Cervical Stenosis
Was diagnosed cervical stenosis (moderate/severe per MRI)this last November 2023.
My biggest symptoms was not the pain associated with neck issue.
Symptoms of concern were, pressure in neck and head that I believe was causing dizziness in my walk and certain confusion at at times.
Do have weakness in arms as well.
Doing a lot of research on line into possible surgery.
Finding positive results with orthopedic surgeons using the ultra-sonic medical device to widen your nerve openings to possibly
reduce symptoms .
Anyone has had this procedure, all feedback is welcome .
O Tavares
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Unfortunately we do not. He has had two EMT and they say tell us there are no pinched nerves causing the weakness in his arms. Really frustrated.
A disc in contact with the cord and "severe" stenosis sounds serious. Does he have a good neurologist?
The radiologist doesn't use the word severe lightly. The cord is being compressed. Find someone else asap. I too am tired of doctors, but this is not something he should fool around with.
He has not went to a neurologist. Has only doctored with an orthopedic doctor as he was doctoring with his lower back and then had arm pain so they did the CT of his neck to see if he had a pinched nerve and discovered the degenerative disks. I’m my opinion, the doc who did his neck surgery was only concerned about the hardware he put in and blew off anything else this scan indicated - very unhappy with a few choice names for him.
Hello @dmp19651989 - I combined your discussion with another recent discussion titled "Cervical Stenosis" - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/cervical-stenosis-3/.
I did this so you could meet other recent members posting about their experiences with cervical stenosis as well, like @otavares and @johnnoregon.
Did any of this surgery help the weakness in your husband's legs? The reason I ask is that I just recently had a cervical MRI but have not met yet with the orthopedic doctor. My problem is mostly weakness in the legs. My arms are fine
@dmp19650989 I use a neurologist for my cervical issues, and an ortho who does not do surgery. I have not yet reached the point of consulting a surgeon. I wonder if another doc in neuro or ortho could help. Do you have a positive Babinski reflex? I have that and it indicates spinal cord damage. Contact with the cord is concerning as I wrote before. It shouldn't be so hard to get help in your situation!
At the time of his surgery, he didn’t have much weakness in his legs. He was mainly having the pain in his arms - as he described it - like an electrical shock shooting down his arm. It really scared him while driving and turning and about lost control. He doesn’t drive now that it hasn’t gotten worse. He had a spacer put in his lower back about eight months ago as his legs hurt and his walking was so slow. The spacer seemed to help for 4-5 months at least we thought. He now says there are just times he feels his legs can’t support him. Not much help in answering your question. Sorry.
Can I ask what a babinski reflex is?
@dmp19651989 Weakness in arms and legs can be caused by spinal cord compression in the neck. This was the situation I had because of bone spurs and a ruptured disc digging into my cervical spinal cord at the C5/C6 level and I did not have any issues at the nerve roots; it was all spinal cord symptoms causing everything. I could bend my neck forward and send a big electric shock down my entire body. I had surgery at Mayo that resolved all of it.
Would that perhaps be an option for you to have your husband evaluated at one of the Mayo campuses? That also depends on if your insurance is accepted by Mayo. I wasted 2 years chasing doctors who wouldn't help me, and it would have been better if I had just come to Mayo first. The neurosurgeon at Mayo was the sixth surgeon I consulted and the only one who got everything right in the diagnosis and the fix for it.
Here is the insurance information page if you wanted to check.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/billing-insurance
Jennifer