New. Hi everyone!

[LAngel511]

Hi everyone! I am a 29 year old female who is newly diagnosed.

I want to share a back story. I was a gymnastics coach for years and was hit in the face and had my nose broken. My neck pain started soon after about 2-3 times a year and was severe and would last about a week. Very painful couldnt turn my head or look back. Being that I was so young no one diagnosed me dispite seeing different doctors.

Recently my neck pain started up (now going on 3 weeks ) and did not subside. It is the worst upon waking (very stiff and limited range of motion) and gets better to almost just an annoyance at the end of day.

My chiropractor who I love and trust sent me for a xray showed my reverse curve but thats it, sent me for an MRI and showed Moderate disk bulging and Annular tear at c5-6.

I am not even 30 and of course began to freak out. My pain is not horrible. It is going on three weeks and my third chiropractor appointment, I have been given a few at home things to do.

My chiropractor does not think I need to see a nerologist. I think I should? I am so scared of surgery because I am a hairstylist and mom of two (6 months and 2 years) no idea how I would even be able to have surgery.

Does this heal on its own? Does anyone have a similar diagnosis?

I am so thankful for this forum!

[Jim M2]

Hi Laura,

Sorry to hear about your cervical spine. Is your pain mostly central? Do you have radiating pain to your arms and hands? I don't know the anwer to your question buy it wouldn't hurt to see a neurologist or neurosurgeon if you can find one who is excellent. That's the challenge, finding a really good doctor.

There's not usually any way to rush into a surgery unless nerve damage is imminent. They usually require conservative treatments such as physical therapy and up to six months to let the body try to deal with it naturally.

Jim

[Maria]

Welcome to the forum! I was 28 when I first injured my low back working as an RN in San Francisco. My advice would be to get a 2nd opinion with a really good neurosurgeon. Not that you need surgery (I wouldn't know that) just that you should have a few really reputable opinions I think because it is your cervical spine.

So do yourself a favor and don't think about whether you could afford the surgery or the time off or anything like that just focus on getting one or two very reputable opinions. That would be my advice.

It could well be that a shot of Toradol (non steroidal anti-inflammatory medication) could help you out quite a bit with spasms and pain so you might want to check that out too. I get a 60mg IM (intramuscular) injection when my back or neck seizes up on me with muscle spasms and creates a lot of pain (like when I cannot turn my head at all or am locked into one painful position).

Also for educational purposes check out this website: ChiroGeek's Home Page
you can read about pretty much anything to do with the spine there.

Take care and keep us posted on what happens with your neck if you have time!

Maria

[LAngel511]

Thank you so much for your replies!

Does anyone know where I could look up great neurologist in Illinois?

Do I need to see a neurologist or neurosurgeon?

Jim- I do not have any pain or numbness in my arm at all. When I see my chiro he will do some prodding around and then I will experience the numb effect but ONLY then.

My biggest issue is waking up extremely stiff and in pain and by the end of the day it is 99% better. Its frustrating waking every morning.

Is my tear worse than the bulge? Does this sort of thing get better on its own? Or almost always need surgery?

[Jim M2]

Neurologist vs neurosurgeon? My guess would be a neurosurgeon is better for your situation. A neurosurgeon probably knows the orthopedic side of your problem better and this is the root cause of our issues. Your best bet for finding a good doctor is to use your network of family, friend and coworkers. There are a zillion ratings websites which I don't particularly trust but I would expect my choice of a doctor to at least not have a bad rating.

There's no way anyone here can answer the surgery question. I'll simply point out that symptoms do not always align well with pathologies seen in the imaging. With that said the primary factors for surgery are how much pain you are in and how restricted your lifestyle has become. In many cases we can't be fixed by surgery we just have to learn how to deal with it. This is especially true for back problems.

