Headaches after cerivcal neck fusion

Boy does this site sound like my life . I was invovled in and accident on the job .  I have headaches for 2years  on a scale of 1 to10  mine usually stay at 7-8  but if i do any activity it blows the top of my head off.  I had to have a fusion of 6-7  the doc;s thpought it would help it has not  it acctually has made it worse .  I have had so many different med.s  I cant count them .  trying a new one in two weeks will post results.

I have had a Huge bake potato Goiter removal, I could not swallow or breath properly, in Aug 2011,with 1/2 thyroid Out due to the many attached Blood vessels, Nerves, and Muscles, they had to take my right side <1/2 thyroid out>, I have since Lost all speaking skills, with no Sounds, and I have an fused neck NOW, cannot touch left side of throat, neck region, I have tears when you press or slightly touch my Neck, throat area, Warm Water press bothers this left side, but I have learned to deal with pain in shower, . I have No Cancer, No signs of a Stroke, been tested with all kinds of different tests, Needles etc.. Since my surgey I have severe back of Headaches, to base of neck going to top of head area, where I just lay down and cry myself to sleep, than advil kicks in, I took myself off of Lor-tab as I do not want to depend on a pain pill and get addicted, but the Pain seems to be getting worse since I started to go to Speech therapy,. Today, I went for exrays of my neck region and spine etc.. They took 8 -to 10, she than stated to me WOW, you most diffently have neck Fusion Bad. I can see it, without taking an exray, . what happen to YOU, accident? I wote down on paper,NO I has neck surgey last Year , a huge bake potato Goiter removed> with 1/2 of right thyroid out, She than asked me WHO was my Doctor that did the operation I wrote down His name, She than said let me take another exray, as I need to do this, than she came back, told me to dress and put earrings back on, thats when she said MOSTLY likely You will need to get a MRI done asap. Your Neck and throat is NOT Normal, plus your Not being able to speak with little or no sounds is NOT GOOD, Nerves and Muscles are all connected, You have great damage, I than wrote down to HER, I was in Great Shape, never ever had a headache or neck problems before my operation, she than stated to me, very uncommon rare, I feel so sorry for You Susan,,,Should I keep up with my speech therapy, and NOW they also want me to go to phyiscal therapy for my neck... Since I am in More Pain and Now starting to get sick to my stomach, as Pain is Worse since I started going to speech therapy ?? Can anyone help me,,, or has been through this ?

Having the the same problem the pain in my head was so excruciating woke me out of a dead sleep and has not gone away thought having this surgery was suppose to make things better now I'm starting to regret my decision.

 I was in bad shape for years after several car wrecks and had the neck fusion surgery done in Jan. 2012. Eleven  months later I'm still in a lot of pain, the only change is the numbness in left arm and hand is gone. I've also started getting extremely bad headaches that begin in my neck then work up to the back of my head and temples. The headaches are horrible, completely debilitating and last for hours. My doc gave me a prescription med that contains acetaminophen, butabitol and caffeine. If I feel a headache coming on, sometimes this will keep the pain from reaching skull crushing level. When the headaches are in full swing, no amount of medication will touch it, nor will ice packs or heat. My surgeon assured me that it isn't my neck that is causing it but he's wrong. It is beginning to become apparent that those of us with this problem are probably stuck with it.  Yay. 

I had the same fusion done and started getting the awful headaches also. I am a work comp case and of course they refuse to pay for the pain clinic dr that I have to now see to treat me for the headaches....pain meds supposedly make them a lot worse and provide no relief...therefore I have to take something else on top of them to provide relief for my headaches now. It is across my forehead and above my neck in the back....my surgery was in August of 2009...

To all on this thread. I had multiple fusions c5-6, c2-3 and on down. Had headaches for years that made migraines look like a walk in the park. Tried EVERY medicine including heavy doses of morphine. Nothing worked long term and made my life hell. Never went anywhere, out of the house, drove my car unless I was forced to. All that happened until I ran into a neurosurgeon who suggested a c2 channel decompression and release. It sounded very scary to me. Even the test to see if it would work sounded scary. But off to Dartmouth Hitchcock I went. Two needles were inserted on either side of my head into the C2 channels. Instant relief!!!! Surgery was scheduled 1 each side six months apart. I am now pain free. No headaches other than minor normal headaches that I resolve by taking a walk in the fresh air. Best of all my dogs love it now when I can go out with them.

