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2 years post C3-C6 ACDF - what to try next?

Posted by birdman518 @birdman518, Jan 31 3:07pm

As my shoulder/arm/hand pain is still getting worse, I was watching some physical therapist videos on Youtube about exercise and posture for relieving cervical radiculopathy pain. I should note that I do NOT have neck pain, only my arms, the worst being my shoulder and right hand, especially thumb and index finger.
I have looked at other types of non-surgical therapies, such as neck traction, but the home version I got did not help. I have also tried myofascial release massage and dry needling, without success.
So now I am really asking about whether (as some PT say) my pain could really be muscular and posture-related.
Has anyone had success with just these?

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difrnt1 | @difrnt1 | Feb 3 5:22pm

Have you had your shoulder(rotator cuff) ruled out as a cause. I mention that because it happened to me. Rotator cuff/labrum tear surgery fixed my pain.

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1 reply
birdman518 | @birdman518 | Feb 4 8:31am
In reply to @difrnt1 "Have you had your shoulder(rotator cuff) ruled out as a cause. I mention that because it..." + (show)
@difrnt1

Have you had your shoulder(rotator cuff) ruled out as a cause. I mention that because it happened to me. Rotator cuff/labrum tear surgery fixed my pain.

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I had a rotator cuff problem a while ago when I played tennis, so I am familiar with it. While I do agree that the shoulder pain is similar, my complete neurological workup shows clearly that I have cervical spine issues. In addition, my pain and numbness goes down my arm to my hand and fingers (particularly my thumb and index), which are classic signs of cervical radiculopathy.
I was diagnosed at the time with myelopathy, which meant that my disc was damaging my spinal cord. Despite my ongoing pain, my understanding is that the surgery did remove that pressure, which could have led to paralysis.
Thanks for chiming in, though!

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Mentor
Jennifer, Volunteer Mentor | @jenniferhunter | Feb 10 7:26pm

@birdman518 One of the posture related issues that does cause pain in the thumb and index finger (actually all fingers) is thoracic outlet syndrome which I have. A slouching forward posture with the arms and head forward will aggravate it.

My physical therapist treats this with myofascial release to get the body back into better posture. She is an expert level certified PT in the John Barnes methods. It can be more common in patients with spine injuries because this area next to the spine can easily be injured at the same time. I do a lot of stretches on the pectoralis muscles on the front of the chest.

Here is some information about TOS.
https://mskneurology.com/how-truly-treat-thoracic-outlet-syndrome/

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1 reply
birdman518 | @birdman518 | Feb 11 8:26am
In reply to @jenniferhunter "@birdman518 One of the posture related issues that does cause pain in the thumb and index..." + (show)
@jenniferhunter

@birdman518 One of the posture related issues that does cause pain in the thumb and index finger (actually all fingers) is thoracic outlet syndrome which I have. A slouching forward posture with the arms and head forward will aggravate it.

My physical therapist treats this with myofascial release to get the body back into better posture. She is an expert level certified PT in the John Barnes methods. It can be more common in patients with spine injuries because this area next to the spine can easily be injured at the same time. I do a lot of stretches on the pectoralis muscles on the front of the chest.

Here is some information about TOS.
https://mskneurology.com/how-truly-treat-thoracic-outlet-syndrome/

Jump to this post

I am definitely going to look again into TOS. I was a computer programmer for 37 years, and I still catch myself with slouched over posture in from of the computer.
I will be going back to my spine surgeon to discuss these and other non-surgical things to try.
Thanks again!

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