What can I do about arthritis in neck and lower back?

@dorisena Don’t you hate it when your doctor just doesn’t give you credit for knowing something? I knew my dates perfectly yet my doctor didn’t give any credit to them and let my son go three weeks late, at which point there was evidence that he was definitely overdo, such as meconium and they could tell he had lost weight - even so he was 9 pounds, 2 ounces. I changed doctors for my second pregnancy for that reason, and also because he ended being away when I delivered and I did not like the horrible doctor who subbed for him - he was eventually sued for another case and really was bad. Both babies were summer babies so I knew there was a chance I’d get the other doctor again, and sure enough as it turned I would have!

The new doctor was great, as was the whole group he was in.
JK

@contentandwell Boy isn't it something how you cant even trust your own Dr. you have to be your own advocate and watch everything. Glad it turned out well for you . That was a big baby.

Four years ago, I was diagnosed with advanced degenerative osteoarthritis. Here are some things I've done that I think has made a difference. I've included some references that others might find useful.

1. I read 2 books, "Mayo Clinic on Arthritis" by April Chang-Miller and David Sobel's, "Arhtritis: What Exercises Work". Highly recommended. I really needed a better understanding of what I had and how to deal with it.

2. I made an appointment at Dan Abrams Healthy Living Center with a physical therapist. ( https://dahlc.mayoclinic.org) I asked for exercises that would help me deal with the arthritis in my spine and neck. It took several months to be able to do these exercises. Some were painful when I started, but they have all gotten easier. They have two major benefits. They add strength to my core and they improve my range of motion. You will sweat if you do these exercises. I do these exercises at least 3 times per week. They take about 20 minutes. I do other exercises for strength and aerobic conditioning.

3. The Arthritis Foundation, (https://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/exercise/workouts/other-activities/tai-chi-arthritis.php), recommends Tai Chi. I got the video and learned the routine. Even if you can't stand, you can do this routine. Mindfulness and balance are the two biggest benefits I have obtained from my daily routine. The mindfulness has helped me to deal with the daily pain.

4. The Mayo book recommends losing weight. I lost 50 pounds on a program offered by the Veterans Administration. The program is more of a life style change than a diet. I've kept the weight off for two years now and have noticed a marked improvement in my knee joint and hip pain.

5. I've had 3 cortisone shots in my spine, a couple in my knees, and 3 in the shoulder. All have helped for about 3-6 months. About once a week I take a Tylenol Arthritis.

At my last doctor's appointment, my doctor said I still have "advanced degenerative osteoarthritis", but I have amazing mobility for someone with my x-rays.

Hello @jmb73 . From the title of your post, it sounds like you have arthritis within the spinal canal. I had that because of bone spurs and a ruptured disc compressing my spinal cord. The only way to fix that is surgery to free the spinal cord. I had that surgery 3 years ago and it gave me back my coordination of my arms and my ability to do my art work which had been affected by spinal cord compression. Prior to surgery, I had muscle spasms that pulled my cervical spine out of normal alignment, gave me bad headaches, and the spasms were rotating and tilting my vertebrae independently. C5/C6 was the level of the injury and compression, and C1 through C4 would rotate, and when C1 & C2 were twisted or tilted, it caused bad headaches and vertigo. I worked with a physical therapist who did a lot of things to realign my spine and block pain with a Dolphin neurostimulator. That works by sending an electric current between 2 handheld devices and it blocks the neurotransmitters that transmit pain signals. She did myofascial release to stretch tight muscles that were locked. My case was complicated by also having thoracic outlet syndrome which was worse on one side, and the tighter side of my neck was responsible for the twisting muscle spasms. I used heat wraps on my neck and arnica gel topically to ease pain, and I wrapped the bead filled microwave wrap around my neck like a cervical collar to restrict my movement because moving would start a muscle spasm. I saw several surgeons over 2 years and none would help me because my symptoms were unusual. I had "funicular pain" that sent pain anywhere in my body from the compression in my neck. The only fix for me was surgery and I came to Mayo for that. My therapist bought me time during those years by reducing my symptoms.

I had only one cervical epidural injection as a diagnostic procedure before I came to Mayo, and it caused more pain than it took away, but it did block the pre-existing pain for about 5 days, and then it slowly returned over a few weeks. The pain it caused was a sharp burning pain with electric shocks into my dominant hand because of the pressure of the fluid that was injected and had no place to go. The surgeons wanted me to do more of the injections and I refused. They are used to put off surgery, are not FDA approved for this use, and I knew that surgery was the only thing that would fix my problems. By the time I was able to have surgery, the bone spurs had grown enough that if I bent my neck forward (across the sharp edge of the spurs), it sent an electric shock down my entire body. I only had compression in the spinal canal, and not at the foramen where the nerve roots exit the spine. My disc had collapsed about 50% of its height, so when I side bent my neck, it did hit those nerve roots with sharp pain because the bones were closer together. Bone spurs also grow around nerve roots and that can be caused by the inflammation from a ruptured disc when the contents of the disc is extruded near them. I do know there are some procedures that can only clean out arthritis in the foramen if there is not a problem with a disc.

I'm not familiar with gamma knife surgery and presume it is to stop pain by destroying nerves that cause the pain. FYI, injected steroids also interfere with getting a clear image on a diagnostic MRI. I had to wait 6 weeks before I could get another MRI that showed that my bone spurs had spread and doubled in volume. It is the body's attempt to stabilize the spine because of an injury by growing bone because the pressure on the end plates of the vertebrae is uneven. Over time, this can cause the spine to fuse itself in whatever alignment it is in, but not necessarily a good thing.

