[Armhurts]

#8722

I was recently got over a 3 month painful bout of cervical radiculopathy in the left arm. After 3 months I had about 1 month almost pain free up until last week. My arm pain is back at about 40% of what it was initially. I am taking ibuprophen again and scared to death it will come back to full blown pain. I have not had any surgeries as I would like to try to recover as naturally as possible. My mri…

No abnormalities of the cervical spinal cord. Reversal of the normal lordictic curvature centered at c5 . Slight narrowing of c5-6 disc space and mild narrowing of c6-7 disc space is noted with disc desiccations.

C2-3 no central canal stenosis or neural foraminal narrowing defined
C3-4 no central canal stenosis or neural foraminal narrowing defined
C4-5 slight central canal stenosis and neural foraminal narrowing related to disco- osteophytic protrusion and ligamentous and osseous hypertrophy.
C5-6 moderate central canal stenosis asymmetric to the right, mild to moderate right neural foraminal narrowing and mild left neural foraminal narrowing related to disco- osteophytic protrusion and ligamentous and osseous hypertrophy.
C6-7 mild central canal stenosis and neural foraminal narrowing related to disco- osteophytic protrusion and ligamentous and osseous hypertrophy.
C1-t1 no central canal stenosis or neural foraminal narrowing are defined.
Impression: multiple levels of central canal stenosis and neural foraminal narrowing most prominent at c6-7.
Mild degenerative changes from c5-7 more prominent at c6-7
Reversal of normal lordotic curvature centered at c5 and can be associated with muscle spasms. No abnormalities of the cervical spinal cord or compression fracture or bone marrow replacement.

My pain hops all over but mostly in my forearm, and wrist. index finger is totally numb. I do over the door traction, and some exercises with resistance bands. I also try to go to the gym 3 days a week to walk or bicycle. I feel like I am doing everything right. But pain is back and I don’t understand why. What is the prognosis of this type of thing and is reoccurring pain normal? Also my mri say asymmetric to the right but pain is on my left. I am not sure how to manage the pain. I don’t tolerate pain meds well. i use tens and OTC and cry a lot. I’m 37 and used to be active.

[Donald Corenman, MD, DC]

#8731

I understand that you want to heal as naturally as possible but the disorder you have acquired has occurred naturally and needs some attention. Degenerative changes of the spine are as common as the sun rising. In fact, I am surprised to see normal, non-degenerative spines in most patients, especially professional athletes.

You have developed degenerative foraminal stenosis (see website for further information). Essentially, bone spurs have narrowed the hole the nerve exits from. The radiologist was somewhat incomplete in that he did not mention C6-7 specifically (he left it out) but in the conclusions, he noted C6-7 to be the worst level (he did not note which side was worse).

The next step in my practice is a selective nerve root block of that level. Many times, this can control the pain and numbness.

Dr. Corenman

PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.
 
Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.

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