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Has anyone dealt successfully with Cervical stenosis without surgery?

Posted by billandri @billandri, Feb 3, 2019

I am a healthy and active 32 year old male. Last month I was diagnosed with cervical stenosis (C5-C6) after having morning finger numbness for 2 months. All 3 doctors I asked suggest surgery, either disk replacement or merging of spines. Has anyone dealt successfully with such conditions via non surgical means? Thank you.

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pdray | @pdray | May 30 11:55am
In reply to @isabelle7 "@pdray I’m quite new to Mayo Clinic Connect. Was previously here for issues my husband has...." + (show)
@isabelle7

@pdray

I’m quite new to Mayo Clinic Connect. Was previously here for issues my husband has. Now here for my own cervical Foraminal stenosis that showed up in recent X-rays with worsening since 2019.

I’d like to stop it from getting worse. My GP suggests an MRI (after I asked for a specialist). If you’re interested I can copy paste his response which left me not feeling great.

I’m interested in trying alternatives to surgery if possible. How do people get to go to Mayo Clinic docs? I’m in WA state. I think I might have coverage for OHSU. I’m with Kaiser.

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Hi!

I tried for several years to "work around" the need for surgery. Some success, but it got worse.

An MRI revealed what needed to be done and my PCP at Mayo setup the consultation and surgery.

My advantage - I live just a few blocks from Mayo here in Rochester.

My recommendation is get an MRI, have a Specialist review and, if surgery needed, do a Referral to Mayo to get it done.

I still have some pain if I violate the back surgery mantra - no BLT! No Bending, Lifting, or Twisting. Sometimes I forget and then here comes the pain.

Good luck!

--Paul Ray

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Mentor
Jennifer, Volunteer Mentor | @jenniferhunter | Jun 1 4:26pm
In reply to @isabelle7 "@jenniferhunter Thank you for your response. I’m waiting to get the MRI scheduled. We’ll know more..." + (show)
@isabelle7

@jenniferhunter

Thank you for your response. I’m waiting to get the MRI scheduled. We’ll know more then.

This is what was written in my cervical X-ray notes. I’d love to hear your thoughts:

FINDINGS/IMPRESSION:
AP, lateral, and oblique views of the cervical spine are provided for review.

No acute fracture.
Vertebral body heights are maintained.
Intervertebral disc heights are normal.
There is worsening anterior spurring spanning C5 and C6.
There is similar uncovertebral joint hypertrophy.
There is worsening, now severe narrowing of the right neuroforamina at C6-C7 secondary to progressing degenerative changes. The remaining levels on the right side have also shown worsening neuroforaminal stenosis.
The left side is stable, with narrowing noted at C6 to C7.
Prevertebral soft tissues are unremarkable.

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@isabelle7 The simple answer is arthritis is affecting your neck. Anterior spurring at the C5/C6 disk means there are bone spurs projecting forward into the spinal canal, and the question is how large are they and is the spinal cord getting touched or compressed by any of this? Bone spurs grow from inflammation around a ruptured disk and because of uneven pressure on the bone of vertebral body. The uncovertebral joints are just kind of bumps on the vertebra bones to the sides of the disks that can touch between the 2 levels. These are only on the neck from C3 and below and those joints have enlarged a bit. You are also getting nerves pinched at the nerve roots which will cause pain to the area served by that particular nerve which is described as severe at C6/C7. This dermatome map explains how nerves leave the nerve root to go to the body. It sounds like you may have a disc rupture that extends into the nerve root area at C6/C7 that is causing bone spur growth there. That's my guess, and an MRI will confirm what is happening. I'm not a medical professional. I did have spinal cord compression from bone spurs in the central canal, but did not have nerve root compression. The good news is your disks are maintaining normal height, but there may be a damaged one.

This explains dermatomes.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/24379-dermatomes.

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mydogsbestfriend | @mydogsbestfriend | Jun 2 9:25am

I am a 76 yr old female and had severe cervical pain 40 years ago. It was diagnosed as osteoarthritis with bone spurs & pinched nerves. No surgery was recommended. I did have cortisone injections and used an over the door setup using a weird harness under my chin and a bag of water ( medicine has advanced in 40 years). Those things worked but I had to use the contraption 3x a day (luckily I could go home for lunch & lived 10 minutes from work). I was also told to gently stretch my neck by moving my head around. Since then I have had more spinal pain, injections were no help and I decided against surgery. I try to be as active as possible ( walking, no jarring running). I also tried CBD with THC capsules purchased online. They may have helped, I took them for about 3 months and I still have spinal pain. I am resisting any surgery and just try to remain active. Losing some weight helps me but I was never obese, just about 10 lbs overweight.

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