[LAngel511]

I am in pain in the morning. Best described as a very stuff neck for about two hours. Then it's like zero pain. For ten years now about once or twice a year I get flare ups that last a week. This flare up was December 1 and while it has improved as I mentioned above I am still in discomfort every morning.i have the tear and bulge but also moderate stenosis and a reversal curve of spine so I am currently working with a chiro. Although lots of people told me not to? I figured I needed a neurosurgeon because I don't have any Nero symptoms. When I am being worked on my fingers will go numb but that is the only time.

[Maria]

I don't know when your last MRI was indicating a tear or bulge however I still think being the cervical spine I'd want to get it checked out more thoroughly at least in terms of diagnosis.

I am sure the chiropractor is being very careful with the cervical spine and not doing anything too aggressive. Is this who ordered your last MRI? While I personally do not and have not seen a chiropractor I know plenty of people that do that have cervical as well as lumbar probs. I'm just prefer to err on the side caution when it comes to manipulating my neck though I will have gentle stretching done sometimes by an Osteopathic doctor but even that I've not had done in about 5 years at least.

I too have a small disc bulge (or it was small) around C5/6. I cannot really do any exercises that involve using my arms at shoulder height or above without exacerbating pain and bringing on a flare up. Even without any weight just the range of motion repetitively above my head is problematic for me.

It sounds like you have some osteoarthritic changes in terms of stiffness upon waking and then loosening up after a few hours and being pain free (as well as other stuff like the bulge). That's an off the cuff remark so don't take it as a diagnosis ... just sounds possible and even probable esp. with the amount of time from your original injury.

If I had to recommend a neurosurgeon or a neurologist I'd say neurosurgeon although if you are uninsured and don't have $ for an MRI I'm not sure what to say because they're not exactly cheap. I guess the consultation at least would be worthwhile but I would also hope that whomever you'd see would make your consultation worth the $ that you have to pay for it if paying cash. I would go well armed with your list of questions esp. if you're paying cash and want to get the most information for your $.

Do you sleep with a cervical pillow of any kind? I wonder too if something like that might help facilitate less stiffness in a.m.'s or have you tried putting heat on your neck in the a.m. or anything else to loosen up the tight musculature in the a.m.?

[LAngel511]

My last MRI and diagnosis was last week. So I am newly diagnosed. I guess what I was trying to say was I have had this same pain that finally had me diagnosed about once or twice a year for ten years now. Yes the chiropractor was the one who finally ordered a MRI.

I do have great insurance so that's good. I appreciate any suggestions anyone can give. We are assuming my original injury is from ten year ago when I was 20 and got hit ithe face (gymnastics coach) and broke my nose. About 6 months later is when my neck issues started. I guess I'm just confused why this time they have my entirely gone away (me waking up with very stuff neck)

I do have a cervical pillow. Is there a specific kind I should look into? I Ice and use heat every night and do my neck movements my doc gave me.

Do these bulges and tears heal on their own? I confused on how thy would heal since I have gone ten years with pain that lasts a week or so once a year

[Maria]

I suppose tears can heal and bulges can be reasorbed (sp) though that I can't say if that has happened to me since I've not had a cervical MRI for a while and with my current complaints I don't think anyone would rush to order one for me.

My lumbar area had some fusing of the facets I was told at L5S1 which has given me much more relief yet that has been a long haul process since I had the L5S1 injury since I was 28 and in my mid 50's this area seems to have given some relief. L4 is still problematic for me and I have a tear at L3 so not sure what is attributed to that anymore or what pain I'd be attributing to that anymore. My pain is fairly adequately controlled with a low dose of opioid medication every a.m. and a shot of Toradol every so often for bigger flares.

I do have osteoarthritis thru out my body and degenerative disc disease thru out my spine so I am achy and more fragile it seems though again I'm nearly 60 years old.

My best advice again would be to consult with a specialist in this area (cervical spine) who could far better answer some of your questions especially based on the fact that you recently had an MRI. Now is a good time to see someone since your films are up to date.

Re pillows and such I believe that is a very individual thing as to which one works best. I have gone thru a number of various types. What will really aggravate my neck quickly is to hold a phone between my ear and my shoulder (scrunching it in that position to hold it) while I'm trying to multitask. I am asking for a pretty quick flareup or migraine that way!

