OT: Pinched Nerve

[RBnSC]

I am having a great deal of pain in right arm and shoulder as well as numbness in right hand. Went to doctor but cant afford MRI or surgical procedure if it calls for one. Any idea to long term effects if nothing is done. Is There any hope that the disc will go back in to place?
Ron

 

[woodbutcher]

Ron,
I can"t say for sure about what it will take to ease your pain and anxiety. I can tell you how it is in my case. Fifteen years ago, an on-the job accident caused compression in 3 cervical vertebrae. One disc was bulged. So I was off work(paid time off) for two months, going to all the necessary doctors and getting every test that was offered twice. Every doctor I went to needed a new MRI. It seems the last one was not good enough. I received more relief from the pain from a good chiropractor than from any of the doctors and their expensive tests. At the time I was 45, and one old doctor told me that the surgery for my condition would duplicate what the aging process would do-fuse the vertebrae. But the disc was only bulging, not herniated. I"ve had no surgery, the pain is now negligible unless I overexert, and then it is manageable.
Good luck.

 

[Kruse]

A couple of stories here, you can follow any of them or none of them.
My nephew is a recent grad of chiropractic school. Yes, I know there are some real chiropractic quacks out there. There are also some good ones. After seeing a few others and going to him, he is a good one. No, I don't regularly see any chiropractor, so I'm not addicted to any of their treatments.
I also know a lady who have disc problems in her late 30s and almost couldn't walk. She got one of those inverters that you see on TV. (You strap yourself in and it flips you so you are upside down) Within a few months she was feeling little pain and about a year later, she had no pain. Maybe she would have healed on her own, I don't know.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Ron,im no expert and everyone is a little different on back trouble.I hurt mine back when I was about 30.I felt it burn a little. I have 3 damaged disc.Never was convinced surgery would help it,because I saw so many failures.So I decieded to live with it.It will go and come most likely.Like Woodbutcher said over exertion will let you know its there. I have found out as you get older it will get worse and you will be more careful.I now have a constant slight numbness in my left leg.It will not limit you a lot in your younger years.I have always done mostly what I wanted.I never did have a heavy lifting job so I guess I was lucky.You will always be aware you hurt it.Just kinda favor it and you should be ok.There are millions in the same boat as we are..Good Luck and be careful(extra careful) of those drs and pain killers. R.M. In AL

 

[Stephen Atkins]

I injured my back 14 yrs ago. I have had chiropractic treatments over the years when I can afford it. Also have the services of a good massuse and do tai chi 3 times a week. It all seems to help. Doc says it is severe arthritis and surgery wont help. I am now retired and moved to the great south west. NM.

steveormary

 

[steve n carol]

RB.... been there done that....

Don't know your age, don't know if you had any 'accidents' that may have contributed to your condition. Don't know if you have any debilitating diseases that would cause premature aging or bone degenerating.
Sooooo,
With all of that said. What I did 18 yrs ago. I tried most everything I could except surgery and acupuncture. One thing that helped was to lay on the floor, with the back of my head up against the wall. Almost to the point of choking myself out. Get to the place where I could relax and stay in that position, for the rest of my life. Not really, 15 - 20 minutes, several times a day. Seems that a disc between a couple of vertebrates was pinched or bulging. This exercise helped alot of the time. I would stay in this position for up to a hour w/o any discomfort.
The pain in my left arm and shoulder was severe! felt like a truck was parked on it. I also burned like it was on fire.
Later, I got out of the Masonry and concrete trades (32 years), and took up as an Inspector.
post your email and I'll tell you some more, a long part of the story.sl

 

[old]

Yep know how it is my right shoulder has the same problem. Had the X-rays and MRI and the V.A. doctors don't have a clue as to what is wrong with it and sent me home and said I had to live with it. It is slowly getting worse and till it gets real bad guess they will do nothing for it

 

[JimAK]

I had severe left shoulder pain several years ago and Doc diagnosed bad rotator cuff and suggested physical therapy. Local therapist was too busy to see me right away so i went online and soon found a list of PT excercises. I did them faithfully for about six weeks and it worked. No problem since.
I agree, though, arm pain and numbness may indicate disc issues.
Good luck with it.

