David Chase
I had a ruptured, not herniated, disk at C 6/7 and had surgery done eight years ago. It has been fine since. The pain with 6/7 was unbeleivable. Now due to the stress from 6/7 being fused, it has stressed C5 and I have a bulging C5. I started having pain and numbness in my left arm/hand/elbow two months ago. There was a possibility of surgery, but for the past 8 weeks I've seen a physical therapist and done exercises each day. At this point I'm not perfect, but pretty darn good and don't need surgery. I take Vioxx and Advil, and I'm not really sure how much Vioxx helps... I know Advil does. I believe the exercises really helped. I do things on a gym ball and various arm weights with only 4 pound weights in each hand. It really seems to work. Two months ago I thought I would end up on a surgeon's table. If your disk is bulged it can probably get better or near better. If it is badly herniated/exploded like my 6/7 and it has been four years, then you probably need surgery. You need a second neurosurgeon opinion, and you definitely need to try PT, physical therapy. Ask for a PT that does spines, not just everything -- my wife is a nurse and set that up so I had a good PT and it probably made a big difference. Good luck.