Pain Medication for Spine Injury in Neck When on Blood Thinners

Hello,

The spine in my wife's neck is deformed probably due to being hit by a car riding a bike when a child and thrown 18 feet in the air. Now at 77, arthritis has set in to the neck joints. She has severe neck pain daily which generally starts in the evening. She has pain during the day but not as severe. She is in good health otherwise and does an hour of aerobic exercise 3 times a week.

However, she is on a blood thinner (Warfarin) due to surgery causing blood clots when not protected properly. She was protected with the knee and hip surgeries, and her first clot was from a shoulder replacement (pulmonary embolism) with no extra protection for clots. She also got another pulmonary embolism from breast reconstruction after cancer. She has had both hips replaced, a knee replaced, and a shoulder replacement. You would never know it when you watch her dance. She is a fighter! The only replacement giving her trouble is the shoulder replacement which has been damaged due to a fall (this also affects the neck). She might be able to get that repaired. She has gone to a Spine Doctor, but they cannot/will not do anything to help her since she is on blood thinners and the neck is so close to the brain. She has a "neck stretcher" which helps some. However, the only pain medicine she can use is Tylenol Arthritis which is about the only way she can deal with the pain. I also massage her neck for about 30 minutes each evening.

Since surgery is not a possibility I wonder if there is any other way to help her manage the pain? A chiropractor works monthly on her neck, and she has had physical therapy (which does help some). It is hard to see her doing so well is may ways but having to struggle with the neck pain. The only thing I can think of is to look into the shoulder repair which may contribute to the neck pain but those are complex from what I understand. Shoulders are also more difficult than knees or hips based on her experience.

Thank you for any suggestions that you may have. We are about 8 hours from Phoenix so a visit to the Mao Clinic there is a possibility.

Dan