I had an ATV accident at work three years ago and I herniated 8 spinal disks - 5 cervical and three thoracic. The pain has been a nightmare and I am currently up to 40mg/day of hydrocodone to manage the pain and I continue to work on light duties. My doctor has been ineffective and I just recently changed (hoping for a more attentive doctor). I have tried everything from laser light therapy to ESIs.

My injuries have not improved in three years. My most recent MRI (Jun23) shows that my cervical hernias have worsened (increased in size) and are now causing moderate flattening of the cord with moderate to severe foramenal stenosis on the affected disks.

Except for a short period of temporary disability, I have worked continuously since my injuries on light duty. Much of my work is sitting down and working at the computer - though I do also have to do a lot of walking, as well.
Due to the pain, my activity in my personal life is practically zero.

My concern is that my continued working is causing my condition to deteriorate to dangerous conditions. Like many Workers Comp doctors, my doctor will ask ME if I want to keep working. I am like an athlete that will try to shake off a serious injury, get pumped with a steroid, and get back in the game. I want to work. But I am now worried that I am seriously harming myself by continued work. I rely on my doctor to know what is best for me, but they all seem to not even know or care. They'll just do whatever you say. I even had a doctor ask ME what I wanted to do - I answered that I wanted to get fixed.

Dose anyone have any knowledge or experience or advice about what to do with worsening disk hernias? What kind of activity will cause a cervical disk hernia to get worse?