Post cervical spine surgery pain

bassplayer52 · Newbie Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 10

Almost 2 weeks post-op for C4-C5, C5-C6 fusion. Had spinal cord compression at these levels due to severe disc herniations at these levels. Used my own bone (hip) for graft, and have plate and screws, etc. Stopped taking the Percaset for pain, replaced with Tylanol. (Along with muscle relaxants).

I originaly went in to see doctor and get and MRI as I had weakness and bad pain in the upper left arm, numbness in left hand, and loss of motor skills in left hand. (I am a professional bass player, and can no longer play!) The surgery was done as a more preventive measure than corrective measure, as the herniated discs were beginning to cause more symptome. Right leg was becoming toipicaly numb, right foot numb, etc.

Surgery went well. Couldn't swallow anything for 5 or 6 days. Am wearing a Miami brace 24/7 (hate it!), can't sleep for any length of time, (more like a series of 1 and 2 hour naps). Hip pain is all but gone. But now, out of nowhere, comes this upper back pain, between the shoulders. When I cough or sneeze, feel electric shock through both arms and both legs, with the center of it being right between the shoulders. Pain in left arm is gone, but still have numbness and no motor skills in left hand. Started getting numbness in right hand a few days ago.

Spoke with doctor about all this. Told it's "all normal stuff" after a surgery of this type. I was told that my spinal cord is "adjusting" itself to a more free space than before, and that some or all of these symptoms should subside over time.

Day time TV is boring, not much to do. Still can't play a note on my guitar. From my readings and reasearch, the upper back/shoulder pain is VERY common post op. Each day is an adventure in measuring current pains, identifying new pains or symptoms (keeping a daily log), and trying to find low eb things to do.

Best of Luck to all suffering through this.....

Guest · Guest

Dear Bass player, i've had a similar procedure for C6-C7 for C7 radiculopathy, for two to three days post op all the pain was gone but all my symptoms returned three days later,i assume its due to swelling of the nerves after surgery,
have your symptoms improved?

Guest · Guest

i need to go for this surgery.i have the same symptoms ,they want to remove 2 disks and the bone between them do you recomend this operation

weickenand · Newbie Joined: 18 Oct 2006 Posts: 1

I had surgery on c4-c5 on Sept. 21st and now have sort of a numbness/tingling on top of my head and pain in upper back and arms, I am also being told this is "normal" anyone else experiencing these symptoms after this type of surgery?

bassplayer52 · Newbie Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 10

I guess there are an assortment of pains that folks have after cervical spine surgery. I still have some pain between the shoulders, but nowhere near as bad as it was 2 weeks ago. Legs are back to normal. Still having numbness in both hands, but I think they're getting better every day. Weakness in the left arm is also improving, but slowly. But I generally feel good, and feeling stronger every day. Starting to get back to doing things -light duty only.

4 weeks today was my 2 level surgery. Still wearing the Miami J brace, but am about to rip it off and burn it!!! It's on 23/7, with an hour off for showering, etc. Next week is another x-ray, back to see the sergeon.

No telling anyone whether or not to have the operation. Depends of how bad the spinal cord impingment is. In my case, there was NO choice. I had it done in the nick of time. Remember, nerve damage from spinal cord impingment can be forever! Any nerves that "regenerate" do so at a rate of about an inch per month, so I've been told.

Good luck to all of us going through this. Remember, better days are coming!

Guest · Guest

javascript:emoticon(' Crying or Very sad

') I want to rip my collar off. It has been 6 1/2 weeks since my fusion and I am surfing the web trying to find out if I can sleep without my brace. I have a doctor's appointment in a couple of days but don't feel like I can even wait. How long did you all wear your braces before being able to sleep brace free?

stevenkirschner · Newbie Joined: 24 Jan 2007 Posts: 1

Would like some advise... About 6 weeks ago I had cervical spine surgery to correct Stenosis at C4/5 & C5/6 plus degenerative disc's from C3-C6 ands reversal of normal lordosis. Prior to surgery, I had several epidural's and facet blocks. The epidural's never took the pain away, however, the facet block always worked well. The major pain going up towards the top of my head felt much better with the facet block, it's a shame that the epidural's didn't work this well, ot at all. Anyway, the numbness, tingling and dullness going down my right arm, hand and fingers feel much better. Thank god the surgery worked for that. The issue that I am facing is that the pain that was usually going from my neck down my right shoulder blader (BURNS) down my right arm has not gotten much better and actually, I am now having major chronic pain on the left side of my neck and shoulder. The doctor informed me that he eels this is muscle spasms and ordered me valiumn ans celebrex but it is not taking the pain away. My major concern is that I did this surgery and sure, I will prevent any further nerve damage, but the pain is just going to get worse.

