I never told anyone to sit on their bum. The recliner is used for sleeping. Geez, I was up and around the day of sugery. Had it early in the morning and by that afternoon I had already walked most of the halls in the hospital. You move or you lose.

I had ACDF on c5/6 6/7, on Feb 14th of this year. I went back to work in 3 weeks, and do very heavy lifting and a lot of bending, etc. since I am a printing press operator. I had mine done with cages and plates, NO bone whatsoever. swallowing was difficult for a week, so I ate soup, jello, and pudding...I slept well lying down, though I did use my recliner all day. With cages and plates, you needn't wear a collar at all... the fusion is mechanical, although your bones will grow into them in time. My neck was pain free the same day,with the exception of some muscle spasms. I don't know how to attach a picture here, but if you want to see my xray, you can e-mail me and I will send it to you. You can show your NS and ask about it...it worked very well for me.
Dave

hansmathias8@hotmail.com

Supp Kathi, you do have some really good points and you are absolutely right telling someone with osteoarthritis and crushed nerve roots to wait it out is wrong that is not going to heal up unless we get some advances in stem cell research but Trinab does not have this type of condition his pain is "muscle spasm pain". This guy is still working, my pain seems worse than his as I cannot work but mine is getting better because I am treating it and doing what I need to do to fix it. Go check out my thread on alternative treatments and see how much work this actually takes to fix. If anyone has a spinal problem and ignores it, does not go change their posture fix their muscle imbalances lose the weight get the body work done to relieve the muscle spasms it will not heal and you will need surgery but in Trinabs case he can prevent it if he decides to do whatever it takes to fix the problem before it gets to the point where he has osteoarthritis and so on. He can do it and so can anyone else if they believe in themselves. Kathi can you really honestly tell me that after your injury you decided to do whatever it takes to fix yourself and you still could not do it?

Here is what whatever it takes looks like:
Acupuncture 2-3 times a week every week
Massage to relieve the pressure points 2-3 times a week
Every morning 2-3 hours of hatha yoga specifically devoted to your unique problems
Every night another 30 minutes of yoga stretching and meditation
Physical therapy to help identify and correct your muscle imbalances
Actively practicing holding good posture
Eating the right foods and taking the right herbs and vitamins
Using strong ligaments every day for the stiffness
And the list goes on and on, that is what it takes to fix these kind of problems so people have the choice to do that or they can go the fast easy way and just go for the surgery and hope it works which it won't if the underling problem which is bad posture and muscle imbalances are not corrected.

Trinab I would say the next step for you is Prolotherapy and a serious life style change not surgery. Surgery is the last resort. If I was you I would leave my job for medical reasons and get that doc that wants to do surgery to help you file for social security disability to tie you over financially while you fix yourself. If you do it right you will also be able to get unemployment compensation benefits.

,Mike

Mike,

The original poster said he was scheduled for an ACDF and had tried everything. I don't think a surgeon would have scheduled an ACDF unless it was necessary. Most do NOT want to cut. They will all try conservative treatements first. I know...I went through 3 years of it.

Here's my laundry list:

Medications - All kinds; including AD's, anti-convulsants, opiates
Accupuncture - Helped with the pain somewhat, but came right back after EVERY session
Traction - Ordered by my first NS and actually made me much worse
Physical Therapy - More times than I can even begin to count! Did not help.
Heat and Ice - Only worked at times to help either with the spasms or to numb the nerves
Massage Therapy - Worked well for the trapezius but that's it
Facet injections, Selective Nerve Root Injections and Trigger Point Injections - The relief only lasted a short time; the longest I got was 3 months.
ER Visits - Too many to mention for a shot of Toradol

And yes, I can honestly say that NONE of that worked! This all began in 2000 with a diagnosis of Occipital Neuralgia. That quickly changed to Cervicogenic headaches with variant migraines. Fast forward to 2003 when I found my new spinal PM. He found it was the C3/C4. Two injections later I was referred to the NS. It was my NS that was in shock. Again, you could not see the nerve roots; both my PM and NS pointed that out to me...plain as day. At the same time my C5/C6 was pressing on my spinal cord. But my NS did not want to tackle that until he saw how well I healed from the first fusion. In the spring of 2003 I had the first fusion and in the fall of 2006 I had the second one.

I do understand what you are saying about muscles spasms and such. IF that is ALL I had to be concerned with, I would have kept trying other measures. But, nope, crushed nerve roots don't care what you do, what you eat or what you drink...neither does a compressed spinal cord. If my PM were to see your post he would die. He has has two cervical fusions of his own. Now don't you think being a SPINAL doctor he also would have tried every conservative measure? And he did because he told me about them! He was having me to do the same things he was trying. But in the long run, we BOTH had to have fusions. And he fought it for about as long as I did.

