[Craig T]

Originally Posted by greglepore

Don't fear the surgery if needed, get it before you have a deficit.

I agree with Greg...Surgery only if you need it...But don't let the disk cause other life deficits.

There are two good reasons I elected surgery.

1. Addiction to narcotic pain killers is no way of life. It affected my work, dulled my personality, and required higher and higher doses to remain effective. How long before Vicodin becomes Oxy? Also, simply masking the pain with drugs is never a long term solution, which leads to reason #2.

2. There is good outcome data on cervical surgeries. One key factor in good outcomes is time. Nerves affected by stenosis and compression for prolonged periods of time have a tough time bouncing back. If the compression is there long enough to cause measurable muscle weakness or atrophy, they ofter never recover fully. The faster compression or stenosis pressure is removed from a nerve the better recovery.

I'm not promoting spine surgery, but I know I couldn't have lived long with that pain addicted to vicodin and certainly would have lost my job.