Question for DUers with back problems

[bleedingheart]

I have found out that three of my discs are bulging due to a hospital visit yesterday.
Luckily they sent me home but I have to call my neurosurgeon for a consult based on the new mri views.

How many of you have had surgery and were you happy with the results?

I am relatively young (mid thirties) and I am wary about having them cut up my neck and fuse these discs. However I have lost a lot of mobility in my left arm with this last attack ...and a I am hoping that the steriods I am on are going to help reduce the swelling and give me back my range of motion and reduce the pain.

Just to let you know my neurosurgeon is not a cut-happy kind of guy...he was the one who told me to try exercise and PT to strengthen my back and reduce my need for surgery...

By the way its C5, C6 and C7 that are acting up.

[LLewellyn]

1. check your inbox

n/t

[pansypoo53219]

2. have you tried chiropracty?

i am not sure if it works for this, but my chiro fixed my sciatica( misaligned spine from a fall) and before we knew it fixed my scoliosis too.

[ihaveaquestion]

3. A good friend of mine just had surgery

but they didn't fuse anything, they shaved off the bulging part. It helped immediately! She was free of the nerve pain she'd been having for months. She may have to have the fusing done in the future, but this is all she needed now.

[NMDemDist2]

4. before you have surgery

try some "nutritional" support, If you live on the west coast the most likely culprit is a lack of "manganese" (NOT magnesium) if your on the east coast try selenium

find a chiro who does "passive muscle testing" but be sure he's a good one, easy to get "taken" but if it is a nutritional deficiency with massive doses you should find relief within a week

worked for me and hubby too. good luck!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. If you are under the care of a competent neurosurgeon

who is not cut happy and the steroids don't work, then make sure you get a complete medical work up (given your breathing problems) and get the surgery.

If they need to fuse discs, then surgery will be quite in depth and it is incumbent on you to follow your doc's advice every step of the way to ensure a good result...you may also want to get one more opinion from a board certified neuro surgeon.

You will probably never be pain free but you probably will deteriorate further without it.

A lot depends on HOW bad those discs are. Are ALL discs symptomatic? That would be a question I would ask the doc.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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[tsakshaug]

7. I have avoided surgery

Very nasty disc between c4 and c5. Both sides buldging in and out. My right side- arm and leg were miserable.
My neuro said most of these problems clear up in 3 months. I had a series of steroid shots into the disc. This releved the the pain.
That was this winter. The pain is slowly coming back.
I may be cut later this summer.