| A couple years ago I considered having a neck fusion but chickened out. I'm back again to think about it again, as the pain and weakness are worse then ever. When I looked at this before there wasn't that much out about which way to go ... bone chips or titanium cage. Is there any new news? | 7 years 11 weeks ago | 1196 |
| A couple years ago, I had a steroid injection for sciatica. It helped clear the problem up in no time. Now I'm having similar symptoms in my arm. Would a steroid injection help me? | 6 years 6 weeks ago | 1285 |
| A disc in my low back is causing pain. I'm scheduled to have a surgical procedure called interdiscal electrothermal therapy. Will this surgery make my back weaker? | 12 years 11 weeks ago | 1142 |
| A few of my employees recently hurt their backs on the job and are collecting workers' comp. Should I expect that they'll come back to work? | 11 years 30 weeks ago | 1206 |
| A friend of mine at work has suggested I try an intense training program he went through in order to get back to work after a long bout of low back pain. Our insurance doesn't cover it. He assures me it was worth it. Is something like this really worth the money? | 5 years 9 weeks ago | 971 |
| A good friend of mine and I went to see the same doctor for back pain. Our bills were very different after only two visits. Why does this happen? | 7 years 44 weeks ago | 1003 |
| A long time ago I had a single-level disc fusion in my neck using bone graft donated by someone else instead of my own. It all went well but now I need a similar operation at a different level. My doc says the allograft isn't done much anymore. He prefers to use bone from my pelvic crest or even better, a titanium cage. What happened with the original method? It worked just fine for me. | 7 years 11 weeks ago | 1185 |
| A lot of my employees complain of neck pain. I've done everything I can to make the office more "ergonomic." Is there something else I should do? | 11 years 10 weeks ago | 1200 |
| A magnetic resonance imaging study shows that I have a gas-filled cyst in my spine. My doctor now wants to do a computed tomography scan with myelography, and a discography. Are these really necessary? | 4 years 52 weeks ago | 915 |
| A magnetic resonance imaging study shows that I have a gas-filled cyst in my spine. What causes them? | 4 years 52 weeks ago | 1262 |
| A smoker for 25 years, I'm having a hard time quitting before my lumbar fusion surgery in six weeks. Are the benefits worth the effort it is taking me to stop smoking? | 11 years 10 weeks ago | 1200 |
| A spine specialist told me I have two herniated discs, and that a piece of disc broke off and is floating around in my spinal canal. Is it possible to avoid having surgery with a loose fragment like this? | 11 years 10 weeks ago | 1501 |
| A year ago I had a special heat treatment for a disc problem. It worked okay. Yesterday I got a phone call from the clinic asking me questions about the results. I didn't know the person calling me. How can I find out if this is legit? | 9 years 6 weeks ago | 928 |
| About a year ago, I had the disc at L5-S1 replaced because of degenerative disc disease. I was hoping this operation would help me keep all of my natural motion. The latest tests show that I only got about half the normal motion back. Is there any explanation for this? | 5 years 37 weeks ago | 1394 |
| About five years ago, I had a spinal fusion at L45. Now I'm having disc problems at the L34 level. I've heard there's a new heat treatment I could try instead of surgery. How do I find out more about this? | 5 years 10 weeks ago | 1515 |
| About six months ago, I had surgery to remove a tumor in my sacral bone. This morning, I was bending over and I felt and heard a pop. I don't have any pain or further loss of motion. But I'm pretty nervous I might have broken something in there. I know I have plates and screws holding everything together. Should I call the doctor right away or wait-and-see before hitting the panic button? | 4 years 21 weeks ago | 994 |
| About six months ago, I started having low back pain. No one knows what caused it. I saw a physical therapist and that was helpful. But I still have back pain. I went to see a different therapist this time. I thought he might do what the first therapist did to help me. This time the program is very different. Should I go back to my original therapist? | 6 years 14 weeks ago | 972 |
| About six weeks ago I hurt my back and had to see a physical therapist. In the first week my pain went way down. By the second week I was back on the job. The exercises seemed to help, but how long should I keep doing them? I don't have much time now that I'm back to work. | 7 years 44 weeks ago | 966 |
| About six years ago, I had a steroid injection in my back that worked like a charm. Now that I'm having the same kind of neck pain (goes down my arm), I'm wondering if this could be done to my neck? | 5 years 51 weeks ago | 1057 |
| About two weeks ago I had a car accident and suffered a whiplash injury. I'm still having daily headaches and neck pain that goes down my left arm. Is there any way to tell if I'll come out of this okay? | 6 years 48 weeks ago | 1236 |
| About two years ago, I had a face lift and a neck tuck. I have a long neck and the cosmetic surgery smoothed out sagging skin down the front of my neck. Now I need neck surgery to remove a herniated disc. The surgeon will probably fuse the spine. Will this operation ruin how my neck looks? | 5 years 36 weeks ago | 1080 |
| After a back injury some time ago I notice that I can do everything I once used to do, but I'm much slower at it. Do you think it really matters how fast I walk or move about? | 7 years 48 weeks ago | 957 |
| After a car accident and whiplash injury, I notice my neck gets cold easily. I have to wear a scarf almost all the time. Even the slightest breeze can put my neck into spasm. Is this normal? | 9 years 19 weeks ago | 1060 |
| After a cervical spine (neck) fusion I had a serious problem with swallowing. It lasted for about a month and then went away. No one seemed to know anything about it. What can you tell me? | 7 years 30 weeks ago | 1946 |
| After a long series of tests and doctor visits, they've finally figured out what's causing numbness and tingling in my legs. And I walk funny now, too. It's called thoracic myelopathy. I've been told I should have surgery to correct this right away. Can I just wait and see if I'll get better? | 5 years 41 weeks ago | 1297 |
| After a really bad bout of back pain, I had an MRI done. It showed I have a fissure in the outer covering of my disc at L45. How do you treat something like this? | 6 years 26 weeks ago | 1379 |
| After a spinal fusion at two levels in my low back, the X-rays show it wasn't successful. There's still motion at one level. I'm not having any symptoms. Should I still have another operation to fuse it again? | 9 years 19 weeks ago | 1189 |
| After a very long and difficult delivery, I gave birth to a 12-pound baby. In the process my tailbone broke. Now it's healed in a crooked position. It's very painful. Is there any treatment for this problem? | 9 years 14 weeks ago | 1081 |
| After a year of daily back and leg pain, I'm ready to do anything that might help. What do you think of these steroid injections people get? | 6 years 28 weeks ago | 1129 |
| After being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis of the hands and feet, now I find out I have it in the neck, too. The doctor is talking surgery. I'd really like to avoid any operations. Is there any way to tell if I'd be a good person to have surgery? Maybe I would do better with just exercise. | 7 years 22 weeks ago | 1052 |
