ACDF: Recovery seems slow, what's your experience?

From what I remember after my two-level ACDF I had just gone back to work full time at 3 months. It took me another 3 months to feel decent. It was probably a full year post surgery before I felt like I was completely recovered.

Thank you

I am 14 months past my ACDF surgery. Recovery is mixed. I have no pain however I still can’t really use my left arm to raise a glass despite PT. It’s really strange because all the other movements using my left arm are fine. I can do overhead lifts, sideways, extensions but anything involving my bicep is not working: how long does this last? Will it get better? Is there anything I can do?! Supplements, TENS, ??

@seidholz - I can hear the frustration in your words. That is a bummer that the recovery is mixed at this point with your left arm not being fine.

Fellow members @vincescs @livininthestix @jenniferhunter @dhansen78 may have some stories to share about recovery from ACDF from personal experience, research, or a related surgery. They can let you know if they have also had nonworking biceps after this surgery, and if so, what they did about it and how long it took to recover.

Does your surgeon have some ideas about why this arm's bicep is not working and how it might be treated?

He said that nerves regrow at a very slow pace and can take up to two years to regenerate to 80-90%.

I’m 5 months post ACDF c5-7. Since waking up from surgery I had a burning pain on my right hand. Cooling still remained in my legs but subsided until recently. My cooling has expanded as well as my arm burning pain. Additionally the bone on the top of my back (tech hump) is very painful. At first I thought it was bruised from the collar but I haven’t had it on for 3 months. Has anyone experienced this? I had a recent X-ray and my hardware is stable with some degenerative changes in the adjacent level.