Cures for a pinched nerve?

[Chainsaw13]

A followup to my situation.

I incorrectly wrote about the results of my MRI. Besides the bone spurs I have (had) three herniations, c3-4 to the left, c4-5 and c5-6 to the right. The c5-6 was the worst of the three. Since seeing the neurosurgeon, I've done 6 weeks of physical therapy and been taking anti-inflammatorys. About 75-80% of the pain has been relieved. There's still some numbness and tingling in the right arm down to the hand. I can really step it up by tilting my head back which presses on the nerve. That also elevates the pain. So there's obviously still an issue.

Yesterday I saw the NS for my followup visit. He offered two suggestions, steroid injections or fusion surgery. And of course my PT says to keep coming to them and they can work out the herniation. So now I"m starting my research as to what I"m going to do next. The everyday pain isn't that bad provided I don't move my head backwards. Sleeping is the worst part. I can no longer sleep on my right side which was my normal position. I can sometimes sleep on my left side, but I usually end up on my back using two pillows to prop my head up. Because of all the tossing and turning hasn't helped my sleeping much, I don't think I've had a full nights rest since this started.

Looking into the injections, i don't think I want to go that route. Seems many people have some severe side effects. Also my NS told me it's only works 50% of the time.

Surgery scares me, but might be the best option. I'm definitely going to get a 2nd and probably a 3rd opinion.

So if anyone's gone through the surgery I'd like to hear your story and whether you think it was worth it.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by Chainsaw13

A followup to my situation.

There's still some numbness and tingling in the right arm down to the hand. I can really step it up by tilting my head back which presses on the nerve. That also elevates the pain. So there's obviously still an issue.

Looking into the injections, i don't think I want to go that route. Seems many people have some severe side effects. Also my NS told me it's only works 50% of the time.

Surgery scares me, but might be the best option. I'm definitely going to get a 2nd and probably a 3rd opinion.

So if anyone's gone through the surgery I'd like to hear your story and whether you think it was worth it.

The numbness in your right arm could be do to tension in pectoral muscles. Try stretching your chest with an elastic. The pec's put pressure on veins and can cause this as it did on me. My primary thought I might has MS, but that was hardly the case.

I would be scared of surgery too and would opt to live with a little pain than opening the body up. The potential of scar tissue is not worth it unless it really affects your life big time.

The steroid shots work great, but are just temporary. I had three of them and may not have done them in retrospect. They are not a cure. A herniation does not go away. You can try some dietary enhancements that lower inflammation like tumeric amoung other things.

Keep stretching and perhaps look into building more muscle in the back, legs, and abs to support the body better. PT does a lot of the same things you can do on your own. If you have been, you know this.

Does your Chiropractor do the Graston technique? It's incredible to remove soft tissue scar damage that could be pressing on the nerve.