Arm pain after cervical fusion surgery

I am 13 weeks post surgery, had the anterior and posterior procedure done. 3 level fusion and tons of plates and screws. Still can't turn my head or drive. Pain and weakness now in my left arm which I never had before. Feel like I'm beginning to lose my mind!!

I hope you get better did not work for me. But I know other people that had it and it work. Good luck.

This is the second time I had this surgery, 1st one was 10 years ago. I don't know if this is working for me either, so far, I'm not feeling better myself. It's been a long recovery and haven't started PT yet. I'm hoping these feelings of numbness and weakness I'm feeling is only temporary. I am just having doubts. I just want to feel like myself again, drive my car and turn my head.

Marys7152 wrote:

vargas43 wrote:

I had the surgery on May . The pain is worse than ever and my neurosurgeon says there is nothing she can do. I did PT now I am going to a pain management dr. So you are not alone I feel like this drs are just making money of us.

I am 13 weeks post surgery, had the anterior and posterior procedure done. 3 level fusion and tons of plates and screws. Still can't turn my head or drive. Pain and weakness now in my left arm which I never had before. Feel like I'm beginning to lose my mind!!

Hi, you are not alone in this. I also had anterior and posterior in 2010, I am currently seeing pain management, on oxycodone/muscle relaxer.have severe myofascia pain, back of neck shoulders.they tell me there is nothing else to do for me so i just have to live with it. I was so dissapointed but am learning to accept it. hope u get better soon. -set

if pain is the only big problem.and you can still do the things you need to do. FOR ME I WISH I WOULD NOT HAVE HAD THE SURGERY , I HAVE TWICE THE PAIN .... BEFORE I HAD THE SURGERY THE DOC TOLD ME HE CAN TAKE 60-70% OF PAIN AWAY TAHT WAS NOT TRUE. NOW I HAVE MORE PROBLEMS AND MORE PAIN. SO I SAY IF YOU CAN WIP Ur A__S DONT DO IT.?

I had surgery on 2/20/12 that was the worst thing I have ever did . I had cervical spine surgery. I had to resign from my job and now I'm fighting for disability. The pains now for the last 8months are chronic pain .I can't sleep on my right side , I can't lay on my back now.I have to take a pillow for support every where I go , people think I had a stroke.I had to have the surgery or be paralayze on the right side, this surgery was a bad idea and i hate now that i had it my life is ruin.

I had cervical laminectomy removal of large bone piece from spine. I had pain in one or both of my arms for almost a year, but the doctors in my small town who looked at my MRI kept trying all this stuff and told me to wait for surgery. Finally I went to a larger city and had a doctor look at the test and suggested immediate surgery which I had in early 2011. Before all this I did more work than most men half my age and I am a small women. Now I can't lift hardly anything and in pain all the time. I can only drive very short distances. I too go to pain management where they give me drugs that barely make me sane. I also think they are the last step and you are given up on. My life has just been ruined by thisn

Look into c5 pulsey and research it

2 years ago I had a cervical stenosis with myelopathy. I had a fusion at levels 5 and 6. The neurosurgeon said that it was the biggest spinal cord compression he had ever worked on. I agree, surgeons need to be UP FRONT with their patients, as the last post says. 2 years after surgery, I still have pain, numbness and weakness in the same areas as before the surgery. Thankfully, however, now they are less severe than before the surgery. However, my surgeon reported that i had a 100% recovery. My primary care doctor recognizes that i still have symptoms, but he keeps saying that I should not have these symptoms because I "had the surgery to correct the spinal cord compression." Can anyone refer me to literature or resources that can I can read about continued pain/weakness after surgery. I feel as though the doctors are confused about why i would still have symptoms, and I want to find proof that this is possible.

I had my surgery at the end of November and its now the 21st of January. I am in more pain now than before surgery. I had to have the disc removed as it was 'severely compressing the spinal cord' and Ive had a carbpn 'cage' put in its place. I have horrible nerve pain in both arms but more in my right arm. Putting clothes on and off is really difficult and any pressure at all on the arm leaves me nearly crying. Im supposed to be going back to work in 2 weeks (teaching assistant) and Im really depressed at the thought of being a liability in school. There will be so many things I cant do? I feel like everyone will be getting sick and tired of me by now. Its almost like people expect me to have recovered now and are finding it boring that im still in pain. Im hiding a lot of it from family and friends in case they think I just enjoy the attention? I see the consultant in 2 weeks so have to wait and see what he says I suppose.

My surgery was 10 months ago and im still in pt. I have had several injections in my neck and shoulder and electricity injected into my spine to kill left over nervs. My pain is no less now than before the surgery, I think this is my life now.

I finally decided to go to a rheumatologist he said I developed fibromialgya after the surgery

Well it's been almost 7 months since my surgery. I will say the numbness in my right arm that I had before the surgery is gone, but I have lost a lot of strength in my left arm and shoulder. Also obviously so much ROM. The pressure in the back of my neck is unbearable at times, I went to PT for about 10 weeks, now doing it at home. What drives me crazy the most is how I'm unable to sit for long periods of time without having something behind my head. The tightness I feel in my neck in the back is something I can't even describe. I was told a few months ago that I now have C-5 palsy which apparently happens sometimes after this type of surgery. I am trying to come to terms with the fact that this is my life now. It's very frustrating as those of you who have had this surgery understand. I think post people think, it's been 7 months now. Get over it!! My life is forever changed, medication all the time, I am miserable because I can't do much anymore. I live in NJ and this cold weather doesn't help. I'm hoping to move South in my future. I have been through all the injections myself which never worked. From the surgery the back of my neck looks nasty and feels weird. It's just a never ending injury. Pain management has been my life for the past 5 years, and I see no where in sight that it will ever go away. To those on here that feel the way I do, just know you aren't alone. Sadly this is something we now live with forever. 

Hi All,

First I am so sorry to see that so many of us still has this pain after surgery because I felt totally alone. I had my spinal fusion & a plate put in my neck in Feb. 2005 and have been suffering even worse after this surgery.I still have severe neck & arm pain. It hurts all day but the nights are the worst! My arm pain wakes me up every night in spite of being on sleeping meds.

I have been to every type of specialist on the face of the earth and no one can help and they just dismiss you like it's all in your head. I go to a pain clinic for meds and pain meds don't even help. People get tired of listening about your pain. Hell, I tired of living with this pain. It's so hard to believe there is no help for us.

I just pray that I don't live a long life. God Bless you all and hang in there!

Hi all..I have reached a point where I don't know where to turn and I feel hopeless..I am so tired and frustrated and I know my family, co-workers are frustrated..I still work full time but my work is not where it was before my accident and surgery..I had an ACDF C5-7 in 2009, mri 2 yrs ago showed herniation at level c-4..I had a second opinion after a failed attempt at a nerve root injection shot..now 2013 the pain is worse, mostly in shoulder that radiates down my arm in a throbbing, burning, aching type of pain..I am only 48 and need to keep working as I have one in college and another starting in a year..Disability is not an option..The pain is messing with my soul big time as it is hard to concentrate and it has exacerbated the depression that I have had all my life..I hate being on meds for pain, meds for depression, meds to sleep...I'm afraid to go go to the neurosurgeon again..I don't think I could go through another spinal surgery..Yes it took away the numbness in both arms, and I can physically function but it came at a cost..the 24/7 pain..So guest poster above,,,I am right there with you and not sure how much more I can take,,Just one day at a time..I guess..