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I am a 60 year old male, 6′ 2″, 206 lbs, physically active (racquetball 5 times a week for 1 to 4 hours each time).
On 3/27, I woke up and was unable to turn my neck to the left. For 6 weeks, I had severe pain in my left shoulder and left elbow area and numbness in my left middle finger and left pointing finger.
I was only able to sleep 1 to 2.5 hours before waking up from the pain…even when taking prednisone and hydrocodone.
For the past 2 weeks, I’ve had very minimal pain. I’m using a cervical pillow now and sleeping on my back.I had an MRI last week and just got the results Monday.
p.s. The same symptoms happened about 5 years ago and lasted about 2 months also. I never went to the doctor for that episode.
Thanks in advance,
Pete
Cerebellar tonsils are normally located. There is normal signal
throughout the visualized brainstem and cervical spinal cord. Cervical
vertebral body alignment appears normal. Vertebral body heights are well-
maintained with normal bone marrow signal. Minor C5-C6 disc space narrowing
includes endplate spondylosis which is seen throughout the cervical spine.
C2-C3: Arthritic changes of the left uncovertebral joint produces left
neural foraminal stenosis, in part due to facet arthropathy. No significant
disc osteophyte disease or central spinal stenosis.
C3-C4: Minor broad disc osteophyte bulging approaches the anterior margin
of the cervical cord without cord deformity or compression. Degenerative
changes of the uncovertebral joints and minor facet arthropathy result in
bilateral neural foraminal stenosis.
C4-C5: Central disc osteophyte bulging approaches the anterior margin of
the cervical cord without significant central spinal stenosis. There is
bilateral facet arthropathy with no significant neural foraminal stenosis.
C5-C6: Broad-based posterior disc osteophyte protrusion includes left
foraminal disc protrusion causing effacement of the cervical cord which is
mildly compressed. There is bulky bilateral facet arthropathy with left-
sided neural foraminal stenosis.
C6-C7: Left paracentral/foraminal disc osteophyte herniation causes slight
encroachment upon the cervical cord, with facet arthropathy contributing to
left neural foraminal stenosis and likely encroachment upon the exiting
nerve root.
C7-T1: Left foraminal disc osteophyte bulging and facet arthropathy
produces significant neural foraminal stenosis and likely encroachment uponthe exiting nerve root. There is no significant central spinal stenosis or
cord compression.
IMPRESSION:
1. Multilevel cervical degenerative disc osteophyte disease and facet
arthrosis.
2. Cord compression and central spinal stenosis involving C5-C6 worse on
the left secondary to disc osteophyte protrusion.
3. C6-C7 left paracentral/foraminal disc osteophyte herniation with left
neural foraminal stenosis and encroachment upon the exiting nerve root.
4. C7-T1 left neural foraminal stenosis secondary to foraminal disc
osteophyte disease
and facet arthrosis.
5. C2-C3 and C5-C6 left and C3-C4 bilateral neural foraminal stenosis.It sounds like you have C7 radiculopathy (“unable to turn my neck to the left. For 6 weeks, I had severe pain in my left shoulder and left elbow area and numbness in my left middle finger and left pointing finger”). See https://neckandback.com/conditions/symptoms-of-cervical-nerve-injuries/.
You have foraminal narrowing at multiple levels (“C6-C7 left paracentral/foraminal disc osteophyte herniation with left neural foraminal stenosis and encroachment upon the exiting nerve root”, “C7-T1 left neural foraminal stenosis secondary to foraminal disc osteophyte disease and facet arthrosis”. “C2-C3 and C5-C6 left and C3-C4 bilateral neural foraminal stenosis”). See https://neckandback.com/conditions/radiculopathy-pinched-nerve-in-neck/.
Next step should be therapy with selective nerve root blocks. See https://neckandback.com/treatments/epidural-injections-and-selective-nerve-root-blocks-diagnostic-and-therapeutic-neck/
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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