Hi, new member here... been lurking for a while though and learning along the way. About two years ago, I developed serious neck pains, that originally could only be described as a non-stop "stiff neck". I also had terrible knots in my upper back almost daily, and a few months later I developed occasional numbness/tingling in my fingers on my right hand. I visited the Ortho, who ordered an MRI. I don't have the results with me (they are at home, I'm at office) but long story short, I have severe DDD at the C5/C6 level. No other apparent degeneration along the spine. Our assumption is that the damage occurred during a wakeboarding accident, as there have been no other recent "impact" injuries. Regardless, Ortho #1 prescribed me Meloxicam, which provided no relief. He also tried facet joint injections and another cervical steroid shot, which also provided no relief. He referred me to a neurosurgeon that could perhaps do more.
Doc #2 (Neuro) recommended neck traction, but I only got relief while wearing the device. He said he believed my primary problem (neck pain) was due to non-stop muscle spasms, so he prescribed me Robaxin; however, I got no relief. Neuro recommended ACDF of C5/C6. Said I would be a good candidate for ADR, but he no longer did it due to too many insurance issues (insurance companies not paying even after they had approved surgery, apparently). I passed on ACDF, sought new options.
Doc #3 was an Orthopaedic Surgeon that specializes in spinal (both cervical and lumbar). Said he could do ACDF. He said he didn't currently do ADRs as he'd recently switched hospitals and had not done one at his current facility yet, but he also recommended I see a chiropractor before doing any surgery (good idea, not sure why, but I hadn't thought of that yet).
Four visits with a Chiro - no change - yet she did make my back feel better than it had in many years (although it didn't feel "bad" to begin with)... I did thoroughly enjoy the chiro visits, but it didn't fix my neck issues. She referred me to a different spinal surgeon.
Doc #4 - Spinal Surgeon - Confirms what all others have already said. C5/C6 is bad, needs to be replaced. Currently scheduled to have surgery Dec 11th in Hunstville, AL. Dr. Larry Parker is my surgeon. He said his favorite disc is the Prestige LP, but he'll also take a Mobi-C in the surgery room and put in whichever one seems to be a better fit. He also said he is only 70% confident I'll wake up with an artificial disc, and to realize there is a 30% chance he'll have to fuse it. He said he won't shove a square peg in a round hole, which I appreciate. He said his primary concern is that after he removes the osteophytes from the front & back of the vertebrae, that there could potentially not be enough bone left to safely install an artificial disc. Sounds reasonable to me; how about the rest of the community?
A little bit more info. Neck pain is still my primary problem that I face 24x7 it seems. Some days are better than others. Some days I think, "Hey, I can live with this. I don't need surgery." Other days it is so excruciatingly painful that I wish I was on my way to the hospital to have it fixed. Is that normal?
Outside of the "pain", I do still get tingling in the fingers from time to time, but not near as often as I did before I started taking Gabapentin. Also of note, the fingers that tingle are my middle, ring, and pinky of my right hand, which the doc noted is not typical for the C5/C6 issue, but he also said we are all wired a little bit differently, so it is possible that the problem is related. I also had a hamate fracture in that hand last December, so it could be attributed to that as well. I still get inflammation in my wrist from that from time to time, so the finger issue could be non-neck related.
I mentioned Gabapentin. The primary reason I take Gabapentin is because of BRP. I suffer from brachioradial pruritus (google it if you are interested), primarily in my right arm, but sometimes in left, sometimes both. It is a maddening/painful feelings. 300 mg Gabapentin, 3 x daily seems to keep it in check for the most part. I still have outbreaks that require me to put an ice pack on my arm and numb it in order for the pain/itching to go away. Anyone else on this forum suffer from BRP? If so, did your BRP symptoms go away after ADR?
Sorry for the long post. Looking forward to interacting with the community. Feel free to ask me any questions!
Edit: One more thing - I'm a 36 y.o. male if that makes a difference. Definitely feel too young to feel this old
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Edit #2: I should also mention that I have tinnitus in my right ear, and I also have a 40% hearing loss in that ear as verified by tests at ENT. ENT says it is possible that it is cervical-related, but not to count on it. Just curious if others have attributed tinnitus to cervical DDD or similar? My tinnitus started around the same time as the disc issues is the only reason I ask...