Extrusion of the disc C5C6 and C6C7

ksathish · Newbie Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 1

I had been to doctor with the complains of pain in left Shoulder and arm. MRI scan was taken and doctor showed me a Extrusion of the disc C5C6 and C6C7 causing pressure on the central cord and arachnoid space and he said that was the root cause of the pain. He advice to me to go for a surgery in the neck ASAP.
My Question is, is the surgery a only cure for this? or Something else could be tried? What would be the recovery time, if I go for surgery and what is the after-effects of the surgery?

Thanks
Sathish

PS: I had an Auto Accident three years back and had a fracture in my Clavical bone which was cured by just wearing a shoulder-vest for 6 weeks.

derrickM. · Silver Member Joined: 16 Dec 2005 Posts: 181

I will tell you my story. A few years back I had the extrusion of the disc C7, it was also flawed and I had to wear this hard bandage callar for 3 months. After I took it off, I could feel the pain somewhere inside, I just can’t define it as I couldn’t touch the place that was painful. Then the doctor said this extrusion of the disc is causing these lethargic pains. It was actually happening for years afterwards, and I can still feel this kind of a pain before the weather changes.
When I took off the callar, I had to do the exercises for the cervical muscles and that way I was supposed to harden them a bit so that I don’t feel the pain anymore. The exercises never helped, well maybe a tiny bit but I still can feel the pain in my cervical area, this is really annoying but I guess I have to live with it.
Maybe some exercises would do you good, but you have to consult the therapist about it, you shouldn’t do it on your own. Also you should consult some other doctor about the surgery, I am sorry but I can’t really help you in this area as I am not familiar with it.

Extrusion of the disc C5C6 and C6C7

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