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Excruciating chronic left side neck pain plus lumbar issues
Spine Health | Last Active: Nov 18, 2023 | Replies (360)Comment receiving replies
I have c5 and c6 fusion on Dec. 13th. I'm at the 3-month date and still have pain in my right arm, tingling in fingers occasionally, and some burning in my neck. I'm actually worse than I was before surgery. They keep saying it just takes time. I am going to PT 2 times a week plus started on Lycia. Lycrica helps some but I want to be better. Just wondering about other things people have tried such as myofascial, etc. I'm open to any ideas.
Replies to "I have c5 and c6 fusion on Dec. 13th. I'm at the 3-month date and still..."
@bearmiller03 You are still very early in your recovery. I didn't start with PT until about 4 months post op. Have you discussed the pain with your therapist?
What my therapist did that helped me a lot was myofascial release. I have actually done this for about 10 years even before I became a spine patient. MFR helps release the tight tissue and can do that for the surgical scar tissue internally. Periodically mine tightens up around the incision scar, and I stretch to release it; all things I have learned from my PT.
It really takes a longtime to heal, so don't loose hope. They say it takes a year, and nerve healing can go on for that length of time too. There is still inflammation from the surgery too which is part of the healing process.
MFR is Myofascial Release Therapy. There is a discussion on MFR that you might find helpful.
Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) for treating compression and pain: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/
You can find a provider search at http://mfrtherapists.com/
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I had a neck fusion and started getting severe tightness and pain that was awful, for years I begged my son to rub me and I went to professional massage, acupuncture, even bought a heated massage water bed, doctors was prescribe pain meds for 10 years, but my new doctor found out that I was allergic to the Statin, after I cut way back on the dose, my neck and shoulders relaxed
and that’s a common side effect of Statins I don’t know but maybe some of your meds could cause your ongoing pain, if it worsens you should be seen 3 months isn’t very long. Are you sure your fully fused? I ask because I also had broken finger fused almost a year ago and it is just now really feeling stronger . Fusions take time, L5_S1 fusion 2005 no back pain but now I’m feeling like I want the hardware out because it seems like it’s putting pressure on my nerves. It does take time to heal.