SEVERE NECK/SHOULDER PAIN 6 MONTHS POST OP CERVICAL DISECTOMY

Just wondering where you are now with your pain. I am 12 weeks post op and the shoulder pain is horrible. Thanks for your help.

HI All,

 

I am so "glad" to hear that I am not alone ...I am totallu miserable. I had and ACLDF in 2000 C4/5 and another in 2010 C5/6 and disc replacement surgery in 2012 C6/7...the pain decreased for a few weeks but its back with a vengeance. I dont sleep, stopped taking all my medication as its making me pick up excessive weight, Ive been under the pain management clinic fo 9 months, been on Oxicontin, Lyrica, Senover patches, trepiline..you name it , Ive popped it...it doesnt work, i can tell you that much...I have a facet block, doesnt work, thank goodness my Medical aid did not cover the rhizotomy...for the last 2 months I have been to physio...this is just a waste of my precious funds and it just brings the pain more the the service..I dont sleep, i wake up feeling like I am 80 years old instead of the young 41 that I actually am....I am sooo sick of going to all these doctors, Honestly, I think that I am beyond help, I just wish I could find my magical DR who could just magically take away this horrendous miserable pain. I cant look down, bend my neck backward and have limited movement to the sides and I am in pain 24/7...so where to from here I ask you..I am soooo fedup...

I had c-6 c-7 done a little over a year ago.i started getting shooting pains in my left shoulder and it froze up. Super painful at nightsleeping. Acupuncture has been working for me

I had neck surgery,Sept of 2012,I developed a blood clot the day after surgery,My whole body went numb,Thought I was paralized.I have been to phsical therapy,Helped for a while,Then back tro the pain,I have continous pain everyday,It feels like i have a shoulder pad across my back,Muscle spasm always,Feel so must worse than before having the surgery,I also have has MRI and exrays,Dr. says everthing was fine.He doesn't know what to tell me,Says there is nothing more that he can do,Sent me to pain management,I have nevr been one to take pain pills,I cannot function without them,I have tried numerous time to stop.I still work 40hrs, a wek but it is getting intolerable,That I know i will have to quit soon,Just sitting her typing on the computer, my shoulder hurts so bad.I aso need back surgery,Have a herinated disk,I have had this for the last 7yrs.I will not let them touch that becuse I will proably end up in a wheelchair.everbody having these same systoms,something must have went wrong,why so much pain after surgey that was supposed to fix the problem.I pray everyday for healing,I know that God hears and will answer,It may be time for me to take a rest,I am a overdoer.

