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When diagnosed with 3c 4c 5c 6c bulging discs with severe head pain and pain in your neck radiating into shoulders left arm and tingling in your fingers what all can be done is there a pinched nerve?
If the disks are herniated (bulging is another term) the specific nerves causing your problems ARE being pinched/compressed by the disks - that's what happens when you herni…ate a disk. The diagnosis you describe is disk herniations between the C3/C4/C5/C6 vertebrae. I've had flattened disks between C5/6/7, with a resulting fusion operation to correct it as well. In my case I had no choice as my left arm was becoming paralyzed. I've also had 2 other major spinal surgeries. You should already have received some kind of treatment plan, likely Flexeril, and anti-inflammatory and / or a strong painkiller like Percocet or Vicodin. It's important that you DO NOT LIFT anything over a couple of pounds. I'm guessing that this happened as either a whiplash injury or something similar. If the problem is already causing tingling and numbness in your fingers you need to report that immediately to your doctor. If you're not already seeing a Neurosurgeon, you should be. Orthopedists are useless in spine and disk problems as they understand the bone aspects, but not the neurological complexities. A general doctor just doesn't have the expertise required to treat this. The reason you need to report it is that if you're having tingling/numbness in your fingers (especially if it's creeping its way from the tips to the knuckles) the disk inflammation isn't getting any better and the pressure is enough that it's starting to cut off the nerve impulses to your hand. Unless you get it looked at and treated, you could wind up with long term nerve damage or worse. I've already faced this and been through it, aside from dealing with these problems myself for over 20 years. In my case, within 2 weeks of the initial pain my left arm was almost paralyzed, and my fingers were numb from the fingertips to the first knuckle. The fusion I had included a bone graft from my right pelvic area as well as a plate. It is not something to take lightly. If your doctor is not treating it as a serious issue, you need to get another one fast. I cannot stress the importance of getting the disk pressure relieved off of the nerve in question, likely the C5/C6 disk. Also, do not do any activity requiring any lifting, arm strength, etc., and don't drive if you can avoid it. If you're not taking any anti-inflammatory drugs (which I'd be shocked if you weren't) you need to start. Message me and let me know what meds they have you on so far. I had this category started because this is the one area in my life in which I've dealt with for many years, and I've survived bad doctors, diagnoses, hospital mistakes, pain on scales you can't imagine (even now), and continuing spinal damage and severe pain. Hopefully I can help you and others avoid the bad things that I've been through. if you have specific questions don't hesitate to PM me. 2 sites you need to look at: American Pain Foundation - http://tinyurl.com/8thkgm Spine Universe - http://tinyurl.com/ysxy5l If you eventually require surgery, let me know as there are certain decisions you'll face where the wrong choice can have consequences down the road. TSD -RAVEN- - Category Supervisor ---- I hope this helps if someone told you all those disc were bulging you must have had a mri? I just went threw the same thing c5 c6 had a pinch nerve and they did therapy did another mri showed nerve wasnt pinch anymore anyway to make along story short have a Dr do a milogram and catscan this shows all around the disk. Worked for me just had a fushion on c5 c6. Hope this helps. (MORE)
