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I also have an osteophyte complex at C5-C6 and C6-C7 with severe left and moderate right neuroforaminal stenosis. Two different top neurosurgeons in my area blew it off and said it wasn’t severe enough to be causing all my symptoms. I’m not convinced but I also don’t want to try to convince a surgeon to do surgery when they both felt it wasn’t necessary.
Sorry but it’s tough to offer advice in this situation. Many folks come out of surgeries like this worse off than they were before, even describing it as life changing in a negative way, others says it’s a life saver.
Hopefully a 2nd opinion will shed some light on your situation. It didn’t for me and at this point I hate to say it but I’m just worn out trying to find answers.
Replies to "I also have an osteophyte complex at C5-C6 and C6-C7 with severe left and moderate right..."
@rpr13 I appreciate you sharing your experience. Believe me, I do not want surgery. I see this Dr. in a few days so Im just interested in what he has to say.
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@rpr13
Did you see a neurologist for EMG/nerve conduction studies of upper and lower limbs to see how nerve communication to/through your muscles is functioning with your spine compression? If not, it is important to have this done. It should show if you have radiculopathy to arms/legs. If it comes back normal, you could still have spinal cord compression which does not show up on EMG/NCS.
Does your spinal cord show flattening/compression on the MRI? Physical exam, reflex testing, demonstration of walking, EMG/NCS, MRI, symptoms should help inform an orthopedic spine specialist of whether surgery to decompress spinal cord/nerve roots can help relieve some of your symptoms. Long term compression of spinal cord and nerve roots can cause permanent damage and dysfunction so it is not something you want to ignore/delay. I had to see 4 surgeons before getting properly diagnosed with degenerative cervical myelopathy spinal cord compression injury. It was affecting my ability to control my bladder and this is considered a severe stage. Delaying my ACDF surgery on c5-c6 would have caused further worsening of my symptoms. After my first surgery, many of my symptoms improved. Surgery is meant to stop the further progression of the damage. I had new compression at c6-c7 and ACDF surgery and it helped with some symptoms but I am still having some pain on one side, especially with certain head/neck movements.
I also had lumbar surgery on l3-l5 and wish I did it sooner. I was being told to delay but in hindsight, the severe stenosis at l4-l5 for 10+ years may have caused permanent nerve damage. My muscles/nerves in my hips/buttocks/hip flexors are weak and I have pain that makes standing up and going up/down stairs difficult. I don’t seem to have good muscle control and afraid I could fall. I’m not sure if the symphonies now are from permanent damage, scar tissue formation following surgery, injury of nerves during surgery or new compression. I don’t regret getting the surgery because I had pain/weakness/numbness from low back down to my feet and some of these symptoms improved after surgery. The surgeon needed to cut away a lot of bone to free my spinal cord/nerve roots before putting in disc spacers/hardware to help fuse. My L4 was slipping over my L5 so needed to be stabilized.
I know it can be exhausting to deal with the runaround. Don’t give up looking for an orthopedic spine specialist/surgeon who could look at your spine and give you options to relieve your symptoms. You may want to try an orthopedic spine specialist/surgeon over a neurosurgeon. They have similar training and experienced with surgery to decompress/stabilize vertebrae, remove osteophytes/lamina, etc. that are pressing on spinal cord/nerve roots and causing symptoms.