hi i am knew here i have mild disc space narrowing and disc desication at c5-6 with a small posterior disc osteophyte complex this flattens the anterior spinal cord. two years ago i started to get bad pain in left elbow and wrist i work in a factory and do a lot of repetion work. i thought it was carpal tunnel and turned in a report they did a emg and it came back negative so i went to my own doc he did a mri at the time it showed a small disc protrusion with a little pressure on the spinal cord i was of work a year had carpal tunnel surgery but before they did the surgerys i went back and fourth cause of neck pain did physical therepy made the pain worse did the epuidrals prednize nothing helped. being of work for a year my neck started to fill better i have been back six months started getting the headaches again pain in shoulders numbness in elbow and the thumb and index finger my doc said i need surgery i took my scans so the spine docter could tell me if he could help or not he said he could and made a appointment for me after checking my over he said i had all the symtoms but the picture did not show him much but a bulging disc all i could do is cry i am in so much pain its gotten worse i dont know what to do any advice would be helpful donna : : :

Hi, hang in there, we all know how it is. You might research minimally invasive disk surgeries. When I asked about this myself (my case wasn't appropriate for that type) spine guy said best candidates are ones that have the small bulges because they can go in and just pull out some of the nucleus of the disk (thats probably not the right word) to relieve the pressure. But not all docs do that type surgery. What you wrote at the top and what you say surgeon said do not match! MRI report (radiologist) said one thing, doc said another? Get a second opinion, try a neurogurgeon for the second opinion.

Although you're in a lot of pain the good news is that you don't need surgery. Remember an operation is not always the answer and can also make matters worse, you should have respect for the spine doctor not pushing you into something you don't need at the moment. However, your spine doc or regular doc should do something to help with your pain. Often epidural steroid injections will help and also physical therapy.
Pain is very depressing but there are ways of dealing with it and you will get a lot of support from people on this board. Don't push surgery, it doesn't necesarily take care of things and also carries significant risks.
Good luck
W

maybe i should look at it that way.physical therepy made it worse. i just want to feel okay so i can go back to work. i did the shots what else is there to do.

Hi, I'm also new here. It sounds like we are both feeling the same sorts of pain. I have just tried my second go round with PT. It made me sooo much worse. I am just starting to get the pain under control again. I have been off work for over a year with disc problems in my neck on 3 levels. Before my MRI, I was also told I had carpal tunnel but surgeon said that it was my neck causing the pain and I didn't have carpal tunnel. He also told me because it was on 3 levels he could not do surgery. I did find an excellent chiropractor. This is the only thing that actually seems to make me feel better. I don't get as much pain going down my arm and my neck feels so much better. I was very nervous about going because you hear so many horror stories, but I had no other choice and I'm so glad I went. It might be worth a try, I have heard of acupuncture helping some people, but I've never tried it. I really hope you can find something that helps. Take care