Here is my patient story. Let me know if I can be of further assistance. https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2019/01/09/using-the-art-of-medicine-to-overcome-fear-of-surgery/

We also have an informative discussion about Myofascial Release Physical therapy. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/

Wow! You have been through a lot. I am afraid of surgery as I have such a low IgM and am fighting a yeast infection under my breasts caused by a mammogram. The dermatologist could see little cracks in my skin from the pressure of the machine. It has been 6 weeks. I had just gotten over the 8 month infection at the Gamma pin site. Gamma surgery is 240 lasers aimed at a brain tumor. Mine is a benign meningioma. I will ask my PC about physical therapy. Thank you and I hope you have a healthy, pain free New Year. Joan

@jmb73 Thanks, Joan. I am doing very well and I am pain free from the spine issues. I still have thoracic outlet syndrome that takes a long time to work through with myofascial release, but I am making progress. I was afraid of surgery too and woke up every day and thought about it and panicked. After 4 months of doing that, I asked myself WHY I was doing this to myself, and I began a conversation with myself to figure out why and deprogram my fears. The stakes were pretty high. I had to chose if I wanted to save the coordination of my arms and avoid being disabled in other ways too, and doing that meant I had to face the biggest fears I had. This was my choice to make and I decided not to let my fears make that choice for me. It can be done, and the root of our terrible fears is found somewhere in our past experiences and how we coped with it, or not, by leaving it unresolved in the past and learning to avoid it.

I think you are brave for having had gamma surgery for a brain tumor. As a patient, just hearing a doctor say that about you would cause alarm. I think when we are tested, we can find strength and a way to get through it, and we have to believe in our ability to do that. It is very empowering as a patient, and if you are really tuned in and paying attention, you can figure things out and find clues that have been missed. That is true in my case. 5 spine surgeons missed understanding why I had my pain symptoms everywhere and could not connect it to the spine imaging and because they didn't understand and didn't dig deeper, all refused to help me. I had to advocate for myself even when I was really afraid of spine surgery, and I found the medical literature that described "rare" cases like mine. I sent that with a letter to the surgeon at Mayo, and he helped me. All of this changed my life profoundly, not just because I had a great surgical outcome, but also because I defeated my fears. So does that mean I'm fearless now? Of course not! I just recognize the patterns sooner when it sneaks up on me from behind. The fear is lurking in the background when you are not paying attention to it and it's a very normal and human emotion. Doctors have the same fears when they or family members are patients, and maybe even worse because they see a lot of serious medical problems. It helps me to know that I'm not alone, and that a compassionate doctor does understand what I'm going through.

Ask questions. Think into the future and ask how any issues you have right now can change for the worse, and if that would be a permanent undesirable change. Sometimes prevention or an early intervention is best, and life is a series of choices that affect the outcome of what happens and what future choices there will be. What can you do now to improve your health? You might ask what can be done to raise your immune function, and if there is an infection, disease or toxic exposure that is harming your immune system. That is a consideration for any surgery, and before mine, the surgeon had me do a preventative treatment for staff infections by using topical antibiotic ointment in my nose. I have a great physical therapist who taught me a lot, and I also have a biology background so I understand a lot of medical literature. I spent a couple years reading spine research and watching online presentations by spine surgeons. Another question you might ask would be how can you improve your skin? What comes to my mind would be to inquire about bio-identical female hormone replacement. I see a functional medicine specialist who does that for me. As we age our skin gets thinner and less supple, so that could help the cracks. If those could be improved, it can help if you do need surgery in the future. I can tell you that my fear of spine surgery was much worse than the surgery itself. I feared pain really, and I was able to manage after my surgery without pain drugs. I just rested and was patient and it was tolerable. I didn't place expectations on myself or judge my experience against other patients. I am doing great, and I'm ready to start giving talks about this and teaching people how to look at things differently so they can overcome their fears too. It means a lot to me to share what I have learned with other patients and that is why I am here on Connect. Sometimes it takes some professional help, but the core is what we do for ourselves and finding a different path through the problems and a different way to see it. Happy new year to you too!

My MRI of neck shows arthritis in the area where the nerves leave the spinal cord and it is causing a constant headache. I am taking CBD with a little THC and it is helping but sometimes the pain is really bad. I sit with a heating pad on my head and that helps. Do any of you have this and if so any suggestions on how to cope with it. My PC is suggesting pain management for shots but I have had shots in my feet and hip and they don't work. So I don't want them. I have a low immune system and just got over an infection at the site where the pin was screwed in for my Gamma surgery. It took 8 months to get rid of the infection. This is in the same area of my head but my PC doesn't think it's related. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks, Joan

Hi, @jmb73 – Glad you have connected with @jenniferhunter. I moved your discussion on arthritis in your neck and lower back to this existing discussion on the topic. I think you'll get additional responses here to your question about whether others have had painful headache associated with arthritis in these regions.

@trellg132 @mickeyb2 @lioness @dorisena @pfbacon @looking4advice and others have talked about arthritis in the neck region in themselves or a loved one and might have some comments on how they have coped.

Are the shots suggested by your primary care doctor the same type as the kind that didn't work on your feet and hip jmb73? Did your doctor think it was the arthritis causing the headaches, or something else?

I got a x-ray at my chiropractor he said i have arthritis in neck and back

Chiropractor