QuestionHi,
I've been diagnosed with C5-C6 disc herniation, but this hasn't caused as much problems as my pain in my left shoulder and neck. I have developed these symptoms more after I started working from hope on my laptop in the last two years. My neck is always sore, extending into my lower back. This all seems to be on my left side though. I've tried PT, etc., but nothing is working. When I sleep on my right side, my left side neck and shoulder muscles really hurt and when I sleep on my left side, my shoulders and neck on the left side really hurt. I have tried all sorts of pillows also. My doctor says that my muscles are really tense, but muscle relaxants aren't suiting me due to the side effects. Will massage help. Also, is cold or heat better for me? Please advice correct posture also and some good exercises. Thanks.
Regards,
Paula
Answer
Cervical herniation -
Hi Paula,
Sure, I'll add my two cents. I've made a more complete post on my blog complete with pictures, at http://glennrmt.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/disc-herniations/, please join me there.
Herniations are nasty. The most common place to get them is in the bottom of the lower back (L4-5) and if in the neck, the lower neck (C5-7). People in their 30's are most at-risk; there's been an active 20's to produce wear-and-tear, the 30's bring deskwork, and then the discs solidify into the 40's and 50's, bringing more stability to a problem area.
It's important to know a bit of the anatomy of the problem. Between each vertebrae is a disc somewhat like a jelly donut; there's a gel in the centre ("pulposus"), with a ring of fibrous confining tissue (annulus fibrosus) wrapping around it. It makes a wobbly support, but because the joint withstands loads of hundreds of kilos of peak pressure (during lifting and quick movements), it's a necessary support. The fine-tuning of the joint stability comes from the pair of facet joints to the rear of the joint. (For a great picture, see the wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:C6-C7-disc-herniation-cevical-mri-scan.jpg.)
(For the rest of the article, please go to
http://glennrmt.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/disc-herniations/
Best regards,
Glenn Kukkee
RMT, HBSc, CCPE