Jim

 

[DiscGolfer]

Numbness in your arm and hand would indicate possible disc issues in your neck. If you know a good chiropractor I would suggest it. Mine has worked wonders on my neck and lower back. At the least, try some neck stretching (light ones) and use an ice pack for 20-30 minutes at a time. A heating pad may feel good but it will do nothing to help promote long term healing.

Good luck.

 

[FarmerBlair]

I'm not a doctor, so listen to what your doctor tells you. I can share some research I did on this topic for a personal injury.
It would help if you told us what your doctor said. Did he at least take x-rays and give you a prescription for anti-inflammatories? That would tell you if you have arthritis or narrowed intervertebral distance suggestive of disc disease. Many times these things resolve on their own, but sometimes you can develop chronic pain for which there is no cure (sometimes severe enough to be disabling) if you do nothing for weeks/months and just "tough it out". If it keeps hurting, don't try to ignore it unless you want to live with it. Discs don't go back into place. A simplistic analogy would be to think of the disc as a thick sac of heavy grease. Under pressure, the grease can shoot out of the sac if there is a weak point. That's the herniation. The grease can't go back in, and can cause nerve inflammation in the area along with any significant decompression. Sometimes the body tries to recover by absorbing or calcifying the injury. Physical therapy isn't a "fix", but helps your body adapt to the injury.
Unless your doctor prescribes otherwise in your case, forget the chiropractor (in my opinion). Their adjustments entail popping the neck, a risky thing to do if there is a disc issue. There's a certain level of common sense there. Some may do just gentle traction, but you also can do that at home with proper instruction.
Some things that might help: buy yourself a pillow that supports the neck properly (s-shaped in profile) when sleeping, try to maintain correct posture, and avoid lifting things. Don't do any crazy contortions with your neck to work out the pain.
From what you said, doesn't sound like your doctor sent you to get an MRI or for surgery, so you are jumping the gun on this. Understandable with the pain, but don't let your worry add to the pain. Could be just a pinched nerve, something we've all experienced unfortunately.

 

[FarmerBlair]

Old,
That sounds a little nutty to me (saying you "had to live with it"). If it really bothers you, it might be worth getting a second (non-VA) opinion, or have a different VA radiologist re-read the images you already have.

 

[FarmerBlair]

At a $1000 a pop for an MRI, you can see partly why insurance costs skyrocketed.

 

[reb-in-pa]

Ron --

My advice is to do everything you can to make sure you have a good doctor, preferably a neurologist, then do what he/she tells you. I had chronic crick-in-the-neck until I fell roller skating about 20 years ago and blew out Cervical 5 and 6. That gave me what you describe plus curling of the outer two fingers on my left hand. Doc said surgery or watch the arm curl up and become virtually useless -- and the longer I waited the less reversible would be the symptoms. Only hitch, he predicted, was the development of arthritis in 10-15 years that would give me enough pain to want him to go back in and scrape off the crud that would then be pinching the nerves anew. His prediction was on the money, but he retired, and I haven't had the gumption to find someone else willing to cut on me. So far, it's only handicapping on the worst weather days and after doing heavy lifting. (Otherwise, it's just another pain in the neck.)

I've always been amazed when I've mentioned my back trouble how many people speak up to tell me about theirs, and look how long this thread is already. . .

 

[Brian in MA]

The bills I have seen over the past few years have been more like $3500 each for MRI, not $1000.

 

[Anonymous-0]

There are MDs who are trained to make adjustments,They can look at you standing and make adjustments.The effect is instant.

 

[Dave in MS]

I lived with back pain for twenty years. It finally got so bad i couldn't straighten up. Went to a Neurosurgeon, got an MRI, and found out I had a herniated disc. He operated, and in 2 weeks I was pain free. If I had known that surgery would give me this much relief, I would have had it done years ago. It's been a year last month and still feels great.

 

[Hobo,NC]

(quoted from post at 11:27:20 12/14/09) I am having a great deal of pain in right arm and shoulder as well as numbness in right hand. Went to doctor but cant afford MRI or surgical procedure if it calls for one. Any idea to long term effects if nothing is done. Is There any hope that the disc will go back in to place?
Ron

Did the doc do a ECG,,, if they did ,did that little cute nurse know what she was do'n other than were to put the sticky pads...

A blocked artery can cause numbness of the arm/hand arm and hand /foot/leg are foot and legs,,, I would be interested in know'n if a ECG showed OK if so then consider look'n elsewhere..

You can deal with a hole lot of issues but issues with yer hart have a time limit...

