pgood
05-26-2004, 08:54 AM
I had acdf (C-6-7) w/titanium plate and screws on 3/02/04. For the most part surgery seems to be successful. I do get occasional pains which I believe to be muscle related. Most are in between the shoulder blade area but some do extend into upper left shoulder region. Sometimes it feels like I have a big 'catch' in my upper back. I would like for others to describe their 'muscle spasms' as I'm not exactly sure this is what I am experiencing when I have these pains.
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pattymelt
05-26-2004, 05:06 PM
I had four level ACDF and PCDF with titanium plating on March 29th and am still having muscle spasms and pain across my shoulders and between my shoulder blades too. My doctor says this is part of the healing process and to take the Flexeril and Percocet to help relieve the pain. I find I am taking the Percocet only once a day and the Flexeril at bedtime to help me sleep and am doing much better, although I am far from back to normal, but I had so much pain before the surgery I can hardly remember what normal is :rolleyes: The more people I talk to who have had this surgery and the more I read on these boards, the more I am convinced that none of us had any idea as to how hard this recuperation would be. It certainly is no picnic and it is easy to get discouraged, but considering the alternative to surgery was the danger of paralysis, I can afford to be patient :)
WICHRIS
05-26-2004, 07:35 PM
I am at the start of all this in that I just recently had my MRI that showed
a disk protrusion at C5,6 ..however I am pretty stubborn when it comes to
taking medication but my muscle spasms felt like a huge knot at the bottom
of my neck in the back and I could barely move my neck to the left..and also
across my shoulders in the back it feels extremely tight-sometimes it felt
like someone was sticking a hot knife back there where my neck meets the spine.My PCP rxed Flexeril 10 3 x day but I was only using 1 at bedtime
and the pain has been getting worse so now I swallowed my pride and am
taking it 3 times a day and it has helped ease the pain and my neck itself
isnt as tight. Some other meds useful for the muscle spasms are Skelaxin
( not as sedating ) or Valium,Robaxin,Soma or Zanaflex...hope this helps..
Chris
a disk protrusion at C5,6 ..however I am pretty stubborn when it comes to
taking medication but my muscle spasms felt like a huge knot at the bottom
of my neck in the back and I could barely move my neck to the left..and also
across my shoulders in the back it feels extremely tight-sometimes it felt
like someone was sticking a hot knife back there where my neck meets the spine.My PCP rxed Flexeril 10 3 x day but I was only using 1 at bedtime
and the pain has been getting worse so now I swallowed my pride and am
taking it 3 times a day and it has helped ease the pain and my neck itself
isnt as tight. Some other meds useful for the muscle spasms are Skelaxin
( not as sedating ) or Valium,Robaxin,Soma or Zanaflex...hope this helps..
Chris
azureskyz
05-27-2004, 02:56 PM
My surgery was on 3-29-04. I just yesterday was able to take off that dreaded brace. I am alos in agony. After just 2 hours I had to put the soft collar on to hold my head up. I have a burning in my left shoulder blade and a prickling feeling. I also feel like someone who has been swimming for 10 hours my shoulders and neck are so tight and sore. I too feel very impatient and want to get back to work but can't. Ugh,, I would still do the surgery all over again though as I had almost lost use of my left arm and the headaches were UNBEARABLE! But, I never thought or was told recovery would be so tough.
