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Has anyone dealt successfully with Cervical stenosis without surgery?
Spine Health | Last Active: Nov 24 8:03pm | Replies (86)Comment receiving replies
Hi!
I tried for several years to "work around" the need for surgery. Some success, but it got worse.
An MRI revealed what needed to be done and my PCP at Mayo setup the consultation and surgery.
My advantage - I live just a few blocks from Mayo here in Rochester.
My recommendation is get an MRI, have a Specialist review and, if surgery needed, do a Referral to Mayo to get it done.
I still have some pain if I violate the back surgery mantra - no BLT! No Bending, Lifting, or Twisting. Sometimes I forget and then here comes the pain.
Good luck!
--Paul Ray
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@pdray
I don't live anywhere near the Mayo Clinic and I'm not sure my insurance would cover it. I do live closer to OHSU in Portland and I believe that hospital is covered. I'd have to look into it. My physical therapist, who is suggesting I hold off on the MRI and do everything in my power not to have surgery, feels after looking at the x-rays and hearing my symptoms that I still have time and that I might not ever need to have surgery. He says some people can live with this their whole lives and not know they have it.
It's hard to know what to do. What kind of surgery did you have and what was your recovery time? That's another issue for me because of my work schedule. And the work I do. I have to do some lifting so if after surgery I couldn't bend, lift or twist I'd be in trouble.
How bad was yours when you had to have surgery? The pain I have in my arms isn't horrible. Mostly annoying. For years my GP said I had tendinitis so we treated it as such. It wasn't until I had one episode where my wrist hurt and an urgent care doctor ordered the xray of my neck that I even knew I had this problem.