Herniated Cervical Disc

Not me, but my mom had two herniated cervical discs last winter. She said she woke up one morning with severe pain in her neck and arms. The only thing that remotely helped was wearing a neck brace to keep the pressure off her spine. She saw two specialists and elected to have the surgery. According to her surgeon, if the disc became overly herniated she could have suffered paralysis. The surgery was long and complicated, but she said that the pain relief was instant. She woke-up and it was literally gone.

Two weeks of traction... six weeks of limited mobility and three months of "cautious" lifting later... she's fine and running around with the grandkids! It was a scary period of time for her, but in the end the surgery made the most sense and had the promise of pain relief and long-term safety.

Hi there,
I'm in my mid-30s and have disc herniations at C5-C6 and C6-C7 and disc bulges in C4-C5. Have dealt with it for years. It flares up at times (and honestly, I think the pain from the recurrent "tears" that cause inflammation is worse than giving birth to my son without pain meds by far! When I just have small flare ups, it is a burning aching tingling pain down my arm (or arms depending on which is aggravated). I spoke with a neurosurgeon, but he said my case is likely familial and that if they do a discectomy at one level the lower levels tend to suffer next, and since it is likely that I have disc issues all down my spine, surgery is not recommended at this point.
Honestly, I've seen A LOT of spinal surgery horror stories where people end up worse rather than better, so to me, surgery is a last resort unless you're having such nerve compression that does not resolve with steriods, that you could permanently lose feeling/strength (I was in a medical profession before becoming a SAHM).
What works for me is QUICKLY treating my symptoms as soon as they flare up with an anti-inflammatory (Rx doses of Ibuprofen or Naproxen) or prednisone if it's really bad, also using a muscle relaxer, and at times pain meds. Immediately applying ice (I know, it doesn't feel as good as heat, but heat will aggravate the nerve!!!) and trying to rest it avoiding lifting or overhead pushing. (Tough with 2 small kids). I have also been to physical therapy for treatment and traction and that was WONDERFUL!!
Initially the pain lasted for months, now it will flare up a couple times a year and only last for a week or so, and much less severe. On repeat MRIs you can see that they tend to "heal" more than the docs ever thought they could.
Good luck!

I have a bulged disc, however not at C5/6. Mine is in my low back, just below the belly button, not sure of which discs. My pain radiates down my left leg because it is irritating my sciatic nerve. Must of my pain is a irritating tingling, however sometimes there is pain involved. My injury happened about 4 months ago and so far I have refused the epidural. October 6 is my consultation to have one done. For now, I have been using electric stim, chiropractic manipulation to straighten me back up, and 90 lbs of traction. I am about 85 - 90% better, with my leg tingling in my sleep and I still cannot lie flat on my back or stomach.

I ruptured my c5-6 disc and if I had had a gun I prob. would be dead. It was the worst pain of my life and it never stopped until I took the 2nd or 3rd Medrol pack. I did gain almost 100lbs from the huge amount of Steroids but I was pain free for the first time in a long time.

I did not have the option of having surgery to fix it so I still deal with occasional pain to date. I do exercises to stretch out the neck, use ice to relieve pain and reduce inflammation, use stress management to get deep relaxation to help the muscles not stress the nerve endings and disks.

One of my favorite exercises is putting pillowcases on pillows. Put the pillow under your chin and hold it there. I gently push the pillow with my chin a few times then take the pillow out and relax. I do the exercises a few times a day and it really helps that specific area.

I also like over the door traction, this gently stretches the entire neck and back out and makes everything line up.

I freeze water in small Styrofoam cups. When water freezes it makes a dome on top. I peel off the top part of the Styrofoam cup, leaving most of it still around the base of the ice, so my husband can have something that won't freeze his fingers off and he rubs my back with the dome/tip of the ice and since the Styrofoam insulates the ice it lasts longer and he doesn't get cold hands and fingers.

I also use the ice to really push on the pressure points, it numbs them and again, reduces the inflammation in those areas.

Take a smallish towel or a really big hand towel and fold it and roll it up. It will fill the neck area and give you a good rounding effect when it's the right size. Lay down on our back and put the rolled up towel in behind your neck. Push your head towards the floor to really get a curve in your neck. Don't force it but just really give it a good stretch. If I fall asleep in this position I wake up really hurting but you might find it really refreshing. A lot of my friends fall asleep like this every time they lay down. So I think it's okay to fall asleep, that way you get really relaxed and stretched out.

I have it at C4-C5 but probably similar pain/symptoms. Mainly burning aching pain and the pain was pretty constant. Mine usually radiated down into neck/shoulder back areas...but this could be the difference b/w C4/C5 and yours at C5/C6? The pain really zapped my energy levels. I have tried so many different pain remedies/medications. But the one I found that works the best is accupuncture. Up side...it really helps with pain, which allows me to keep up with daily life (work, home, exercise etc...) Down side is that it seems that as soon as I go a couple weeks without accupuncture the pain comes back... Now granted I have only been going a couple of months and maybe after a longer period pain relief will last without weekly trips to accupuncture...but at least I am off the pain medications. The other treatment that helped a lot was Crainal Saccral Therapy-CST (kind of a mix between massage therapy and chiropractic). CST is sometimes hard to find, and mine was not covered by insurance so pretty expensive ($120/hr and treatment last 1 hr), but I noticed a huge difference after just one visit. Hope this helps! Good luck
Quick addition, I did have one epidural...this did help but temporary relief and I hate the idea of steroids in my body! Also I gained about 10 lbs that I can't seem to lose which I am told is very common.

Hi L.- Sorry to hear about your neck. I was in a car accident September '09. I was stopped at a red light, A man in a large truck never slowed down and after our collision I flew into the truck in front of me (so two collisions!). We tried conservative treatment, massage, anit-inflammatories, pain meds, physical therapy but it was not successful. I had herniated C 5-6 and C 6-7. While waiting for authorization from the insurance company for surgery the neck and high shoulders continued to feel on fire. The numbness and tingling radiated down my right arm, it was awful. I had to have surgical fusion (April '10) but the results were amazing. There is no way I could have gone on without surgical intervention.