Jay R.
2006-03-28 05:32:33 UTC
I had a car accident (rear-ended while stopped at a light) about a
year ago, and suffered a slipped disk, among other things. My doctor
is recommending a number of potential treatments, ranging from
Prolotherapy to a Cervical Nerve Block Foramina, possibly up to
surgery, if necessary. He is also recommending against some
treatments, such as chiropractic. While I respect medical advice, I
also like to hear from other patients who have been in similar
situations. I also have some other questions related to my injury.
While I am seeing an orthopedist I trust, and also a neurologist who
seems very good, sometimes feedback from those who have experienced a
problem can be as helpful as that from doctors. (However, any doctors
who read this are welcome to chime in as well!)
Details of my situation follow: As indicated, I was stopped at a red
light, when I was rear-ended by some guy, traveling somewhere between
25 to 40 miles per hour (that's a wild guess, based on damage to the
car, plus how hard the hit seemed to feel at the time). I suffered a
very nasty whiplash injury -- I should have gone to the hospital right
away, but not having experience with these things, I though the pain
would go away in a few days. (Hah!)
I did have an X-ray about a week later, and there was no broken bone
in the neck. I started on physical therapy, which I kept doing for
six months or longer. I also had an MRI. The main result was: "The
C6-C7 level shows an 8 x 3 x 7 mm (LR x AP x SI) left paracentral disc
extrusion with moderate stenosis of the left side of the central canal
impinging but not compressing the side of the cervical cord."
Almost a year after the accident, the worst of the neck/shoulder pain
and tightness has subsided. However, I continue to have the following
symptoms:
1. A chronic, moderate pain in my upper back/lower neck, right around
the C6/C7 region. It gets significantly worse as the day wears on,
but fortunately when I lie down the pain is less, so at least I can
sleep. The pain is usually minor in the morning, but again gets worse
and worse as they day goes on.
2. Difficulty lifting objects, including fairly light objects.
Definitely a problem for shopping and doing laundry, plus some
household tasks.
3. Some ongoing limitation of neck motion. Not nearly as bad as
right after the accident, but in particular I still have limitations
on how far I can look up.
4. A moderate numbness or tingling in the palms of both hands.
5. In the right hand, some muscle problems. Occasionally I get
spasms where the hand grips closed, and it's hard to open. Also,
trouble with certain kinds of gripping motions (such as opening pill
containers). And a general, ongoing muscular ache, as if the muscles
are always being slightly stimulated, even when they should be
relaxed.
6. I also have a very slight numbness at times on the bottom soles of
my feet, possibly related to some other findings on the MRI, but that
symptom is mild enough that I'm not even going to worry about it for
now.
7. Minor shocks -- hitting potholes, for instance -- cause relapses
of varying degrees, in that the neck pain becomes worse again for
several days or even weeks.
Both my orthopedist and the neurologist say the symptoms in my hands
are definitely related to the C6/C7 disk. I was puzzled that symptoms
are worse in my right hand, when the disk is supposedly distended to
the left. The neurologist, however, says the disk can slip around
over time. They also tell me that the chronic pain in my upper
back/lower neck (in the rear) is also a result of the C6/C7 disk.
I am done with physical therapy, other than home exercises, which I
continue to do. I also continue to take Ibuprofen to relieve pain and
inflammation, though I'm not sure how much that is helping at this
point. I also take a muscle relaxant at night.
I did see a chiropractor for an eval. He said that under the
circumstances, he would not do chiropractic work on the neck, only on
my lumbar region. He did feel that since my head sits a bit forward
on my shoulders -- a long-standing condition, pre-accident and
pre-symptoms -- he wanted to give me some exercises to help move my
neck back. He was also going to try applying traction (which I
already had with the physical therapy) to give the disk room to move
back into place.
The neurologist was okay with trying the chiropractor's treatment, but
he felt it was not very likely to relieve my symptoms. My orthopedist
was more direct, saying he is afraid it could actually put the disk
more out of joint, and create worse symptoms.
The orthopedist has suggested the following path:
1. First, prolotherapy, to try and strengthen the ligaments in my
back.
2. If that doesn't work, he wants me to try a cervical nerve block
procedure to relieve the pressure on the C6/C7 nerve roots extending
through the foraminum.
3. If that fails, he wants me to consider major surgery. The doctors
would slice through the front of my neck, remove the bad disk, and
fuse the C6/C7 vertebra.
As you can imagine, I have a few questions at this point! The
questions are fairly open-ended, so feel free to add any additional
comments you deem appropriate.
1. Has anyone in a similar situation tried chiropractic work, and
found that it either helped or did more harm?
2. Similarly, the prolotherapy -- did it help? Are there any risks
associated with it?
3. Similarly, the cervical nerve block -- help, harm, or no
difference? My orthopedist says he thinks the risks are very limited,
but I'd like to hear "user" perspectives.
4. Finally, anything anyone can tell me about experiences with
surgery. In particular...
I was surprised when the orthopedist said they would remove the disk
altogether. My impressions was that they usually just trimmed the
part of the disk that was sticking out. Also, what kinds of
limitations in head motion would I expect after having those C6-C7
vertebra fused, if that's what happens? I mean, I'm not planning to
do Judo or yoga or gymnastics, so I don't need exceptional mobility.
But I want to know ahead of time if I would experience noticeable
impact on common movements -- turning the head while driving, looking
up or down for any purpose (work, reading, talking to people), just
the normal stuff you do with your head in the course of a day.
Any and all feedback and advice would be much appreciated. Has anyone
has symptoms similar to mine, and found that it eventually resolved on
its own, but just took a couple of years?
