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Hello,
On february this year I went into a C5-C6 fusion surgery. I was on a heavy right shoulder/ hand pain with numbness in most of my right arm fingers. After surgery my shoulder/ arm pain are minimals but the numbness at my fingers still. So I went thru a new MRI and was shock to see some new findings:

There is a reversal of the normal curvature of the cervical spine. There is apparent miss alignment of grade I anterolisthesis C4 on C5 and grade I retrolisthesis C5 on C6. New findings as compared with previous examination. Metallic susceptibility artifacts are seen overlying C6 and C7. No compression fractures seen at the remaining vertebral bodies which appear of normal height signal intensity and alignment. Generalize hypertrophy of the apophyseal joints.
C2-3 and C7-T1 shows no herniation, significant disc bulge or canal stenosis
C3-C4, C4-C5 and C5-C6 shows mild posterior disc bulge with mild central canal stenosis
C6-C7 shows moderate size posterior disc bulge central canal stenosis and bi-lateral neural foramina stenosis right mora than the left

Your opinion will be appreciated!! Thanks

Dear Sir,

Thank you so much for providing all the valuable information, especially the videos. They have been very very useful to me.

I just had a microdiscectomy L5-S1 6 weeks ago. My pre-op MRI conclusion notes are as below:

There is a central disc protrusion at L5/S1 narrowing the spinal canal and both lateral recession at the level of L5/S1, worse on the left side with impingement on the left S1 descending nerve root. There is also slight impingement on the right S1 discending nerve root.The exit foramina are clear.

I had chronic sciatica pain for 2 years. Worse on the left side, and then after a year the right side was suffering similar pain. Around Nov 2011,the pain was no longer tolerable, and there were very sharp shooting pain going along my back and leg. The frequency of the shooting pain increased rapidly. Ultimately, a surgery was decided to be necessary.

Immediately after surgery,I could feel relief in my right leg. But my left leg was in great numbness. I couldn’t move my toes or push my feet forward. It is assumed to be nerve irratation due to manipulation during surgery.

1st week of post operation, numbness in general. General post op recovery discomfort.

2nd week, pain of the left leg had increased significantly. Unable to stand on the left leg much. The pain is worse than pre-op condition. I am mainly in bed, I can’t stand or walk for long.Severe pain radiating from back to feet when I on my feet. It was not the case before surgery.

3rd week, severe pain, was excruciating, it felt paralysing my back to my leg. Very sensitive with any movement and even touch. In great pain and an emergency doctor was called for house visit. I was prescribed pregabilin/lyrica as co-codamol & diclofernac did not work for me anymore. The main excruciating pain subsided. I am able to get up of bed to stand and walk around the house. But am still in pain – which is worse than before the surgery as the pain is constantly there. Standing and lying down give me more pain than sitting. Which was opposite before my operation, where sitting and walking too long were mainly aggravating my sciatica pain.

This is the post-op note from my neurosurgeon:

On examination she does have clear root tension at 30 degrees on the left side, a clear L5 radiculapathy.

During Surgery, it was very difficult to remove the disc because the disc had hardened significantly and basically was almost like cortical bone at the site of the spinal canal. Once I got into the disc I removed soft material but it did not cause a good decompression more medially. I then created a trench by nibbling away a lot of that bone material. Surgery took longer than anticipated but still within 50 mins. I think that because of the significant root retraction that was required, she has developed swelling of the nerve root that has caused her problems. The retraction certainly explains the numbness that she experienced.

A MRI is arranged to review her current condition.

I have just done my post-op MRI. I have the images but still awaiting for the radiologist report. From what I can see from the second MRI, it looks like the herniation still exists, and if not larger than before. I’m not sure.

Could you please explain, what can possibly be the reason that my pain is much more worse than before the operation? I fear that I might be referred to pain management clinic and no other permanent solution are offered by my consultant.

Please advise as I’m desperately in need to be pain free. It’s debilitating. Thank you.

I have sought 2 opinions re: a herniated C5-6 disc which is causing severe central spinal cord compression. I am a physician also, and can see the CT myelogram myself (unable to get MRI due to implanted metal). The first opinion (and radiology report) says the extruded disc has subligamentous extension behind the body of C6. The compression looks to me like this as well (compressed at least half way down behind the vertebral body…if not more). He suggests a corpectomy (C6) with titanium cage and removal of the disc above and below. He feels this is the only way to know the disc is fully removed and the compression fully relieved.

The second opinion said that he thought he may be able to get the disc out without corpectomy, and was planning to also take the C6-7 disc since it is bulging slightly. He is telling me he will be able to see through the disc space once the disc is out and know if the compression is relieved. Since they differ significantly on the opinion of whether or not they will know if the disc (and therefore compression) is fully relieved, I am not sure which is more likely to be correct. Their experience level is probably similar, although the second opinion works at a place that does more surgery than the first.

My main concern is not wanting a second surgery if the compression isn’t fully relieved. I would also rather know going into it if I will end up with corpectomy or not, but think it may be worth an attempt at discectomy if it is possible since the recovery is much faster. Could you offer a suggestion on whether it is possible to actually tell given the degree of subligamentous extention behind the vertebral body.
Thanks.
SG

Hi, I have been suffering from straightening of cervical spine for 7 months now. My main problem is the neck tension/stifness and daily headaches I get and it’s been 7months of these headaches/ neck spasm. I got MRI of spine and brain done and also MRV done. all results came out normal except for cervical spine MRI saying “straightening of cervical spine”. I am 30 years old (male) and was a regular at the gym. I am not sure what caused by muscle spasm but it could be due to the following reasons:
a) workout at the gym combined with boot camp classes
b) sleeping position – i used to sleep on my chest with head sidewards and used to watch tv in the same position
c) I had been on Accutane (isotretinoin) for 4 months – I am not sure if this caused by neck spasm/straightening but I read online that isotretinoin has side effects but I couldn’t really find if it causes muscle spasm.

Currently I am taking Cipralex 5 mg, Prothiaden (dosulepin hydrochloride) 50 mg and Gabapentin 200 mg at night.

I have also been on Lyrica 75 mg one tablet at night and it helps with my headache at night but i get a headache again in the afternoon the next day which usually last till the evening. I have been to every possible doctor – GP, Neurologist, Physiotherapist but my neck spasm is not going away.

Is straightening of cervical spine curable? it’s been 7 months and constantly thinking of why this isn’t resolving. I had been a perfectly healthy active man before this took place.

Please advise what I should do.

Thanks,
Omer