Hi Bizi, sorry about all of this with your niece.

Have you considered an upright MRI? They can MRI her neck in different positions. I have had several done in the upright MRI and the picture quality is good. It would help show if nerves are being impinged on.

Also wanted to say that they told my son he had the back of a 70 year old too. Funny they would say 70 also, maybe that is medical talk for really really bad LOL

Anyway, my son went through PT and has since strengthened his back and is doing better. If he does not stay up on his exercises it seems to get worse.

Oh and another thing, as far as a chiro goes, maybe some gentle traction but I would say no to manipulations. Traction really helped my neck, it seemed to open up the disk space.

Hopefully she can get some relief, she is so young to be going through this...Sue

An upright MRI is a great suggestion Snoozie! I had forgotten about those. I tried to find one but there s not one close to me.

And totally think gentrle traction is a good idea but I too would stay away from manipulations.

My heart just breaks for your niece Bizi. I sure hope she improves.

my sister told me the bill for the mri was $8K....sjtu can't believe they are that expensive...how can our insurance companies afford this>
hoping that they pay for it...they can't afford this for sure..they can not afford the deductable for that matter....
sigh
thanks for your support you guys....will have to wait to see how PT goes...this is going to take a long time....
bizi

If PT makes her feel worse make sure she speaks up - and if one therapist isn't helping ask for a new one or a more advanced one.
some are good and some just go thru the motions...:(

possibly a osteopathic dr might be one to check into if they don't see any improvements.