into having it done.Then in 2008 pain returned
in arm and shoulder and I thought my left eye was
going to pop out.Back to same neurosurgeon and had
surgery C5 C6, he removed old hardware and replaced
with new.After I awoke from surgery I knew something
was wrong,I could not use left arm and pain was still
there.I went to therapy for 3 month and was finally
told to stop.I was left with extreme weakness in left
arm and can't raise it above shoulder. I have little control

of it and pain worse than before.I was left with no
voice and the icing on top was my surgeon was kill
in a plane crash,his own plane.I am currently in
Pain management and in process of deciding on
a spinal stimulator implant . I wish you the best of
luck,but there are risk as I live them now!
MZ33