Hopefully some others that have had cervical surgery and have cervical injuries and a bit more expertise will answer your most recent part of your post. As always wishing you the best with this endeavor as you are young and hopefully relatively healthy. Maria

[theBadCormorant]

Originally Posted by LAngel511

Do these bulges and tears heal on their own? I confused on how thy would heal since I have gone ten years with pain that lasts a week or so once a year

In 2008 I ruptured the L4-L5 disc, the wording on the MRI results went something like "the disc is contacting and displacing the L4 nerve root" The pain I had was astonishing couldn't even get to my feet for a month, another 5 months before mostly pain free, and another 18 months to be back to normal (2 years in total) . A further three years with what I would describe as a fairly healthy trouble free back, then I managed to rupture another disc LS-L5. On the MRI for this they also commented on the condition of L4-L5 where they described it as contacting but not displacing the nerve as markedly as in 2008.

So after 5 years and what I had considered a complete recovery, the disc is very much in the same condition as it was when I was in total agony; All very disappointing, I had guessed it had returned to normal - I wonder if the nerve just gets used to the contact ?

[Maria]

I kind of wonder if our bodies begin to get used to whatever the situation is that used to be highly irritating and now might be only mildly aggravating or perhaps just slightly noticeable after a period of time and I do mean a pretty good amount of time.

I sincerely doubt if I were to have an updated MRI I'd look "so much improved" and in fact I pretty much think I'd look way more degenerative but perhaps after all these years my body just has learned to accommodate the changes.

Last I was told by my OSS I hadn't entirely autofused at L5S1 however I had autofused it appeared at my facets. Now whatever all that means to me is really nothing unless it translates in terms of pain decreasing which it has so I think my body just wore itself into itself and thus far I've been fortunate.

I never ever take for granted that this might change from one day to the next. Just thankful for what I do feel (or not feel) currently! My films might reflect a whole other story re changes with time. Maria

[Ringo]

I can only recall little discussion on it but when the disk ruptures there is a chemical released that is extremely irritating to the soft tissue in the area and will really inflame the nerve root. The chemical I believe had "somthing Necrotic factor" I can't remember. Over time, the area can settle down but it seems to take a long long time. If a disk ruptures, the nucleus material is very sticky and like to attach itself to the nerve root. It can put pressure on the nerve root and sort of scar it down or impinge it. The nucleus material can sort of dry up over time, that is what I heard. So, over time that may cause a reduction in pain. Any healing of a disk laceration would probably be with scar tissue. Scar tissue does not have the flexablity that normal disk material has and is subseptable to re-injury. I don't know where I learned that. I just talked to a lot of people through the years. Weird thing about the back is that you can have radiological studies of two people that have very similar studies and one will be in pain and the other will be walking around having fun. Go figure. Surgeons are aware of this and frequently seem talk about it. I think the spine is sort of a one way ticket with injury. It may stop bothering you but that does not mean you have the same back as before you injured it. The body compensates and relearns, you adapt to new pain threshold, hard to tell what happens. My friend was a surgeon. He attributed some of the pain relief from surgery simply from destroying all the nerve tissue in the area when decorticating the bone. The whole thing is interesting but I am very tired of being on the surgical end of the stick. I hope you get better. Terry

Originally Posted by theBadCormorant

In 2008 I ruptured the L4-L5 disc, the wording on the MRI results went something like "the disc is contacting and displacing the L4 nerve root" The pain I had was astonishing couldn't even get to my feet for a month, another 5 months before mostly pain free, and another 18 months to be back to normal (2 years in total) . A further three years with what I would describe as a fairly healthy trouble free back, then I managed to rupture another disc LS-L5. On the MRI for this they also commented on the condition of L4-L5 where they described it as contacting but not displacing the nerve as markedly as in 2008.

So after 5 years and what I had considered a complete recovery, the disc is very much in the same condition as it was when I was in total agony; All very disappointing, I had guessed it had returned to normal - I wonder if the nerve just gets used to the contact ?