Hello, everyone! Over the past few weeks I've had increased numbness in my neck/throat and head (particularly behind the ears, but also throughout the lower face). The numbness lessens and strengthens, but had been constantly present for the least week. I've had a strange constant head pressure and frequent tingling/burning on the head/face for about 3 years, but noone's been able to diagnose it with confidence. (I had a head MRI in Feb2011 and it was "unremarkable".) Right now they are treating it primarily as migraines, which I also get regularly. I had an ACDF at C4-7 in Nov 2011 and then laminectomies with fusion/instrumentation at the T3-4 and T9-10 last Sept and then the same at the L2-S1 in Nov 2012. All of the surgeries were due to severe spinal stenosis with signal interference in the cord. I still have a lot of numbness/tingling at those levels. I'm taking gabapentin (5 x 300mg) and occasionally soma and hydrocodone, but those only when my overall pain level is really high.

With all that background in mind, could the neck numbness be due to a new problem in the cervical area? Could the continued numbness in the thoracic area indicate a problem there that could be causing the neck problem? Or could it be non-spine/nerve related? I have an appointment with the neurologist on the 13th, but wanted to get some ideas ahead of time so I can go in with more info and poss questions.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks!
Leigh Ann

You SHOULD be seeing a NEUROSURGEON, but you should have had a new MRI with and without contrast material BEFORE your appointment. It seems to me you need a cervical MRI right now -- and if they can't find anything amiss there, then perhaps a thoracic MRI after that.

I don't know what the Neurologist is going to be able to tell you, without any new films. He's probably just going to have you have new films done. But I still think you should see a NeuroSURGEON.

I wish you the very best. Let us know what the reports says, will you? If you don't understand it, we can decipher it for you. God bless & take care. Hugs, Lee

I'm scheduled to see the neurologist as a follow-up to the migraines, not this numbness, but I plan on speaking to him about it. I'm sched to see the neurosurgeon in July as a follow-up to the surgeries and if there's still numbness in the thoracic area to do a new MRI before seeing him. I'm supposed to call his office in early June to let them know if it's needed. I'm kind of hoping the neurologist will go ahead and sched a new cervical mri and maybe new head one, too. If not, I'll ask the NS about a new cervical one with the thoracic. I'm not sure what's going on, but I'd really like to get an answer and I know more testing is needed. Although the neck to head numbness is new, the head pressure and tingling has been going on for a while now. It's not truley dibilitating right now, but certainly is uncomfortable and can make it difficult to concentrate at work. I'll let you know what happens with any mri's. Appreciate your support!