I had a two level fusion performed may 2, 2011. Most intense pain I've ever felt post surgically. The pain if the surgery was much worse than the radiculopathy radiating down right arm and shoulders. This whole problem started with a misdiagnosis if thoracic outlet syndrome in the thoracic T3-T4 region. This is incidental now, traction therapy led to herniation of discs in the cervical c5-c6 and c6-c7 discs(6mm, and 9mm off center). This problem was not present prior to physical therapy.
As anybody here with fusion problems know now is causality and blame matter little, but rather the ability to find a means to get a simple quality of life so you do not become adept to crippling depression, anxiety, and feelings of worthlessness. If you are not in the category of basic positive success then your life is nothing less than torture. I barely cope 10 mins some days now. The more you try to explain the extreme problems, which is so variant from patient to patient, surgeon to surgeon, insurance company, psychiatry, family, friends, children, the more diverted everyone around you will become.
Post operative you should have noticeable change in your pain within 6 weeks. I have spoke with many success patients with a covetous interest. Their lives are not usually close to their preoperative condition both in lifestyle and in the myriad of problems that led them to agree to such a seemingly simple yet quantitatively barbaric surgery. A rare few have had success with a neuro stim implant or injection therapies or radiography to tunnel down the nerves around problem areas. The larger percentage that I have had the privilege to speak to have some pretty tough lives after fusion surgeries.
I am on day 6 of the second surgery to replace the bone in c6-c7 and replace the hardware in hopes to lessen the chance of furthering the damage being done to my central nervous system. I have a positive look on this, but my days are very hard. Over the last two years I have had a list of miscarriages in terms of opinion and diagnosis. At month 1, where you should notice a dramatic change in most aspects if preoperative problems. Pain, depression, movement, all three should improve immensely. Guess using the childish number system from the 9-10 pain level to a gradually decreasing to a 2-4 pain level. Best case should see little pain except when you are being active but if your human at all, going to the bathroom should not be torturous. The need for analgesics and opiates should abide and any need for them should be more of a dependency which you most assuredly want to work with a trained pain psychologist to remedy your habit if it is merely a habit and not a necessity.
Now given this, I tell what I have gone through for two years to get a second surgery which should abide the pain level some. Initially I was told that the depression I was feeling was a post operative depression. My pain level rarely got below a six on the 10 scale. I was on a regiment of 40 mg of hydrocodone for breakthrough pain relief taken throughout the day, the medication metabolised within 2 hours always, quicker if the pain was bad from movement, weather, or just a neurotic neuron day. I know that the doctors are very hesitant to offer higher levels of medication or extended relief medication, for fear of retribution because of a patient trying to get `high`, or trying to sell the drugs to someone else. Very understandable, but, for a patient who tries to be honest and give good feedback about the possibility of continued problems and possible further nerve damage from a fusion not setting well, the frustration is immense. Insinuation that your pain is not as bad as you are describing creates a serious problem for the patient and the anxiety produced by this can be incredibly overwhelming. Again furthering your tension between doctor and patient. I personally have had yelling happen between me and my doctor who specifically works with chronic pain patients. Distrust and disbelief now starts to cloud the whole process of getting a position to be objective and work make your life better, because if you can't feel like your being understood or trusted, a sense of isolation can be so intolerable that 'quitting' is a reoccurring theme that is unfair to all involved, especially my children, if you were to analyze the situation.
Now given the situation, a pragmatist might say ease the pain improve the quality of life for the patient. I must say, in many offices I have spoke with patients who almost seem lost in a sea of pain and altered states. This looks horrible to most people, but the pain they are enduring leads to a matter of choices. Further surgery that may make it better or worse again. Stronger medications which definitely has their down sides in terms of cognition, behavior, and being a part of life that is not anachronistically misplaced. Psychological smoke and mirrors to distract and confuse the paradigm of a life that is disfigured and retarded and emotionally explosive or emotionally constipated. Holistic attempts to bring some normalcy to your life mayor may not be "positive.". I, and this is a strong opinion, the alternative to trying any or all of these procurements, is really a scary and dark place to think about.
The great big elephant that becomes the big question is the morality and effectiveness of pain medications. My background us math and physics so I do have a pretty mechanical view about medications. I have had times throughout this last two years that were really quite approachable but amoral to the agreements that you are forced to bind to if you want to get medication that could ease your pain. You give a scalar value to your situation and this leads to a min/max decision process that is given to a pain specialist once a post operative period has passed and the surgeon feels that what has been done is the most get can do. If there is not a noticeable problem on an MRI or CT scan, the surgeon feels he can do no more and that you might be a patient that is either in depression or has an inability to give up medications that can be quite troublesome in their addictive behaviors. At this point, regardless if your pain level, you are now in for a real challenge.
You need to seek psychological help, fair warning, to help you balance your psychological disposition and your physical ailments. Don't second guess this decision, I have been happy to gain their tools considering how dark and brooding chronic pain can make any situation. What was fun becomes unfun. Sex is hard on the body. Those around you also question your condition, which leads to distrust amongst friends, family, and your children. Be honest with your psychological support, you need them.
Now I mentioned that I gave had some good in the middle if what seems to be a war with yourself and those around you. I have taken medication two or three at a time instead of one and found that I could have, albeit still troublesome, sex, or play a couple if hours of cards or video games with my children. This is considered 'abuse' of the schedule you agree to follow from the doctors. You can tell the doctors if the positive nature of increasing the medication, and most I find get curiously upset and even threaten to give you no more if you don't follow the regiment they say us the "Max" I should need to have a basic quality of life. So I tell you with great apprehension, do continue to ask for a better treatment chemically for the pain signs your brain is receiving. Of course the long term goal is no medication and a lifestyle where just doing the dishes is not a complete breakdown because of the pain. Keep focused on that, I know I am.
I have recently started seeing a psychologist who specializes in pain patients and having advocacy at any point is a tremendous boost in your morale. My recent visit has provided me with that much more information that keeps me from losing faith in the medical people I am in collaboration with to try to increase my quality of life and ease my mental and physical pain. Do not run to street drugs, this is a death trap. I have lost two friends to shooting up heroin because the pain relief was dramatic and seemingly positive. I firmly believe that one of them 'chose' to overdose because the life she was leading was deplorable and seemingly a no win situation. I'll never know, but I think I do.
Now, I hurt from this and I hope to get feedback because anything is better than nothing. My email is

