Chronic Pain

[sandy]

anyone here have the same thing chronic pain, the doctors say anything over 6 months, you are in group chronic pain, when your spine hurts and doctors on consult say maybe i think could be your problem, and you get surgery because the doctor thinks it is your problem , but pain still in spine is it chronic pain or did the doctor fail to get the right problem corrected . some people may have one problem and some have many, are these doctors guessing what is wrong and guessing how to fix

Does anyone here with cervical surgery were doctor went in from front, after surgery do you feel lump throat constantly , did you have were your neck is like dental Novocaine kinda feel but not, tingles numd.

I feel like im going in circles with the doctors, how hard can it be to figure out were the pain is comeing from in your spine.

Has anyone gotten unhappy or anxious over there pain, does anyone else have problems with meds either allergys or horrible side effects .

Has anyone elses doctor say take antidepressants this will make the pain go away and better, why do doctors say that we dont feel any pain its all in our head and serotonin will fix everything.

my pain is in my neck thoracic and lumbar, I know exactly were mine is fix it and pain will go away.

im getting mad jumping hoops for these doctors, go to therapy, acupuncture, massage, gusha cupping, biofeedback, herbs vitamins, meds. spent alot money in 2 years

test after test and shows the problem but the doctor doesnt feel that bulge disc ,anullar tear ,or bone spur or possible allergy to metal disc in me would cause pain.

I wanted spur removed in thoracic i think its causeing my pain in that area, he said spurs do not cause pain, i said did you have mri and do you have bone spur, no he replies, are we all just wrong here and its all in our heads

[Katie]

Sandy, the only thing I can address from personal experience with my cervical surgery was the numbness in my neck. All the area under my chin and down my neck was like you said, like numbness from a dental injection. But I assume it was from the nerves being cut during the surgery. It has taken almost a year for the nerves to go back to normal. I honestly had forgotten about that part of the surgery until now.

I hope others can address some of your other issues.

[Justin]

Hi Sandy,

Chronic spine pain is very tricky. There shouldn't be a singular approach to treating pain (for example, surgery only). Depression and chronic pain go hand in hand. This is why physicians frequently prescribe antidepressants to those in chronic pain (the patient meets the criteria for depression as well).

Spine surgery is very far from a "fix all" and a multifaceted approach is the only way to treat pain, in my opinion. If a Spine Patient has significant issues with their spine and have had spine surgery(ies) in the past, it is very common that they are not pain free. This is to be expected, as one's body is never the same after surgery and our bodies adapt to the "bad stuff" that is going on in our spine--this adaptation is not always favorable and can lead to continued pain. Unfortunately, this is why Spine Patients continue to have pain after spine surgery.

Everyone has disc bulges, which to a degree, are normal and asymptomatic. However, not everyone has gross herniation of an intervertebral disc, which requires surgery in many cases. Bone spurs are part of the degenerative cascade of the spine and are normal to some degree as we age. Not all bone spurs cause pain, and not every bone spur needs to be removed.

I understand you are in pain and I am deeply sorry that you are. There is a possibility that if they went in to remove this bone spur that you would be worse off. Also, it sounds as if the MRI has been reviewed by your medical team and they feel that surgical intervention would not improve your pain.

Acupuncture, massage, biofeedback, medications, physical therapy are all helpful for chronic pain. It's extremely rare for a Spine Patient to treat their pain with a single modality and be pain free / have less pain. Spine surgery is the last resort in my opinion as there are many roads to travel down before burning bridges with irreversible surgery.

It's also difficult for physicians to treat pain because many of the treatments they use are short-lived and only provide so much relief. It's just the nature of the beast. Chronic pain is a very unforgiving disease and I would venture to say it's not the physicians fault that they can't "fix" the pain---it is the disease itself, chronic pain---ultimately, it is the limiting factor.

Good luck and I do hope your pain improves.