Does anyone have experience with this? Is there any hope that my pain level will decrease overtime? I am very pleased that my feel in my right arm, hand and fingers improved but it is hard to continue to live with chronic pain which most peole don't fully understand. Anyway, has anyone who had this surgery felt improvement in their pain level weeks/months after their cervical spine fusion? If so, please provide me with some details so I can have something to look forward to. It's realy not easy to tell people that the surgery didn't meet all of my expectations so I don't say much and let people believe that the surgery was a complete success. If the pain level does not egin to decrease/improve then I will just have to let people know that the surgery was half way successful, which I guess is better then not being successful at all.

I apologize for venting, but it is very frustrating to fake that everything is 100% perfect, especially after the surgery. It really gets old, fast.

Anyway, just looking for some feedback from people that had cervical spine fusion. Any feedback, suggestions regarding my letter would be greatly appreciated.

Hhp · Newbie Joined: 25 Jan 2007 Posts: 9

Last fall, I started having major shoulder pain, then right arm pain, then tingling and weakness in both arms, loss of balance, etc. Eventually an MRI showed a major herniation at C6-7 and a minor herniation at C5-6. C4-5 had already been fused back in January 2002.

I had surgery on 12/28/06 - 4 weeks ago today (fusion from C5-7, with a titanium plate). So now I am fused from C4-7. I am am surprised at how fatigued I am all the time. I am 31 years old and otherwise in good health. At the end of last week (3 weeks out) I tried to cut down to plain tylenol but I still need the percocet or loritab for the pain. (I still take the muscle relaxant soma 2/day- down from 3/day). I noticed that I was even more tired when I stopped the narcotics. When the pain kept me from my walks, I went back on them. Is it the pain that's making me so tired? How do you manage the fatigue, and any ups and downs? I felt better last week than this week. Primarily, I have pain in the shoulders (which makes sitting here at the computer uncomfortable to say the least). My upper left arm and the inside of my neck hurts too. Getting so tired is what bothers me more, though. When did your energy level come back? I hoped to go back to work after my post-op NS appt next week. Now I get so tired after every exertion that I don't know if I can. Believe me, all I want to do is get out of this house and back to work. I am walking every day - I'm up to 40 minutes. I went to a two hour meeting at my office last week just to put in an appearance. Counting the car ride and going through my mail, the entire outing was about 4 hours. It just about killed me. When did you folks go back to work?

parrotthead · Guest

Hello all you fellow Pains in the Neck Wink

I too have have had cervical spinal fusion, on Dec 19, 2006, which makes me 6 1/2 weeks Post-Op. I can feel your pain and sympathize with those that are still having problems. I've searched so many sites trying to find answers to what are "normal" expectations and symptoms/problems after surgery but haven't found any good articles yet. This forum is by far the best thing I've found yet just to see if I'm normal! If yall have found a good site let me know.
I had a severely ruptured disc, C5-6 and a bone spur (osteophyte) on C4, my doc said I was in his top 10 worst cases he'd seen. I had pieces of disc all the way to my shoulder! I'm 45, female, and a smoker. I've read that smoking can prevent or slow the fusion, by the way. The one thing I've noticed in all the posts that is different with me, I did NOT have to wear a brace or collar! They gave me a soft collar and said I only had to wear it if it helped with the pain. I had the disc decompression with the Titanium plate. Was in hospital for 23 hours. Went home and have done really well. I went back to work in 4 weeks, my husband and I "Flip" (remodel) houses, so I have very physical work. I drove in 3 weeks. BUT now I think I've over-done it! IFor the past 3 days I have had constant burning pain on the top of my arm over my elbow area and "aching" pain across my shoulders and neck. From reading all of your experiences I guess this is normal? How long did your doc's say you have to wait for physical therapy? Mine says 12 weeks, but I'm already doing just about everything I did before, just not lifting anything over 10 pounds and trying not to do work over my head. Bassplayer, are you any better??? Good luck and keep posting... this is interesting and we can see how we all do in the next months.

Guest · Guest

I'M GOING FOR MY 2ND CERVIVAL SPINE SURGERY IN 7 YEARS. I HAD DISCS C5-C6 FUSED W/ BONE GRAPH BACK IN 2000 BUT LATELY HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH SEVERE UPPER TRAP AND RIGHT SHOULDER AND ARM PAIN. I'M ALSO EXPERIENCING WEAKNESS IN MY RIGHT HAND . I HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED W/ 2 HERNIATED DISCS AT C 3/4 AND C 4/5 THIS TIME SO NOW I'M HAVING THE 2 DISCS REMOVED AND REPLACED W/ TITANIUM PLATES AND SCREWS. YES, U SAID IT WHAT A MESS!!! I'LL SEE HOW THIS GOES I GUESS.

Post cervical spine surgery pain

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