Guest guest Posted March 28, 2004 Report Share Posted March 28, 2004 hi, I had a previous injury and surgery for chiari malformation 10 years ago. some residual permanent nerve damage, but have adjusted and learned to live with it. now i have a bulged disc c6/c7 on a nerve root causing me much pain and discomfort for the last 18 months. surgery ahs been discussed, but not necessarily recomended, and i don't want to do that anyway. i tried physical therapy for 2-3 months, but clinic decided it wasn't worth it. what are my options? does anyone know what other forms of therapy are available? i have guardianship of my 2-1/2 year old granddaughter and am tired of telling her, grandma can't do things or hurts too much! and i don't want surgery! thanks to all... barb-in-wisconie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 28, 2004 Report Share Posted March 28, 2004 > learned to live with it. now i have a bulged disc c6/c7 on a nerve Barb - You are fortunate to just have a bulging disc at C6/7, rather than a fully herniated disc. You've said that PT hasn't helped. Another non- surgical option is ESI, epidural steroid injection, or a steroid block. A NS or other specialist injects steriods into your nerve and " blocks " the pain receptors in the brain from receiving the signal. If this works, you can get relief for up to a year. I've had some lumbar ESIs, one that worked for 9 months, and some that didn't. If you feel you need to go with a surgical route, if you haven't had surgery in the C6/7 region, I definitely reccommend you see if you are a candidate for Minimally Invasive Surgical procedures. One such doctor that does those kinds of procedures is Dr. Jho in Pittsburgh. www.drjho.com He has had people travel from all over the country to have them done. Other websites that might interest you are: www.microspine.com www.spineonline.com www.back.com www.spineunivers.com As always, a second opinion as well as a review by a Neurosurgeon is always suggested. Best of luck on your research. joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2004 Report Share Posted March 29, 2004 Joe- I had an injection for another condition once and had quite the reaction to it, so neither doc nor i will chance it in my neck region. i didn't mean to imply physical therapy was no good. physical therapy did help somewhatbut only to a point, and now i am getting worse again. now it is starting to affect my right arm sometimes as well. i did see a nuerosurgeon as well, but wasn't impressed by her and did not feel comfortable with her treating me. she was all about surgery was the one and only treatment for this ever! the previous surgery i had involved putting an extended tissue graft in my spinal cord to open it up around the base of my brain (which was elongated) and was quite the nasty. i don't remember if it went as far down as c6/c7, though the scar extends that far down plus. Thanks for your thoughts. i did not know that there is a minimally invasive procedure for this! Thank you for the web links as well. barb-in-wisconie > > learned to live with it. now i have a bulged disc c6/c7 on a nerve > > Barb - > > You are fortunate to just have a bulging disc at C6/7, rather than a > fully herniated disc. You've said that PT hasn't helped. Another non- > surgical option is ESI, epidural steroid injection, or a steroid block. > A NS or other specialist injects steriods into your nerve and " blocks " > the pain receptors in the brain from receiving the signal. If this works, > you can get relief for up to a year. I've had some lumbar ESIs, one > that worked for 9 months, and some that didn't. > > If you feel you need to go with a surgical route, if you haven't had surgery > in the C6/7 region, I definitely reccommend you see if you are a candidate > for Minimally Invasive Surgical procedures. One such doctor that does > those kinds of procedures is Dr. Jho in Pittsburgh. www.drjho.com > He has had people travel from all over the country to have them done. > Other websites that might interest you are: > > www.microspine.com > www.spineonline.com > www.back.com > www.spineunivers.com > > As always, a second opinion as well as a review by a Neurosurgeon is always > suggested. Best of luck on your research. > > joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2004 Report Share Posted March 29, 2004 > Thanks for your thoughts. i did not know that there is a minimally > invasive procedure for this! Thank you for the web links as well. > barb-in-wisconie > Barb - You're very welcome for the links. The last one should have read www.spineuniverse.com. I know that PT helps in some ways, but doesn't always do the complete job. The good thing about PT is that it does make your muscles as strong as possible should you require surgery. I had a 3 level ACDF myself, but have heard that single levels are much less extensive (duh). It's been almost 2 years and I'm just beginning to feel like myself. I do believe that you should see if you are a candidate for the MI surgeries. I have heard such good things about Dr. Jho. From what I have been told, he will review your films at no charge, and tell you whether or not you are a candidate for the MI surgery. So I would say it's worth getting an extra copy of your MRIs to send. As for your NS, I would go ahead and get a second opinion. I'm not good at geography, but Chicago is a good center of NS activity. I'm not sure where you are in Wisconsin. E-mail me directly at maxwellj@... if you want to share your city, and I'll send out a call to my spiney friends and see if they have a recommendation in your area. I was just fortunate to be in the area of Duke University myself. joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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