Follow up on Neck issues

Discussion in 'Your Living Room' started by njspingirl, May 7, 2014.

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  1. njspingirl

    njspingirl unilateral menieres..had vns and gent injections

    Well, going on 7 months now with the new "pain management" doctor. Keeping it short, 7 injections in my neck so far. Saline and Lidoicaine. It doesnt last very long. I get maybe days TOPS free of pain. Then I am back to square one. While I do know that the neck contributes to the dizziness , it is NOT the only cause. My last injection was last week, and now the doctor would like to do "Radiation Ablation". I am not too sure of this, as the nerves are there for a reason. Then I have to look at the fact that even if I did have this done, it will not help me with the changing weather patterns. When I mentioned this to her, she offered my Botox injections for my headaches. She proceeded to ask me If I have seen and ENT. I told her my history when I first started there. SHE FORGOT? Makes me wonder if she is just "trigger" happy. I cancelled my todays appt with her. She scares me. WHile doing my last injection she said "oh i see a nerve area on your shoulder, that I need to inject", next time.
    WTH??? I have been doing PT also. Which is costing me a small fortune to see both 2-3 times a week. WITH not much result.
     
  2. recentlydizzy

    recentlydizzy New Member

    Neck issues was something of surprise to me when my PT mentioned working on it. You know that old saying "carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders" well it somewhat applies to me. When stress is bad I really do feel my neck and shoulder muscles tighten. I have wide shoulders (sorry mom) but no amount of PT, Chiro, injections, NSAIDS, and muscle relaxers was getting the job done. Like you explain, short term relief, but hours later same ole stiffness.

    Finally my PT came to this conclusion. This is how it was explained to me. Meniere's or inner-ear, vestibular deficient patients have a comfort zone. By comfort zone the body has a head position that it likes. If the head stays within this comfort zone the spins are less likely. This results in the body "splinting" your neck to keep your head and eyes in that comfort zone! Rehab attempts to broaden that comfort zone. That is a range of motion issue but if it is successful the muscles will relax.

    Lots of PT and my neck was still stiff. I took it serious and started doing my own version of treatment at home. I have had much longer lasting relief but still a stiff neck returns. I know toradol pill form is on the no no list because of stomach problems but my doctor prescribed the injectable stuff and it works well. I give myself shots of it and depo testosterone. My stiffness has not gone away completely but I do have days of relief.
     
  3. nicmger

    nicmger New Member

    I know there are a lot of people on here that have not had success with it or like it.....but I remain a firm believer of Nucca. Obviously it is only as good as the doctor you have, but while I don't think it cured my Meniere's, it definitely reduced my chronic headaches, neck tension and the leftover limp from a torn ACL.
     
  4. njspingirl

    njspingirl unilateral menieres..had vns and gent injections

    Thank you for your repsonses. My very first doctor to "help" me with my neck issues was a NUCCA doctor. No help there, he adjusted me for a full year and only took xrays on my initial visit. After a full year, I was hurting and felt like there was a steel rod in my neck and couldnt turn it either way. I demanded new xrays. He did take offense but did them. Next words out of his mouth were "I need to make some adjustments on my hand positions".
    my words "See ya Sparky"!!!
     
  5. nicmger

    nicmger New Member

    Sorry about that.....I remain convinced that it is only as good as the doctor you get. Mine in WA was excellent. He did full measurements and xrays after 6 months; by that point I was staying in alignment for 3-4 weeks at a time. Good luck!
     
  6. MDH

    MDH New Member

    Neck issues are so complex. Seems once I started down the road of dealing with my neck issues and getting treatment, it's been one thing after another.

    I had two badly herniated disks (C4-C6) that gave me trouble for years. I did my best to avoid surgery for as long as I could, but finally found myself waking up one morning last September with numb and tingling arms and legs. That really gets your attention. Ended up having two level acdf surgery. This was successful in resolving my immediate neck problems, but subsequently led to: 1) C5 palsy - decompression of the spinal cord tweaked the C5 nerve root rendering it non-functional. Basically couldn't move my right shoulder/arm for several months until the nerve finally came back (fortunately it did). 2)Somehow, (still haven't fully understood why), while my shoulder was non-functional, I ended up with a torn rotator-cuff (which, wouldn't you know it, they want to surgically repair - another surgery, oh boy!), 3) the neck surgery re-aligned my cervical spine to it's proper orientation....but this led to a new problem, C2-C3 facet arthritis. As your doc suggested, they want to do a nerve ablation to reduce the neck pain. I'm holding off.

    So....after all of this, my neck still hurts, I need another surgery, and need a nerve ablation procedure.

    I should add, I do not think my issues ever contributed to my Meniere's symptoms. I do have a history of chronic migraine, and I do believe my neck is a headache trigger. I'm sure about that.

    Michel
     
  7. KennedyLane

    KennedyLane New Member

    I had an ACDF (fusion using front approach) of C6-C7 eighteen months ago. I couldn't speak above a whisper for the first 4 months, and my voice has never been right since. My new ENT put that nasty scope up my nose recently to find out what's going on. Turns out one of my vocal cords is now permanently paralyzed, which explains my chronic afternoon hoarseness and other problems. I have been a stay-at-home mom for several years and wanted to go back to work now that the kids are older. My voice was my critical to my profession so I have been going through much shock and sadness that things will not turn out as planned. My advice? Think twice before letting any doctor make any permanent alterations to your body.
     
  8. KennedyLane

    KennedyLane New Member

    SpinGirl, Is there a reason the doctor doesn't also inject with steroids? It's no surprise you get only short-term relief with only saline and lidocaine. The first pain management doc I saw also wanted to do radio frequency ablation on my neck, and I said no. The second doc was great and told me she thinks ablation is "barbaric." (Instead, she does radio frequency pulsing that simply warms the nerve, not destroys it.) Also note that in some cases, the nerve regenerates after ablation and can cause even more pain.
     
  9. njspingirl

    njspingirl unilateral menieres..had vns and gent injections

    Thank you for your responses. The radiation ablation does sound scarey to me. But as she explained it to me it would give me relief for a long time. Kennedy, I believe that is what she wanted to do too, warm up the nerves. I saw a pain doctor 2 summers ago. He offered me some kind of block. I had a very bad reaction to it that night. I had hives from the top of my thighs all the way up to my chest. I hyperventilated for 3 days. I had no idea it was from that. Later, I Found out he injected Celestone (sterioid) and used Omnipque contrast. Now, I had dye before for my brain mri's. Never had that kind of reaction. SO, I am assuming it was the sterioid.
     

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