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 and I appreciate any opinions considering my disability, federally decided by a judge to be onset of the date of my first surgery. I am going to go kiss my daughters with tears knowing how well they adjusted to my challenge. I will go rub my girlfriends feet just because I can and it makes her feel better. Then I will, as I do almost every right try to sleep after I look over the crib of my four month old daughter Sara, promising myself that I must keep some strength for she needs to know that our civilization has civilized ways and that one must never give up. Love to you all and with tears I say see yah when I see yah.
Jon, Wisconsin

ypur almost EVERY WORD ,is as if I did this post ,WOW ! I HAVE MUCH PAIN,more than before my three level cervical surgery on c-2 thru c-7 T1, It hurts even more when my neuro-surgeon says he has done all that he can do. it feels like Iam to be thrown out for trash now. I must try to keep my focus on GOD. He is my only source,I would like to be in touch with you more.

I have had excruciating pain In my neck and especially in my left shoulder blade. My left arm feels as if its going to fall off. At times my fingers look as if I am crippled. I also had chronic back pain. I have a lot of back diseases. My shoulder blade pain is so bad that I have to stay in bed and laying on my right side. I can't lay on my back nor my left side or the pain makes me feel as if I am losing my mind. I had a titanium plate put into my neck. I have another bad section in my neck and was supposed to have surgery. My Insurance company has DENIED it!!!!!!! So I have to have a state hearing. I use 3 ice bags. One wraps around my neck...one under my left arm and one on my left shoulder blade. I use an over the counter rub called THERA-GESIC. It burns my shoulder blade so bad and blisters me. I think the burning takes my mind off of the pain for maybe 20 minutes. I take oxycodone and hydrocodone and the do nothing for the shoulder blade pain. Try ice bags at nighttime. I pray I get my surgery. I have no life living like this.

Hi, I too had cervical disk fusion and suffered the same as you, infact I still suffer and my operation was over 12 months ago, your symptoms are exactly the same as mine, disturbed sleep, pain, I also have carpal tunnel syndrome since the op, and I have numb knees, feet and hands in a mornings, I feel stuff all day, and I'm suffering headaches and bad pains all over my body. Though I was going mental, but I've just found out why, I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome which are all the symptoms I'm having, it's worth asking your g.p about it. Unfortunately there is no cure for it but you will be placed on the right medication to help you cope with it, and there are a few therapies you can also try to help manage your pain. Hope this information helps, good luck Debs

Hi, I am having same problems as you and Gilmore. Did you ever get your issues resolved and if so what did you do? Please respond I'm miserable.

