I have a herniated disc at C3-C4 and am wondering what people have done to help relieve the pain I am experiencing. It really bothers me to no end and my concentration level; forget about it. My short term memory is also affected.
Other than surgery(which seems inevitable) and acetaminophen, does anyone have any other remedies?
Those nagging headaches. Have you tried Physicial therapy, massage, or had epidural or selective nerve root block injections? sometimes they work. also have you tried medications like Topamax, Lyrica, or Neurontin? In my experience ibuprofen works better than tylenol for these kinds of headaches, because it helps bring down inflammation.
I am anxious to hear how you like the Lyrica? What have you noticed? Have you gained any weight? My doctor suggested I take this med, but after reading all the side-effects, I am reluctant. So....PLEASE LET ME HEAR FROM YOU.
Weight gain is definitely a side effect, along with drowsiness.
I have been prescribed various pain,muscle relaxant and nerve meds.
It can reduce the pain but my main psychological concern was masking the pain; only to find out that my symptoms had gotten worse....right before my eyes.
We are all like snowflakes; no two exactly the same.
Please do not base your decision on my experience.
Sounds like you've tried just about everything you should have. Surgery does seem inevidable for you as you've said. Has your surgeon schedualed a date or are things yet to be discussed? If you are finding that you are getting worse call and talk with him or his assistant. They might be able to start to get the ball rolling for you sooner because you still have to wait and do pre-op stuff beforehand as well - it can be a pain in itself to wait for the day. For me, I noticed I was getting worse and worse every week and towards the end every couple days or so. He wanted to have my surgery sooner, but another or other doc's had blocked off the OR rooms for their patients.
Good luck to you and many blessings. Take it easy and don't try to do too much, don't be afraid to ask for help from those around you, you don't need to be aggrivating any of your symptoms anymore....
I will say though, before I had my surgery I was put in an aspen (hard) collar. he had me do this for 24 hours or so to see if I had any movement going on... I did end up having movement ( I think its was called Spondylolisthesis) and from that point on pretty much had to wear the collar for some relief and to be able to walk or do things because it keeps the spine more stable. I'm wondering if this might help your pain, you can ask the surgeon about this to see if this could potentially give some relief by adding the stability to your spine by a hard collar. Our situations are a bit different, but it may not be a bad thing to ask.
Oh the headaches!
In the 6 or 7 months before surgery, I had 6 headaches that lasted more than 24 hours! They were so bad I would've have paid someone to pluck my brain out thru my eye socket!
I would have had more, but I would basically freeze my skull. I know this reads strange, but I had to do something.
If I felt the pre-headache pain on the lower right side of my skull. I would walk down to the Kwik-Mart buy a bag of ice. I would dump it into a cooler, fill it up with water. Then I would plunge my head into the ice water. I would keep my head in the water as long as possible. Eventually I could feel the pain lessen then go away.
Remember I'm a trained pro don't try this at home!
Regards,
Ice
I had ACDF surgery on January 23rd 2007 on disc's 3/4. I had serve headaches, right side face pain and right arm pain. I would highly recommend the surgery. Just 8 days after I feel wonderful. Instanly when I woke up sure I was in some pain from surgery but the arm pain and the headaches were gone! I had some what of a sore thoart and still have some swelling but not to the point of a bother. I do have some slight pain in the neck and in my shoulders but that is from the surgery and I have pain killers to take the edge off.
But before I had surgery done I am sorry to say nothing really helped mine. But that doesn't mean that something might not help you. You might want to try some muscle rexations (sp?) they kind of took away the headaches somewhat.
Oh the headaches!
In the 6 or 7 months before surgery, I had 6 headaches that lasted more than 24 hours! They were so bad I would've have paid someone to pluck my brain out thru my eye socket!
I would have had more, but I would basically freeze my skull. I know this reads strange, but I had to do something.
If I felt the pre-headache pain on the lower right side of my skull. I would walk down to the Kwik-Mart buy a bag of ice. I would dump it into a cooler, fill it up with water. Then I would plunge my head into the ice water. I would keep my head in the water as long as possible. Eventually I could feel the pain lessen then go away.
Remember I'm a trained pro don't try this at home!
Regards,
Ice
Dear Ice,
I can hardly bend my neck, so I don't think that the "ice,ice, baby" approach will work but I do thank you immensly.
I had ACDF surgery on January 23rd 2007 on disc's 3/4. I had serve headaches, right side face pain and right arm pain. I would highly recommend the surgery. Just 8 days after I feel wonderful. Instanly when I woke up sure I was in some pain from surgery but the arm pain and the headaches were gone! I had some what of a sore thoart and still have some swelling but not to the point of a bother. I do have some slight pain in the neck and in my shoulders but that is from the surgery and I have pain killers to take the edge off.
But before I had surgery done I am sorry to say nothing really helped mine. But that doesn't mean that something might not help you. You might want to try some muscle rexations (sp?) they kind of took away the headaches somewhat.
Dear Katie,
The same disc huh; how long was your hospital stay?
I am currently taking muscle relaxers but nothing seems to help my headaches either.
Yes, the same dics 3/4 I have had problems the last six years or so but off and on but the last year with it was horriable. I couldn't tell you how great it felt to walk up in recovery with out a headache.
You might also want to try a heating pad that help me off and on.
I checked in the hostipal at 8a.m on the day of surgery and was released the next day at 10a.m so not bad at all.
)