If you think this is not possible, unbelievable, well I did too until it was done. I am very glad I had these procedures. If you want to know more you can email me and I will send you more info. And here is a link to some info http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8805141. Note the name JM Phillips in the article. He was my surgeon..

Good luck to you all.

Hi,

thank you so much for your post, it gives me some hope, because, quite frankly I don't hint I can go on much longer!

can you give me details on where this treatment was carried out?

It is as if you are talking about me!!! I had cervical fusion at C5,6,7 in April 2008 and have had chronic migraines after 2 months. The immediate relief was incredible. However, I was taking care of my Dad with heart failure at the same time and chalked much up to stress (he passed away that Oct.) but the collar came off the second week as his care grew more urgent and I needed to drive him to doctor/hospital. I got the same info from the surgeon. :( The pain in the spine was unbearable but the migraines are debilitating and affect my daily life. Excedrin Migraine is about the best if I catch it early and control it.....sometimes it just gets too bad and I am in bed and cannot move my head and it even hurts to lay down. I too have been to Chiro, Kinesiologist, done physical therapy, and acupuncture. Acupuncture is the most helpful if I go at least once a week. I may just have to keep doing it the rest of my life. This just sucks!!!! I will continue to fight them.

I havd had headaches daily and migraines frequently but the headaches changed after my cervical infusion. The surgeon told me that the surgery could not be making them worse. Well, it did!! My Cervical Fusion was April 2008 and I still have horrible debilitating migraines! The chiseled out a bone spur in front of neck to get to the spine and fused C5,6,7 with plate and screws. I went back and a year later had another myleogram done for full spine cause the headaches were worse. These are different than when I went in to fix why the neck hurt so bad but still sever issues after surgery and the surgeon will deny it. I still have limitations. :(

I broke my neck 4-24-2011 in a car accident C4-C6, some guy ran the light doing 80 mph and T-Boned my car.  I was rushed to the hospital where they did a fusion C5,C6.  I have been having headaches like crazy and the only thing that stops the headaches is medication.  I take Hydrocodone, flexeril, those are the main 2 meds I take but there's several other medications.  I have titanium implants that were used in the fusion and the surgery is irreversible.  I have terrible headaches and muscle spasms in my neck... I'm seeking disability because I can barely get around the house good and it's been a year since the accident... It seems like you're getting better but after some time has passed you start to feel the pain and you'll notice the things you use to do, you cant do anymore.. our body's aren't meant to be tampered with...  Robert A. Jones Jr. AKA music producer GangstaRob

That is not true. They are lying to you! I also got surgery on my neck, and that was in june 2012 and I am still not able to do any house work, I can't walk without my walker or cane, I have horrible headache's, and many other complications. Research more on the surgery before you do it. Good luck! :)

I had surgery on June 2012 on my neck 3 disc replace and a rod install on my neck. Doctor say everything looks good however I am having headaches all time time and my neck is stiff, my left shoulder hurts all the time, but what really is bugging me is this headaches above my left eye. Is anyone else having headaches after the surgery?, if so what your Doctor said about it.

You wont feel like new in two days thats for sure. You will be wearing a hard plastic neck brace for 6 weeks and wont be able to bend or lift. I had cervical spinal fusion surger 7/31/12 and was off work for 7 weeks. The surgery was worth it because now my extreme arm pain is gone. It was gone immediately. It takes a full 12 months for your neck to fuse fully. I still have some neck pain/headaches and at times my neck feels weak. It just takes time I'm told.

Yes, I had cervical spine surgery C5 6 and 7 in January 2013. I have been having bad headaches since the surgery, It goes across the front of my head and back to the base of my neck. Have been taking the muscle spasms meds, but, that doesn't really help very long. I started taking aleve and had to take three of them and that was only a temparary fix. Still have meds and when I went to dr. about 3 weeks, all he could tell me is to do light neck exercise, rotate head. Well that only seemed to irratate it and pain went from neck across shoulders and down back. Still going through all this pain, but, no one can tell me why. Wish I could get some results.

I hope you get some results. I am still looking for results my way. That is the same with me on the headaches, wake up with them and through the day get them. It gets worse like you say if you try to do anything or bend over especially, I just wish I wouldn't have to hurt every day. Best of luck to you.