I get my moneys worth when I go get a physical I want to know what all them trace lines mean on the ECG screen,,, I can tell that little cute nurse more than she can tell me about the trace,,, even i am stupid enuff to look for a pattern that's different then the others...

Using a lab scope (ECG) on cars is no difference,,, the trace line and the graft have a purpose...

if I were to spend money my money would go toward some kind of confirmation my tick'er was a tic'n like it should and go from their....

for about 80k rotor rooter can unclog :lol:

 

[RBnSC]

Thanks Guys, I am going to see a Chiorcracker as soon as they can see me. Wife had the same symptoms several years ago and they finally went in and fused the vertebra in her neck. Insurance would not pay for MRI so I asked what it would cost $3650.
Ron

 

[steve n carol]

MRI costs......

Medical costs vary like products in a supermarket. Even moreso if $$$ is smelled.
If you want an MRI, that's cool, however, you will need someone to read the results, unless that's your field. Somehow I doubt that most in the medical folk drive/own tractor(s), and/or play in the dirt.... :wink: Although I do know of one. :wink:

After the MRI, reading of the same, then YOU have the choice to take the results to a Dr. of your choice.

Chiro. can be good, or not so good. The last one I used looked and dressed like Jack LaLane!!!!!! Neat guy!! off road enthusiast, Mountain biker, motocross racer....... All of this with a cracked L5! He broke it when he was 28 yrs old. never had it fused. Still cracked!

wish you the best....sl

 

[Anonymous-0]

Ron,I do not mean to be nosy,but what Insurance company would not pay for MRI,that way we would stay clear of that company.I thought that was why people carry insurance.To pay for insurance then pay for MRI both is awful. Good Luck with your back problem...R.M. In AL

 

[JDemaris]

All depends. But, the numbness comes after the pain, and if you stay numb too long, then muscles die and atrophy. In my case that latter took many months.

I've had burst disks, broken neck, and a broken lower back (not all at the same time). But, each event I had the familiar pain, then numbness, then maybe got better . . . or one time much worse until surgery.

Like I said, all depends on what has actually happened. A totally collapsed disk is not going to heal. Someone has to stick something in there to jack your verterbrae apart,take pressure of the nerve, and stick in a wedge to hold things apart.
On the other hand, if it's just a bulge, the swelling can go down on its own and you might get better on your own. Or, some surgeon might want to sneak in there and just give a disk a little trim-job with scissors.
As to a chiropractor? Never did a thing for me except take my money.
Main thing is . . . how did you get this way? A one time event like an accident or pulling on something way too hard? Or, gradually over time. If the latter, you'll probably have to take some serious action at some point in time.
If the former, sometimes just the right excercises can help a lot.

 

[Matthew Blevins]

(quoted from post at 03:27:20 12/14/09) I am having a great deal of pain in right arm and shoulder as well as numbness in right hand. Went to doctor but cant afford MRI or surgical procedure if it calls for one. Any idea to long term effects if nothing is done. Is There any hope that the disc will go back in to place?
Ron

ell, I have the same problem, except on the left side. The doctor said I had a narrowing passage in my spine, for the nerve going down my arm between c6 and c7. my thumb index and middle finger went numb at start. My arm felt like a freight train was running over it, to the bone. It was the worst pain, I have ever experienced. Doctor said I needed surgery too. It has been a year and my index finger is still numb and muscles still are weak, and has spasms. Massage therapy for me has only been temporary relief. I lost a lot of muscle mass in my left tricep from me having minimal control of it. The long term affects have been miserable for me. I am limited on what I can do. I cannot do anything that jars my shoulder or do anything that causes those muscles between my shoulder blades to tighten. If I do I usually regret it and have to get out the muscle relaxers and the pain killers and talk someone into massaging my back or go and pay for it to be massaged. I have made up my mind to have the surgery. I can't live like this any more. I have a farm and am a little to dependent on my 15 year old son and he want always be around.

 

[Matthew Blevins]

Also, I went to the chiropractor, a real good one and all I can say is, it was temporary relief. I wouldn't waste too much money on that kind of care again, as for myself. I could have put that money towards the deductible. If you don't have insurance, maybe the doctor would be willing to work with you. Insurance companies can usually bring the price down though, with their PPO program. Just be aware that the price for surgery usually gets cut in half or there about when the insurance company gets through with them.