I have appt. with neurosurgeon on 9-29.Just wondering if anyone here had same thing and if you tried chiropractor and/or physical therapy first before surgery?Not sure what my doctor will say and a little nervous to find out.I work for the postal service and have to be able to lift/toss packages up to 70 pounds everyday.I love my job and hope I can continue doing it,but wonder if I will keep injuring my neck in the future?Any advice would be greatly appreciated.All the best to you all here!

I had surgery on my neck in 2006 after a car accident replacing 3 of my discs with artificial, it has been absolutely wonderful. Saved my life, without it I could have been paralyzed. I still have some pain in my shoulders and arms. I am not able to move my neck as fully as before but the surgery was a Godsend.
Just make sure you have researched the neurosurgeon that is doing the surgery for you to make sure that he is Board Certified and does a lot of this type of surgery per year.

Good Luck to you,

Don't be afraid of cervical surgery - I had immediate relief from the worst of my pain.

With a one level, you may just be able to have a simple disectomy.

If you have the fusion, you may not need the plates, screws, etc.

Mine was a 2 level, done without hardware, using my own hipbone, in 1999.

I would do it again if I was in such pain.

good luck

My neck was probably injured at first by an auto accident back in the 80's, however, carrying mail (9 years) and distribution clerking (7 years) aggravated it to a point where even after surgery, I finally became disabled. Lifting/repetetive motion puts a great strain on your cervical spine. It's something to discuss with the neuro.

Chiro did nothing for me. PT made the pain worse.

I wish you luck, and you may be in a better situation than I was, however, don't push yourself to a point where you are living on pain killers and risk losing function.