oldrebel

Had pain in the right arm. Had a MRI to find out the cause. I am seeing pain MD and was told that remedies are injections or
surgery. This started two months ago and pain has increased with numbness in right index finger. This happens later in the day
because of spine compression being up right in my opinion. My question is should I try injections first or just go with the surgery
since I’m nervous about surgery. Anybody that has had this problem could help me would be greatly appreciated.

StallWeezy

Wow. Same boat, man. Mine started on 10/10 and got worse for a few days. Ended up stretching religiously every hour. Wall angels and putting the numb arm outstretched, palm against the wall, fingers pointing down to the ground were the 2 exercises that saved me. I still feel a little tightness but have also stopped stretching since the numbness and pins and needles in my forearm and fingers disappeared about 4 weeks after the onset. Really hope you don’t need surgery. Hope some simple stretches can save you. Good luck!

oldrebel

Thanks for that but since the MRI showed the problem I don’t think that will solve this since it’s in the spine in the neck.

oldrebel

By the way. How old are you? I’m 64

oldrebel

Also don’t wait. In three weeks I finally went to the emergency room in tears from the pain.

firefighterplt

I had a lumbar disc surgically repaired and I have a couple of herniated discs in my neck. Been around the block.

Definitely try the injections first. Avoid the knife if at all possible. I needed lumbar surgery due to the level of nerve compression (tried injections, didn’t work) but more conservative therapy worked wonders on my neck.

Try the injections (they suck...prepare yourself). I also recommend physical therapy (traction helped a lot) and chiropractic. Explore every non-operative option. C-spine surgery is no joke, and any orthopedic procedure will dramatically increase your chances of osteoarthritis, as well as slide the timeline to the left. Additionally, surgeons are more likely to go straight to hardware in the neck, often with an anterior (from the front...) approach.

oldrebel

When you say injections suck, prepare yourself. Do you mean hurts like hell? Also when you say conservative therapy on the neck, what do you mean?

firefighterplt

Conservative: non-operative. Physical therapy, massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, pain management, etc.

Epidural steroid injections involve piercing the thecal sac (the sheath around the spinal cord which contains the cerebral spinal fluid) under fluoroscopy (live x-ray w/ dye). A corticosteroid often blended with lidocaine and/or ropivacaine is injected, which helps ‘calm down’ the inflamed nerve root. The cocktail varies, but it’s usually a steroid and a local.

The actual piercing doesn’t really hurt at all. As the fluid is pushed into the sac, the extra fluid imparts additional pressure on the nerves in the vicinity...especially if the anesthesiologist pushes it quickly. It feels like massive pressure. Not fun. As soon as all the meds are in though, it’s gone. Just gotta deal with it.

You should get pretty rapid relief from the lido. That wears off relatively quickly, and it can take a few days for the steroid to act.

It isn't a comfortable experience, but I highly recommend trying it before pursuing surgery...unless immediate surgery is indicated.

oldrebel

Thank you. This info. helps greatly.

StallWeezy

I’m 30 and had gone to a chiropractor for 3 visits to deal with the really bad pain for the first couple of days. I was also taking ibuprofen around the clock with lots of ice packs. I never got an MRI, but for what’s it worth the chiro said that it was a pinched nerve from a compressed disc in my neck somewhere between C1 and like T4 or something.