I was wanting to know if anyone else had started having new pains after surgery. I've called the doctor twice telling him the pain is getting just as bad as is was before surgery. He told me it was normal. The pain I had before was left arm, shoulder & shoulder blade. Now it is in both shoulders and my hips & legs are just killing me. Is this normal or should I call my doctor again? The last time I talked to him, my hips & legs were not hurting. I'm starting to think this surgery may have been the wrong decision.

Sue

Sue, how long has it been since your surgery?

I had a C4/5 ACDF on November 15th for severe spinal cord stenosis at that level. I too have noticed some new pains coming and going during my recovery. In particular in the first few days after surgery I had severe problems with feet and leg pains although I had no foot or leg pain presurgery. Right now I have an area of skin on my back that looks perfectly normal and healthy, but it feels raw like its been scraped or sunburned or something. What I have been told is that these sensations are a result of nerves "waking up" after having been compromised by the cord compression for so long. Could this maybe explain things for you too?

It's been almost 6 weeks since my surgery

I had a C4/5 ACDF on November 15th for severe spinal cord stenosis at that level. I too have noticed some new pains coming and going during my recovery. In particular in the first few days after surgery I had severe problems with feet and leg pains although I had no foot or leg pain presurgery. Right now I have an area of skin on my back that looks perfectly normal and healthy, but it feels raw like its been scraped or sunburned or something. What I have been told is that these sensations are a result of nerves "waking up" after having been compromised by the cord compression for so long. Could this maybe explain things for you too?
That sounds like a reasonable explanation. I'm just so impatient, that I want to be back to normal RIGHT NOW!!! Well, as normal as I ever was. haha I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with these pains.

Sue

Laenini,just curious about that "sunburned' pain you are having?was your cord actually compressed or damaged in some way?this just sounds like whats called "central pain syndrome".i too have this and mine was caused by spinal cord damage.it has to do with the spinothalamic tract within the cord.this tract controls your reaction to hot cold and pain.for whatever reason,when this particular tract becomes damaged in some way.it just can trigger the central pain.i actually have it from my palm on up different parts of my arm and up over both shoulder blades.my pain actually follows the c 7 and T 1 dermatomes within my left arm and shoulderbldes,almost completely thu out the exact dermatomes.

if you just have a smaller area of this,my best advice would be to speak with your doc about getting the lidocaine patches or even the lido gel(both take an Rx) and try using that over the affected area.this works really well over the worst areas of my CP.just one possibility.good luck.Marcia

My cord was severely compressed at the C4/5 level. The CT scan slice at that level showed only a narrow "U" shape to my spinal cord where at the rest of the levels my cord was a normal looking oval shape. After my surgery my doctor said the disc he took out of there was "huge". I haven't specifically spoken to my neurosurgeon about the burning sensation I'm picking up on my back (its roughly in the area of my left shoulder blade). When I did complain about the new onset leg and foot pain though his PA explained about the nerves waking up and to expect some odd temporary symptoms from that. So I've just chalked up the skin burning to that same explanation. I'm curious now though about the central pain syndrome you've described. I'm going to read up on it and then ask about it at my next MD visit. Thanks for the feed back Marcia! Sue, I'd love to keep hearing how things go for you...

Laenini:
I will keep you posted. I am just about going nuts:dizzy: sitting around waiting for my surgeon appt. on Dec. 19th. I cannot work because I substitute teach in elementary schools and being in Colorado, tons of kids are really sick. I have chronic sinusitis and I cannot ever get a cold. Instead I get a cold PLUS a sinus infection with a minimum of 3 weeks on an antibiotic. I am likely to have my surgery before Xmas, so if I catch something it would present a huge problem. So what am I doing? I am trying to prepare the household for the likelihood of surgery before Xmas. It entirely is a pain not knowing 100% if they will do the surgery before Xmas. Its a long story, but my neck Dr. feels pretty darn sure that it will happen before Xmas. He works with the surgeon alot because the surgeon is located next door at a spinal center and my dr. goes there alot. My Dr. is well aware that if I have the surgery before Jan. 1, insurance will pay 100%. So today what did I do? I cleaned my refrigerator for a grand total of 2 hours! haha. (ooo my achin' neck)
Sue (SKZ)