[Minnesota Girl]

Hi. I would just like to have an opinion on my MRI result of the C-Spine, if surgery is an option? My reports reads: Mild degenerative disc diease with a mild broad-based bulge of the disc osteophyte complex, slightly greater on the left. Mild uncinate hypertrophy on that side, no canal or neural foraminal stenosis.
My sysmptoms severe Right arm pain with numbness and tingling, radiates all the way down arm to hand. Was so excruciating I was unable to sleep, had to rub arm to get any type of relief which was not much. Burning pain in upper back with pain to touch skin. Was put on Pain Medications with no relief to Rt arm. hospitalized and put on More pain medications, along with Neurontin and Mobic with great relief. Being referred to Neurosurgeon, however wondering if this is a surgical treatment necessary based upon results. I do not want to live on medications for pain relief.
Appreciate input.

[Jomar]

I hope the members here can help you out.

mild broad-based bulge of the disc osteophyte complex, slightly greater on the left.

I'm not sure but I think since the bulge is greater on the left and you have right side arm pain, I don't know if it is the cause of symptoms.
More experienced members can clarify that I'm sure.

could you have some sort of RSI- (repetitive strain injury)?
What kind of work, hobbies or sports do you do?

Have you had any expert PT at all?
Often the more advanced PTs can/will do the actual evaluations to figure out what might be a true cause of sx , more so than MDs.
That is what I have found for the most part.

Could also be trigger point related-
info-
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread125577.html
TOS & RSI info -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread84.html

[Dr. Smith]

Originally Posted by Jo*mar

I'm not sure but I think since the bulge is greater on the left and you have right side arm pain, I don't know if it is the cause of symptoms.

That actually does make sense in some situations. With the bulge on the left, there can be corresponding compression on the right, which can be the cause of the pressure on nerves causing pain. Of course this is all hypothetical.

I very much agree that the right physical therapy should be tried first, and that may take a couple/few tries to find the right therapist with commensurate knowledge, experience, & skill.

Trigger point therapy worth looking at/into also; again, therapist expertise dependent.

Minnesota Girl, I can appreciate your not wanting to live on meds, but they may be necessary to get you through trying some other therapies/treatments short of surgery. Surgery often sounds like the quick fix, but it carries some risks they don't always tell you about (or adequately). It's also not necessarily all that quick; recovery/rehab can sometimes take months, and one surgery can be the beginning of many more to follow. Surgery should always/only be the absolute last resort after all other options have been exhausted and after multiple opinions (and lots of homework). Reason: It cannot be undone. It may be able to fix what's wrong with your spine, but may not be able to fix the pain, and may make it worse.

See if you can get a referral to Pain Management, which should offer you some other options than meds & surgery.

Nobody likes the idea of living on pain meds, but for some, they are the best (and sometimes only) option. Better than the alternative, but hopefully that won't be necessary either - still many options to consider/try.

Best wishes,

Doc

[Jomar]

I forgot to ask, what level of the c spine was mentioned in the report?
c4, c5 c6 etc.

[ginnie]

Hi minnasota girl, sorry you are having trouble with your cervical spine. I have had two surgeries on my cervical spine, and am now fused C3-7. When I was first having problems, I went for several different opinions before I had the surgery. Of course I didn't want to live on pain medications eithor, and I was not real fond of the idea of surgery. I especially didn't want the second surgery. Please consider all your options carefully before any decision is made. I went to several different kinds of specialists while I was being evaluated. In my case, I had no choice if I wanted quality of life. Surgery is really the last thing you want to do if at all possible. I would try all other recommendations first. My surgery did wind up working for me, and it was the right thing to do, to seek out all the other opinions. ginnie