pain in neck down right arm and numb fingers. MRI said mild disc bulge 2 places Mild spondylosis whatsthismean

Question

Mild mid-cervical spondylosis with large combo disc at C5-C6. C6_C7 shows a mild disc bulge. There is a protrusion at T4-T5. Mild spondylosis is present in C4-C5, C5-C6. Could you tell me what this means in english? My neck is giving me headaches and the pinched nerve, causing the numbness and tingling,(I guess)i is causing weakness in my right hand. What can be done? Why is my doctor telling there is nothing there? I have arthritis, everyone gets it, she said!

Answer 1

Spondylosis (spinal osteoarthritis) is a degenerative disorder that may cause loss of normal spinal structure and function. Although aging is the primary cause, the location and rate of degeneration is individual. Conservative treatment is successful 75% of the time. Some patients may think that because their condition is labeled degenerative they are doomed to end up in a wheel chair some day. This is seldom the case. Many patients find their pain and other symptoms can be effectively treated without surgery, in fact surgery is seldom used to treat spondylosis or spinal osteoarthritis. Conservative forms of treatment are tried first.
Exercise in general helps to build strength, flexibility, and increase range of motion and lifestyle modification may be necessary. This may include an occupational change (e.g. from manual labor), losing weight, and quitting smoking.

Your doctor is taking the conservative approach to this and it's probably the correct one.


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Answer 2

C5-C6 means the disc space between the 5th and 6th cervical spine vertebrae. C4-C5 refers to the disc between the 4th and 5th cervical spine vertebrae...etc. Spondylosis is a general term that describes degenerative changes in the spine. Common changes include disc bulges (where the discs bulges out in all directions), bony spurring, arthritic changes, or a combination of all of these. All of these things can cause pain by virtue of their inflammatory condition, and if the disc bulge or bony spurring is big enough, or if it is happening in the right place, can cause compression of the spinal cord or nerve fibers....causing neurologic symptoms (weakness, tingling, a shooting pain down the arm). A disc protrusion or herniation is a more focal disc bulge (like a bubble on a car tire). It also can cause pain, or nerve compression.

The way an MRI is interpreted by different doctors can be extremely subjective. What one doctor may consider severe disease, another doctor may feel it is not that bad. Additionally, an MRI finding that appears very severe, may not cause any symptoms. Alternatively, even a very minor abnormality on an MRI can cause much more syptoms than anyone would have imagined. In short, the science of interpreting and correlating spine MRI findings with clinical symptoms is not an exact science. Treatment for spine conditions can be conservative (physical therapy, medication) or surgical. If you and your doctor are considering surgery, you had better be sure that what the surgeon is operating on is exactly what is causing your symptoms. You need a good physical exam for this by a good doctor.

Answer 3

Go to a neurological surgeon if you don't get satisfaction from other methods - if you are supposed to try them first. I just had the same thing - all the symptoms you have, then surgery for 2 fusions in 5-6 and 6-7 after nothing else worked - physical therapy, weight bag pulling my neck up to release the pressure, exercise, weight loss, chiropractic, acupuncture, faith healing, you name it and I tried it with no success. Pain, numbness, tingling, all totally gone for me now. I woke up from surgery without it after several years of suffering. I could not hold things well in one hand anymore and the other side was starting as well, but that weakness left too, my strength is back all the way. It is fabulous! I went to 3 different specialists before I found one who would listen and who could help me. I also changed primary doctors as my old one said it was old age (I just turned 53) and normal! I also had MRI, Cat scans, Nerve Conduction survey, you name it before they found all that was wrong. Do not give up. I was told that my neck flexibility could be lessened, but it has not. I have a small scar in the front of my neck to the side, about 3 inches, along a crease. In time it will fade and be negligible. I am so glad that I had this done! I go back to work tomorrow after 6 weeks off, but some people go back sooner. Oh, one disk was pressing against my spinal cord, you most likely have that too. Not good, and I read that it could worsen until permanent damage occurs.
Don't take the "everyone gets it" for an answer! I decided not to, and now I have 2 donor bones in my neck and a titanium plate, but no pain or numbness in exchange. Worth it? YES

Answer 4

I think that with these issues, a chiropractor cannot relieve the pain. I have the exact same thing with pain in my chest, color bone, arm, side and tingling al the way to my fingers. The pain is annoying and there isn't much I can do. I have a bulge in the c5 c6 and it is protruding into the spinal cord and the ligaments in that same area are being stretched. I'm not sure what to do but it has stopped me from being able to work. I have seen a chiropractor 8 times with no relief.

Answer 5

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RE:
pain in neck down right arm and numb fingers. MRI said mild disc bulge 2 places Mild spondylosis whatsthismean
Mild mid-cervical spondylosis with large combo disc at C5-C6. C6_C7 shows a mild disc bulge. There is a protrusion at T4-T5. Mild spondylosis is present in C4-C5, C5-C6. Could you tell me what this means in english? My neck is giving me headaches and the pinched nerve, causing the numbness and...

Answer 6

Well, you should go for a manual one-time treatment called Atlasprofilax. The pressure on your discs will be distributed much better - and they'll recover. Also the headaches and so on should disappear within short notice.

Just - the treatment is available in California and Europe only, costing approx. 220 dollars. It's really worth travelling far.

Answer 7

Two of my patients have got spinal surgery in India.One was treeated for spondylolistheis by spinal fusion and the other for disc protrusion by microdiscectomy.Both of them are very happy with the results.Their pain and other symptoms due to nerve compression have totally gone.

Spinal Surgery is very cheap in India.There is one company that is very famous in India that arranges spine surgery for foreigners in India.They are called the Forerunners Healthcare.I read a lot about them in the Newspapers and about their patient stories.I have also read that they arrange financing for american and canadian patients as spine surgery is not covered by insurance.They also have photos pasted of their International patients.You can checkout their website.

The cost savings are incredible.As a doctor i personally believe that your spine surgery can be easily handled in India as the quality of healthcare available here is simply best in the world.The surgeons are USA/UK trained and facilities are 5 star.both my patients had gone to India through the forerunners healthcare company.The spinal fusion patient stayed in INdia for about 20 minutes and the microdiscectomy patient for about a week.hope this helps

http://www.forerunnershealthcare.com

Answer 8

Dont get yourself worked up about it. it is helpful to see a chiropractor. Or a cranial sacral theropist. They have been known to stop the numbing with in the first visit.
Good Luck!

Answer 9

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Answer 10

HEY! Compression at T6-T7, T7-T8, T8-T9 with 2mm Herniation at T9-T10, and a spondylosis at L5. It was nothing too...but the insurance company paid out $16,000 for "nothing wrong".