Hi Mag!
This is why you have to go back to the doc, there are sooo many things it could be, and no way to tell without tests. I will say your symtoms sound VERY similar to my own, and what I have is DDD, After my neck fusion, I still have pain in my shoulder and arm and hands, mostly in my last 2 fingers, pinky and the one next to it, very numb and painful.
I now have lower back issues, and bulging discs below my fusion, which I have been told is common, the weight of the fusion, no matter if its hardware or bone graph, can cause the discs below it to bulge.
I know doctors try to poo poo your pain, but only you know how bad it hurts, and in this day and age you MUST step up and advocate for your self. Doctors are kind of stuck too, these tests are very very expensive, and if a doctor keeps ordering them for patients who turn out to be fine, the powers that be start wondering if he's padding the bill or getting kickbacks.
Put yourself in their position, they have seen loads of people in agony, and with a week of anti inflammatorys, rest, and PT, the person is doing fine. Ordering a $10,000 test before youve tried a lot of other things is in no ones best interest.
But in the meantime, you can be made comfortable, and if it doesnt get better, keep going back, thats how he knows, okay, now its time for the expensive tests, something is really wrong here. it sucks, but thats the way the system works.
Good luck to you and please keep posting and let us know what happens.
Your Friend, Fabby
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