Hi there,

I read your other post and then this one, and although I'm by no means an expert on reading your MRI, I do have first hand experience to how you are feeling, how frustrating it is to understand it all, and how tiring and depressing the chronic pain is to handle. Please hang in there, try to stay as positive as you can, a good attitude really helps you feel better.

I have DDD which was complicated by repetive strain injury, and had 5 disc herniations in my C spine before having an ACDF on C5, C6 & C7 on March 2 of this year. I have a titanium plate and 6 screws w/ cadaver bone. My surgery went well, no complications really, but it did NOT solve my pain or issues with nerve damage. I still have a lot of pain in my cervical spine, I still have numbness in my fingers, I still have a lot of pain in my traps, shoulders and down my arms. The surgery did help with my neck, I was to the point that I couldn't move very much without being in complete agony, and my range of motion is a bit better now. I'm glad I had the surgery. But surgery will not cure you of your pain. I also made sure I exhausted ALL options before I had the surgery, and you should too.

Your MRI only shows "mild" narrowing and "small" disc protrusions, so in my opinion you should wait as long as possible before having surgery. Get many opinions and learn everything you can. The surgery is rough, the recovery is very long (I'm still off work and it's been 5 months) and once they go into your neck they disrupt nerves and muscles and really aggravate everything in your neck. Don't rush into anything.

Be careful with the pushups, find a good physiotherapist that can help you with posture and make sure you don't overdo it with free weights if you are going to the gym a lot. Take care of your body, be kind to your neck.

Try ice packs and heating pads, I alternate them, also, biofreeze can offer a bit of relief when trying to get comfortable to sleep at night. I have a hard time with the pain in my hands also when sleeping, and biofreeze helps a bit. Light massages help a bit, and if you really want to work out try doing it in a pool, much kinder on your neck and it relieves some of the pressure off the nerves.

I hope you find some answers you are looking for. This is a great forum, there are lots of others who can offer great tips, words of wisdom and support.

Take care and keep us posted on what the dr says.
Cathie