Azureskyz :confused:
Azureskyz :confused:
garion64
05-27-2004, 07:42 PM
I had c4 c5 done on 5-11, I only seem to have spasms when i'm on my feet for 30 min or more. They can get so bad if i do not sit down, it will drive me to the floor the pain feels like a knot on the right side of my neck running down into my trisep area on the back of my arm, its very annoying. When sitting i'm pretty much pain free. The recovery from this is so slow im starting to go nuts im use to lifting weights 3 hours a day and this inacitivity is awful. Most people just dont understand how hard this is. I'd like to snap this collar on a few of my family members and let them feel this for a few days lol. This hard collar makes me feel like i'm in prison. How long was it before you were able to go with out it? and i had to stop the pain meds, they all were making me sick. I tried most of them, i think they all made me feel like i was going to toss my lunch so its been 48 hours now with out any pain meds but i think ill have to eat one soon . ok im done complaining for now bless you all and i pray for you all to have a speedy recovery :wave:
pattymelt
05-27-2004, 09:25 PM
I also will be happy to shed this hard collar as the weather is getting warm and this collar is pretty hot since it is lined with nylon covered foam rubber. I have had a pretty good day today although I had to take a pain pill awhile ago as I have been pretty active today and even did a bit of gardening in my flower beds. I am 74 years old and I don't know how much of my discomfort is from the ongoing osteoarthritis I have been suffering from for years or the postoperative pain. I do find that the busier I am and the more my mind is occupied the better I feel. I just can't dwell on the pain or I'll go bonkers! Good luck to everyone who has had this surgery or is contemplating having it. I thought I had one ruptured disc pressing on the spinal cord and my last MRI before surgery showed four ruptured discs all impinging the cord. When I saw my x-rays post surgery I thought the Bionic woman had nothing on me with all that metal in my neck! Hopefully when the healing is complete I will feel a lot better than I did before the surgery. I finally had to retire but at 74 years and having been a medical transcriptionist in hospitals and doctors offices for almost 50 years I feel I am ready to do something else! God bless and speedy recovery to all!
Pat
Pat
garion64
05-28-2004, 12:55 AM
you are an inspiration to us all pattymelt :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
feelbad
06-01-2004, 10:16 AM
After having three surgeries invloving the neck area I have had way more than my share of those horrid muscle spasms.It has been like 9 months since my last surgery and i am still dealing with the spasms and these big wads of muscle that keep building up in my upper back.I have tried just about every kind of muscle relaxer and topical cream or gel availiable but nothing really seemed to work until I started using a tennis ball placed between my back and the wall.just pop the ball up behind your shoulders and kind of roll it around until you hit one of those horrid knots,and then press yourself up against the tennis ball and kind of wiggle it back and forth and then just hold it there and press until you feel that knot kind of let go?Usually about 30 seconds or so.
I originally started doing this after my insurance co decided that pt just was not working for me.i don't know just how they came to that conclusion as they never asked me,they just decided that i wasn't making enough progress.but it DID really help relieve at least some of the pain.i figured if I could just get SOMETHING to attack the wads on my shoulders that i would be able to get some relief.when i tried to massage the areas with my hands, it worked fairly well but I just didn't have the strength in my hands or the dexterity to do the job.i was staring at the dogs tennis ball one day and thought that if I could roll it around a little it would probably help some.The first time i tried this, my pain level up in the shoulder area went down at least two full points.needless to say, the dog never got her ball back,lol.
if you are suffering from muscle spasms or those nasty knots of muscle up there, just try this, I guarentee it will work.Even just rolling the ball around all over your back just feels sooooo good.good luck,just try this.It is definitly worth it.
by the way, I did go out and purchase some brand new tennis balls and the dog did get her ball back,lol,marcia
I originally started doing this after my insurance co decided that pt just was not working for me.i don't know just how they came to that conclusion as they never asked me,they just decided that i wasn't making enough progress.but it DID really help relieve at least some of the pain.i figured if I could just get SOMETHING to attack the wads on my shoulders that i would be able to get some relief.when i tried to massage the areas with my hands, it worked fairly well but I just didn't have the strength in my hands or the dexterity to do the job.i was staring at the dogs tennis ball one day and thought that if I could roll it around a little it would probably help some.The first time i tried this, my pain level up in the shoulder area went down at least two full points.needless to say, the dog never got her ball back,lol.
if you are suffering from muscle spasms or those nasty knots of muscle up there, just try this, I guarentee it will work.Even just rolling the ball around all over your back just feels sooooo good.good luck,just try this.It is definitly worth it.
by the way, I did go out and purchase some brand new tennis balls and the dog did get her ball back,lol,marcia
pgood
06-02-2004, 08:53 AM
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll sure the the tennis ball a try. Some days back/neck feels almost 'normal' (its been so long I forget what normal feels like). Never know when or why muscles tighten up. If I could get rid of muscle soreness/tightness I would feel like this has been very successful.