Injectioms do not help. Burning of the nerves does not help 5 months after fusion c4 to C7 . Pain in neck shoulders chest down arm an back of spine numbness starts in arms to backside down legs and it feels as if ur sticking ur tong to electrical wires. At times er visits for pain shots cause all meds stop working after a ling time on them but my Nero said it will not elevate pain just straighten my neck so changing pillows, heat cold injection a big joke i have not been able to stand for long sit or lay. Pain meds have doubled . So i wish u luck an reccommend do not get fusion at all!! Im 47. Turning 48 in aug it really hard an very very painfull for life.

I have exactly the same symptoms, however the spams get so intense I can bearly tolerate it. I see alot of people with the same problems, however, I have not see any replies. What to do?

Wow my heart goes to all of you! After a year of pain management In 2006 I had a C-5 /6 fusion which appeared to be very successful. In 2009 I began having severe thoracic pain and had a successful thoracic disk surgery. I appeared better for approximately two more years. I too was diagnosed with DDD in 06. Then in 2011 I started having pain in the neck and shoulders I began physical therapy and meds. In 2012 I fell at work and the pain in my neck and shoulders was excruciating. Workman's Comp. had me in a year of pain management, physical therapy and medications finally after I could take the pain no more the doctor decided he was going to fuse c 6/7 and put a Cage in as well as replace the plate in the prior fused C 5/6. Now three months after the surgery I'm still in severe neck and shoulder pain and I still have the pain and numbness in the morning in my right and left hands. Which the doctor believes I should feel no pain or very little at this time. During the last 2 years I have been on pain medications, muscle relaxers sleeping pills and anti-inflammatories. During this time I have also been using a tens unit daily, lidocaine patches and enduring almost 2 years of physical therapy in the neck and shoulder which includes traction. After, as so many of you have explained, "enduring" that "I don't know" statement and the "duh" look from the doctor he sent me to a upper extremities doctor Who to my shock found a labrum tear in the left shoulder muscle which was a surprise to myself and the neck doctor but explained a lot of that pain. So with that said, three months after my fusion, I'm still having severe neck and shoulder pain that worsens when sitting, laying, or at the end of the day. When speaking with the doctor yesterday as I have prior, he just offers antidepressants for a relief which I decline at this point and pain management which I will have to do at this point! Like many of you, I just want to fix the problem!! My case is kind of unusual because it is Workmen's Comp. but I have decided to go out on my own for another opinion from a different doctor. It seems to me that they hadn't recognized the tear in the shoulder so what else could they be missing! If anybody has any ideas I cherish the opinions and I pray for all of you!

Hi,
I had C5C6 fusion almost 5 months ago. I still am in severe pain after sitting or driving too long. The pain has affected my entire life, every aspect. I had complete numbness on one side, but that has improved.

I had cervical fusion c6c7 in 2004 for severe herniated disc. lst time I herniated it was no big deal 10 years prior. about 2009 started having neck pain again like pressure right between shoulder blades then in 2011 it started radiating to my left leg. managed to work till 10 months ago when after a fall pain in neck down to leg never goes away unless lying flat. just had medial branch block which hasn't helped. I understand how you feel , your somewhere with others but you never feel good and pretend your ok, it never goes away so I get panicky and depressed, it feels like you said, is there any end to this or is this my life. you don't want to complain but loss of job, ability to enjoy life, and constant pain is all I remember now. I pray a lot. I do hypnosis tapes which are very helpful. My sister made me scripture cards about healing etc I profess each day. you are not alone, It is very difficult to stay positive. I try to read books of inspiration. I was very active golf, tennis, work like you so after going thru a process like this you realize that if you have good health anything else is easier to overcome, and what a blessing it is to feel good, until this happens you don't understand how chronic pain effects your life. I had breast cancer and chemo and radiation was a breeze compared to this. So, I try to believe God has a cure for me and it is coming though I tell him he's kind of slow. God Bless.

I have also severe neck and shoulder pain after 3 months cervical disectomy operation, then I visited to Stillorgan Chiropractic Clinic in Dublin, they have helped me with chiropractic treatment and finally no pain is left in my neck and shoulder.