I think what you are doing is confusing muscle imbalances and/or muscle issues with actually damage or compression of nerve roots and/or the spinal cord. Of course a person is going to have pain since the nerves tell the muscles how to work. The muscles actually compensate for what is going on with the spine.

In any case, some people choose to wait it out...I know that too. What I am saying is...if you wait too long, there is the possibility of PERMANENT nerve damage. And actually, no one is forced to have surgery. In my case it was different...it was surgery ASAP based on the seriousness of the C3/C4 level. That is where the phrenic nerve comes out of that controls breathing. Any fall or hit and I could have been paralyzed and/or stopped breathing. I am speaking of motor nerves here and not muscles. My NS never guaranteed pain relief what he was trying to do was to stabilize my spine with both fusions. I am thankful that the first fusion stopped the severity of the headaches I was having and the second fusion gave me the use of my arms back.

It is up to any individual as to what they want to try. But I would definitely heed the recommendations of an NS or OSS; they are the ones that are trained in this area and know what they speak of. And I for one listened and listened closely. No amount of the measures I listed above would have fixed the problem; it just put a bandaid on it...the problem was still there.

So, tell me what would have decompressed those nerves or spinal cord? It certainly wasn't any of the measures I listed above.

Trinab,

You have to do what is best for you. I TOTALLY agree with what Stiffnecked said though...just get it done because I agree...things will only get progresssively worse. And honestly, the surgery is not all that bad. You will probably have some muscle spasms afterwards but that is more or less due to the nerves being freed up. The surgeon can give you meds for that and with time you will be able to do some gentle stretches. Anyway, I would trust the surgeon and what he recommends. Like I said...they know far more about all of this than any of us do.

I have to say thank you for saying that ... hearing it from two people does at least help me in MY decision. I worry about this condition becoming worse and doing more nerve damage in the long run. I meet with my OSS today to see what his recommendation is - but at least hearing a couple of you say "it's not that bad" makes me feel a little better.

supp yall, Kathi you are totally right you needed a surgery to clean up your cervicals I mean you had crushed nerve roots and lost the function of you arms but the recommendations I am making are for Trinab. He is going in for a surgery on November 7th and he is still working. His arms are functional and I highly doubt his nerve roots are crushed; his pain is "muscle spasm pain". There are plenty of surgeries which are done that are not needed. I have 2 friend one who is a physical therapist and the other a massage therapist who were told that they needed surgery on their knees one had a torn meniscus the other a torn ACL and both of them said no to the surgeries and one is training for a marathon and the other does barbell squats in the gym every week. It took a long time for both of them but they both healed.

I know a knee is not the same as the neck but it is just an example of how these intelligent doctors are totally uneducated in alternative medicine and rush to surgery.

Trinab I would bet 1 million dollars on credit (you might think I am kidding but I really would take that bet with anyone) that if you said I am going to do whatever it takes to heal and gave it the time you would heal much better than you would if you did get the surgery done.

,Mike

It is cool hearing how good the surgeries went from the people who had good experences too bad the people who it did not go good for can no longer type on a cumputer.

,Mike

Well, I for one would like to know Trinab, if you are out there, what does your cervical MRI say about the C6/C7? I know you mentioned all kinds of injections so obviously there is more going on than just muscle spasms. Is it herniated? Do you have stenosis, myelopathy, radiculopathy?

And Mike, I HIGHLY doubt a surgeon would operate based on muscle spasms alone...there is no way. At least no NS I have ever talked to would operate based on spasms alone...I would have gone into PT if that were the case.

Anyway, again, I would leave up it to the surgeons and/or their recommendations. And btw, I can use a computer. Oh, and no surgeon will guarantee pain relief...they don't do these types of surgeries based on pain alone.

So, I will just leave it like this. If someone wants to try alternative medicine first; go forth. That is usually the norm anyway. Most docs WANT you to try everything conservatively first. Surgery is usually the last resort. But when it gets to the point that NOTHING is working and the situation is serious, it is time to get something done.

I decided to go ahead with the ACDF after meeting with my oSS on MOnday. My pain level is good right now but no return of tricep strength. He said the shot may last two weeks, months, or years - but no one knows, and when it wears off, I may be back where I started. So I decided to have the surgery and just get this done!

Redhotbeads,

Sounds like you have a competent OSS! He's right...no one knows how long those shots will last AND honestly, while they help to keep the pain levels low, I know most PM's don't want to give you a lot of injections. They are usually DIAGNOSTIC as well as therapeutic. I will probably be getting facet injections on Monday for the C2/C3...and I can't wait! If they work, I will talk to my PM about an RF. Then again, he may have something else in mind.

I am sorry to hear there is no return of the tricep strength but that is what I mean by neurological deficits. Hopefully, and with time, you may see a return of some strength. And, btw, my C6/C7 will probably be next and IF it is, I am NOT messing around. Good luck to you and when is the surgery scheduled for?