Hello everyone.

I recently had a cervical MRI done by my orthopedic doctor and now that I have the actual report in hand (which I didn't the last time I saw him) It looks kind of scary to me and while I am generally good at looking things up and work in a health care field, I can't seem to find a lot of info on this MRI.

I will start by saying that I have had some degree of neck pain pretty much constantly for the last 8 years. My previous doctor told me that it was fibromyalgia and there was nothing he could do, I just needed to exercise more (I am quite active as it is). In December of last year, I developed pain in my back and legs that was so bad I couldn't even put my own pants and shoes in in the morning. My new PCP sent me to a rheumatologist because my sed rate and CRP were very high, and he said "the fibromyalgia diagnosis stands" and that I had a severe vitamin d deficiency, gave me 12 weeks of vitamin D pills and said he would see me in 4 months. I went back to my PCP and told her I was still in immense pain and that this was not ok, so she ordered an MRI of my lumbar area. This showed a herniated disc putting pressure on the S1 nerve root, as well as disc and facet joint arthritis. I got a steroid shot in the area and lo and behold, the vast majority of the pain was gone.

At the same time I had been complaining because my elbows hurt and my hands were going pins and needles all the time. I was sent to an ortho doc specializing in hands and arms. He said it was bilateral carpal tunnel, plus ulnar nerve irritation and tendonitis and put me in wrist braces for 2 months and told me to come back after that if it was still happening. It was, so I went back and he ordered an EMG - no abnormalities in my wrists or elbows, the neurologist suggested perhaps I had fibromyalgia. So I was then referred to an ortho doc that specialized in spines, and he ordered a cervical MRI. At this time I was also going in for my spine shot, and the pain management doc did a series of reflex tests that the neuro and ortho docs didn't do and found that I have bilateral hyper reflexes in both arms and a positive Hoffman's sign. When I went back to see the orhto doc, he said that there was a lot more damage than he expected to see for someone my age (I am 33) and that he needed me to go back to the neurologist. I am now waiting to see the neurologist again, but I have very little hope that they will say anything other than fibromyalgia now that I have somehow picked up that label (which, by the way, I do not have any of the fibro symptoms other than that I have had pain in 2 areas that has been shown to have a cause on MRI) So, 2 weeks later, I got the actual MRI report and as I said, it is scaring me a bit and I hoped I could get some feedback on it here.

MRI CERVICAL SPINE W/O CONTRAST
INDICATION
A 33-year-old female with neck pain and bilateral hand numbness.
TECHNIQUE
Sagittal T1, T2, inversion recovery, and axial 3D and gradient-echo
T2*, and T1 MR images of the cervical spine. No comparison.
FINDINGS
Cervical alignment and marrow signal are normal. There is cervical
cord abutment and increased T2 signal within the cord from C3
through C5 compatible with cervical myelomalacia secondary to disk
degeneration and ventral abutment as detailed below.
Craniocervical junctional anatomy is unremarkable as is C2-3.
C3-4 has moderate central canal stenosis with a mild posterior disk
bulge abutting and flattening the ventral aspect of the cervical
cord. Uncovertebral spurring encroaches the neural foramina.
C4-5 has moderate posterior osteophyte-disk complex and mild
uncovertebral spurring with ventral abutment, and flattening of the
cervical cord, and moderate central canal stenosis. Neural foramina
are mildly encroached.
C5-6 has mild uncovertebral spurring and mild posterior disk bulge
causing mild central canal stenosis. No cord abutment or
compression.
C6-7 and C7-T1 levels are unremarkable.
Paraspinal soft tissues and musculature are unremarkable.
Visualized posterior fossa is unremarkable. Cerebellar tonsils are
normal in position.
IMPRESSION
Moderate C3-4, C4-5 and to a lesser extent C5-6 degenerative disk
disease. Mild to moderate posterior osteophyte-disk complex and
disk bulging cause moderate central canal stenoses, primarily at C3-
4 and C4-5, with signs of cervical myelomalacia.
I suspect there is underlying degree of short pedicles and
congenital narrowing of the central canal.

xrays also show I have mild kyphosis in my neck.

The most concerning thing for me is the myelomalacia, which I can't seem to find much about on the internet. Is this as bad as it sounds? My ortho doc seemed very unconcerned about the whole thing, but did mention that they would have to surgery at some point to decompress the cord, but didn't sound like it would need to be any time soon.

Thanks!