Hi, I am new to this board. I was in a auto accident recently, and just got the results of my cervical mri back today. It says I have a herniated disc at c5-c6. can someone tell me exactly where c5 and c6 are located at? alsom, can a herniation be the results of a car accident?

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Hi cinnomore and welcome http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

The C5 and C6 are just below the spot where your neck meets your shoulders. C6 is your last cervical vertebrae before going into the Thoracic region. It's a good thing you didn't damage your thoracic disks, they are the hardest to fix (and very few doctors will go in and mess around with those disks.

Yes, a car accident will most assuredly cause a herniated disk. A hernia happens when more pressure is produced in one spot, which causes the nucleus to bulge. Depending upon the strength of the pressure and the strength of the disk....will determine how "far gone" your hernia is. If the hernia is still contained within the disk...you need to watch for tears. The only way to see tears (really) is to have a discogram.

Don't mess with your spine. This is one area of the body that WILL NOT heal like the rest of your body parts. There is NO BLOOD going to the disks in your spine...so there is no oxygen or nutrients to help aid in your healing process. Appropriate rest, exercise and lots of fresh veggies and fruits seem to be a "magical combination" for many.

There are all kinds of non-invasive surgeries to take care of herniated disks. Go to any search engine and type in 'back' then 'spine' . You should get a whole bunch of information. Also, spineuniverse.com is a wonderful informative website. Good luck to you!



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successtory
Oct 2000: Repetitive Stress Injury-Inverted Hernia
Feb 2001: MRI. Shows only slight bulge at L4-L5
Dec 2001: Discogram/CT scan shows Inverted Hernia at L5-S1. L4-L5 & L5-S1 ruptured in all 4 quadrants. Unable to walk.
Feb 2002: IDET, Nucleoplasty, Intra-Discal Injections
Sept 2002: Rated in the top 10% for successful patients. Retraining for new career.

scissorhands
You were just given some very good advice. You will find that the people on this site are very helpful and concerned about people. Hang in here and ask away. Take care of yourself and take it easy.
Alex

Thank you both for ansering my post. success were you in a car accident? have you ever had any test for facet joint injuries> I heard alot of people have those after having whiplash. You really gave me some great info and I can never thank you enought for that. How can you tell if you injured your thoratic disc, would that show up on a mri. I have to go have a mri of my lower back later this month. This mri I just had is going to help us settle. Been waiting 2 years to settle this lawsuit. Dr said I also have carpal tunnel sysmdrom does that have anything to do with the accident I wonder. let me know any other things you can help me with. thank you so much for posting.

cinnomore. I havehad my WHOLE cervical fused. This not by choice butbecause of DDD. These disks are smaller than the rest but hold your head on your neck. Also I have had most of my thoraic disk removed. Also yes if you have a MRI it would show what is what and if your doc isn't satisfied there are other test for these problems.