C5-C6 cervical disc herniation & chest pain

Welcome @urkoslo, I have no experience but what you are describing sounds similar to Cervical Angina. I did find an article on the topic that might be helpful.
-- Cervical Angina as a Cause of Non-Cardiac Chest Pain: A Case Report
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10103829/
While you wait for other members with experience to respond, you might want to scan through discussions and comments related to searching Connect using "chest pain from neck". Here is the link that lists discussions and comments - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/?search=chest+pain+from+neck

@jenniferhunter may also have some thoughts or suggestions. Have you thought about seeking a second opinion from an orthopedic surgeon or neurologist who specializes in spine problems?

@urkoslo,
you were wise to rule out cardiac blockage.
As John points out the pain could be referred from the cervical disc herniation.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8377215/
If you consider surgery you might look at nucleoplasty, microdisectomy and artificial disc replacement.

hi, thanks for the answers. I will definitely try to get a second or third oppinion. The problem is that the nevrosurgeon which i went to is regarded as a vauled specialist on his field. on the other hand he took 7 mins for me and was in a hurry when i was there so he didnt give me any reassurance. he is also certain that this can not come from spine even tho i found tons of cases of cervical angina. Doctors on ER said to me either gerd or neck, also personal doctor think like that. But nevrosurgeon is specialist. Dont know what to think

@urkoslo Welcome to Connect. I am a surgical spine patient with C5/C6 fusion. I also have thoracic outlet syndrome or TOS which can cause muscular chest pain, and that can be caused by a whiplash injury. What has helped me a lot in treating TOS is myofascial release therapy. If you search, we have a discussion on this with lots of info. You can also look at myofascial release.com. Muscle spasms from your neck can also pull into your chest. I have had that pain before and all heart tests were negative. There is a provider search at mfrtherapists.com.

@jenniferhunter Thanks for the answers, just checked the simptoms of TOS & i have pain in left shoulder in specific positions especially when raised above head or rotations & tingling in pinky & ring finger. Are TOS & neck heriations somehow connected or you were just unlucky that you got both?

@urkoslo They are separate problems, but both can be caused by trauma from an accident or repetitive strain, so I think TOS may be more common in spine injury patients. TOS often involves the scalene muscles that can be injured or form scar tissue. Scalene muscles also connect to the spine, and the brachial plexus bundle of nerves and circulatory vessels pass between the heads of the scalene muscles and continues between the rib cage and collar bones. There is another TOS compression point under the Pec minor muscles. I was in therapy for TOS, when the spine issues started to become evident. Those are classic symptoms of raising the arms and increasing symptoms and tingling in the pinky finger. I think having both issues just confuses the spine diagnosis because of having overlapping symptoms. That's why I came to Mayo because they could evaluate both.

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

@urkoslo
I am a 55 year old female who had C5-C6 ACDF surgery in 2022.

I had daily headaches, neck/shoulder pain, arm/hand weakness/numbness, bladder control issues and difficulty walking (felt like I had cement boots on slowing me down). I also had chest pain and had a cardiologist work up/stress test and told everything was “normal” for my age but I didn’t feel normal. My mom died at 67 from a heart attack so this made me nervous (a single parent of a teen son). I had to “fire” my primary doctor because she treated me like I was a hypochondriac.

After multiple doctors/tests by neurologist (EMGs, etc.) and seeing a couple orthopedic/neurosurgeons, I finally went to a third orthopedic spine specialist who was highly rated for what he did. After 5 years of suffering, I met with him and he reviewed MRI/X-ray and symptoms plus physical exam. He immediately diagnosed me with cervical spondylotic myelopathy caused by congenital stenosis/degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis. My spinal cord/nerve roots at C5-C6 were compressed and being injured. He recommended the ACDF surgery ASAP to prevent further spinal cord injury.

Most of my symptoms improved, even the chest pain. The added thing is I got the mRNA Covid injections in 2021 and had base of skull and chest pain/breathing difficulties. I had a lot of testing done that year and was diagnosed with sleep apnea (not sure if due to the COVID injections).

You would benefit from seeing a couple different well rated orthopedic spine specialists/surgeons for additional opinions. I had one that was rushed and made me feel uncomfortable doing the surgery. He never told me during my appointment/consult that I had myelopathy spinal cord injury. There were also things about the practice/office staff that made me uncomfortable (a lot of red flags). My third spine specialist and the office/practice was much more professional and he spent a lot of time with me, was personable, respectful, answered my questions, etc. He had a good bedside manner and the friendliest surgeon I had ever met. The hospital he did surgeries at was also highly rated.

You definitely might want to do more research and get several opinions and feel comfortable with the surgeon.

I agree with 6our recommendation of several opinions but it is almost impossible to get in to see these specialists. I waited 5 months for my appointment with a neurosurgeon. I would love another opinion from Mayo Rochester and would probably have the surgery there but I just can't break the code and get an appointment. Does anyone have suggestions to help me get seen???

hi, thanks for the answers did u also do some physio & exercises? I do mostly manual therapy & traction. Any other experience? Would also appreciate some feedback abot physiotherapy experiences? My current physio is saying im not ready for exercises, even tho this is very conterintuitive for me & i feel like i could be doing more. my disc damage is pretty bad, have compressed nevroforamens on both sides & pressure on spinal cord. everybody told me that since it is extrusion, my body will absorb material & i should be fine in the 3-6 months (im now 3 months in). Any thoughts about that? Found physio which is really specialised on that field (will gwt in touch this week) & also am in discussions for a visit with diferent nevrosurgeon. Thanks for all the feedbacks, much appreciated, i was very active person before, doing sports on daily basis, now i havent done anything for 3 months which is also challenging 🙏🏽

… & is there any foreign (USA) institutions whom you can send MRI & symptom description & they give you diagnosis/interpretation? Would also appreciate some experience from abroad…