Thanks much for all replies!!
JS
year ago, and suffered a slipped disk, among other things. My doctor
is recommending a number of potential treatments, ranging from
Prolotherapy to a Cervical Nerve Block Foramina, possibly up to
surgery, if necessary. He is also recommending against some
treatments, such as chiropractic. While I respect medical advice, I
also like to hear from other patients who have been in similar
situations. I also have some other questions related to my injury.
While I am seeing an orthopedist I trust, and also a neurologist who
seems very good, sometimes feedback from those who have experienced a
problem can be as helpful as that from doctors. (However, any doctors
who read this are welcome to chime in as well!)
Details of my situation follow: As indicated, I was stopped at a red
light, when I was rear-ended by some guy, traveling somewhere between
25 to 40 miles per hour (that's a wild guess, based on damage to the
car, plus how hard the hit seemed to feel at the time). I suffered a
very nasty whiplash injury -- I should have gone to the hospital right
away, but not having experience with these things, I though the pain
would go away in a few days. (Hah!)
I did have an X-ray about a week later, and there was no broken bone
in the neck. I started on physical therapy, which I kept doing for
six months or longer. I also had an MRI. The main result was: "The
C6-C7 level shows an 8 x 3 x 7 mm (LR x AP x SI) left paracentral disc
extrusion with moderate stenosis of the left side of the central canal
impinging but not compressing the side of the cervical cord."
Almost a year after the accident, the worst of the neck/shoulder pain
and tightness has subsided. However, I continue to have the following
symptoms:
1. A chronic, moderate pain in my upper back/lower neck, right around
the C6/C7 region. It gets significantly worse as the day wears on,
but fortunately when I lie down the pain is less, so at least I can
sleep. The pain is usually minor in the morning, but again gets worse
and worse as they day goes on.
2. Difficulty lifting objects, including fairly light objects.
Definitely a problem for shopping and doing laundry, plus some
household tasks.
3. Some ongoing limitation of neck motion. Not nearly as bad as
right after the accident, but in particular I still have limitations
on how far I can look up.
4. A moderate numbness or tingling in the palms of both hands.
5. In the right hand, some muscle problems. Occasionally I get
spasms where the hand grips closed, and it's hard to open. Also,
trouble with certain kinds of gripping motions (such as opening pill
containers). And a general, ongoing muscular ache, as if the muscles
are always being slightly stimulated, even when they should be
relaxed.
6. I also have a very slight numbness at times on the bottom soles of
my feet, possibly related to some other findings on the MRI, but that
symptom is mild enough that I'm not even going to worry about it for
now.
7. Minor shocks -- hitting potholes, for instance -- cause relapses
of varying degrees, in that the neck pain becomes worse again for
several days or even weeks.
Both my orthopedist and the neurologist say the symptoms in my hands
are definitely related to the C6/C7 disk. I was puzzled that symptoms
are worse in my right hand, when the disk is supposedly distended to
the left. The neurologist, however, says the disk can slip around
over time. They also tell me that the chronic pain in my upper
back/lower neck (in the rear) is also a result of the C6/C7 disk.
I am done with physical therapy, other than home exercises, which I
continue to do. I also continue to take Ibuprofen to relieve pain and
inflammation, though I'm not sure how much that is helping at this
point. I also take a muscle relaxant at night.
I did see a chiropractor for an eval. He said that under the
circumstances, he would not do chiropractic work on the neck, only on
my lumbar region. He did feel that since my head sits a bit forward
on my shoulders -- a long-standing condition, pre-accident and
pre-symptoms -- he wanted to give me some exercises to help move my
neck back. He was also going to try applying traction (which I
already had with the physical therapy) to give the disk room to move
back into place.
The neurologist was okay with trying the chiropractor's treatment, but
he felt it was not very likely to relieve my symptoms. My orthopedist
was more direct, saying he is afraid it could actually put the disk
more out of joint, and create worse symptoms.
The orthopedist has suggested the following path:
1. First, prolotherapy, to try and strengthen the ligaments in my
back.
2. If that doesn't work, he wants me to try a cervical nerve block
procedure to relieve the pressure on the C6/C7 nerve roots extending
through the foraminum.
3. If that fails, he wants me to consider major surgery. The doctors
would slice through the front of my neck, remove the bad disk, and
fuse the C6/C7 vertebra.
As you can imagine, I have a few questions at this point! The
questions are fairly open-ended, so feel free to add any additional
comments you deem appropriate.
1. Has anyone in a similar situation tried chiropractic work, and
found that it either helped or did more harm?
2. Similarly, the prolotherapy -- did it help? Are there any risks
associated with it?
3. Similarly, the cervical nerve block -- help, harm, or no
difference? My orthopedist says he thinks the risks are very limited,
but I'd like to hear "user" perspectives.
4. Finally, anything anyone can tell me about experiences with
surgery. In particular...
I was surprised when the orthopedist said they would remove the disk
altogether. My impressions was that they usually just trimmed the
part of the disk that was sticking out. Also, what kinds of
limitations in head motion would I expect after having those C6-C7
vertebra fused, if that's what happens? I mean, I'm not planning to
do Judo or yoga or gymnastics, so I don't need exceptional mobility.
But I want to know ahead of time if I would experience noticeable
impact on common movements -- turning the head while driving, looking
up or down for any purpose (work, reading, talking to people), just
the normal stuff you do with your head in the course of a day.
Any and all feedback and advice would be much appreciated. Has anyone
has symptoms similar to mine, and found that it eventually resolved on
its own, but just took a couple of years?
Thanks much for all replies!!
JS