Connect
← Return to Has anyone dealt successfully with Cervical stenosis without surgery?
Discussion
Has anyone dealt successfully with Cervical stenosis without surgery?
Spine Health | Last Active: Jul 17 5:54pm | Replies (84)Comment receiving replies
@isabelle7
I understand about being afraid of having a MRI. You are in a confined space (but there are some that are considered “open”) and the machine makes odd noises. I have had so many of them I just relax and listen to the music they play for you in the headphones protecting your ears. You do need to stay still through the test and not move at all. For your cervical spine, you may not need to be fully in the machine and they may want to do with and without contrast since it helps them see the bone/soft tissues better. The contrast material is usually gadolinium which does not contain iodine. You will just want to let them know you are allergic to iodine.
After my ACDF surgery on C5-C6 (they went in through the front to remove bone spurs and my disc and then made a “cement” using some of my own bone from the spurs to fuse my vertebrae together before putting a titanium cage around it to support it). I worked remotely at the time and was able to work on my laptop in bed 2 days after surgery. I wasn’t on the pain medication for long and I wore a soft collar only a short time (too long weakens the neck muscles). I was up moving around after surgery to prevent blood clots. My daily headaches and neck/shoulder/upper back pain was gone after the surgery. I then noticed the heaviness in legs (like wearing cement boots) was gone and I could better control my bladder. I also noticed my arms/hands were better and not constantly dropping things plus handwriting improved. My swallowing/choking and speaking problem reduced, too, and not sure if due to cervical spine plus 2.5 cm nodule on my thyroid which I also had removed (with my right thyroid lobe) 9 months later. I actually saw the nodule on my CT scan when in the patient portal paying a bill for my spine surgery!
Make sure you get a surgeon (if needed) that you feel comfortable with, has good communication skills/patience/respect when answering your questions, and they have excellent ratings online.
See if you can take a sedative or something to relax you before the MRI if they allow it and think it would help you. The MRI staff should be able to advise you since I’m sure they get many that get nervous getting the test.
Good luck! 🙂
Replies to "@isabelle7 I understand about being afraid of having a MRI. You are in a confined space..."
Connect
@dlydailyhope
Thank you for all of that information! It was really helpful and put my mind at ease about the MRI. I think I should be OK knowing I can listen to music. That will definitely make it better.
I too had a thyroid nodule about that size that they biopsied and said was OK. So they never removed it. I assume it's going to show up on the MRI as well. Too bad they couldn't have removed the nodule at the same time as the cervical surgery.
My physical therapist had back surgery and has highly recommended his surgeon. So I'll check him out first if surgery ends up being the way to go.
I was reading today that lots of people can live with cervical stenosis and can manage it through healthy eating, losing weight and physical therapy (exercise.) I found this info on Mayo Clinic discussing stenosis in different areas of the spine.
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-q-and-a-nonsurgical-treatments-may-decrease-pain-from-spinal-stenosis/
I'm really hoping that since I don't have any of the serious symptoms we might be able to go this route. But at this point I need to know so I'm not always worrying about it, and so I know what I should and shouldn't be doing if we do go the non-surgical route.
I really appreciate all the info you've shared with me. Also, my doctor prescribed a drug to take before the MRI because I mentioned they make me nervous. But I think I'll just handle it without taking the drug. I'm sure I'll be just fine.