Neck Pain keeping me from Diving

[ND5342]

I have had off and on neck related problems for last 7-8 years. My latest episode came on 2 months ago after a few days of diving and a long car ride home, I do not really remember anything happening during the dives to injure my neck. Anyway I can no longer look up without causing pins and needles going down my left arm and it is even difficult to go for a walk without being miserable. Also I have pins and needles in my left forefinger and thumb almost all the time. I have had a MRI and I have a couple of bulging discs and I think my record also mentioned some degenerative disc disease. I am 52 years old and I have always tried to keep in shape with running and exercise. I have been to physical therapy and a chiropractor and that has usually helped in the past but now it seems to do nothing. I am scheduled for pain management and accupuncture and my primary care doctor says if they do not work it will be time to talk with a surgeon. Just trying to understand why this is happening to me. All my diving buddies (tech and rebreather divers) are older than me and seem to have less aches and pains than I have.

I am wondering if I should just get the surgeon into the conversation as I am beginning to wonder if accupunture and pain management will be just band-aids putting off what really needs to get done. I also do not want a surgeon to cut on me just so he can put his kids through college or get that new boat!

Any advice or experiences to share? I am getting tired of missing out on our short dive season up here in the northeast!

 

[kelemvor]

In 2009 I started having a lot of numbness and tingling in my hands. Given that I work on a computer all day, carpal tunnel seemed likely. Went to a doctor in town, got diagnosed with carpal tunnel (with no x-rays or anything) and began painful TENS type treatment. About 6 months later, I found myself shuffling across the floor. Someone talked me into going to the ER. I guess something had happened to my neck (nothing that I can recall really) and a bulging disc was pinching my spinal cord. After an X-ray they told me something serious was wrong and called some poor tech in to run the MRI machine at about 9pm. They did surgery the next morning to remove the affected disc and fuse the vertebrae with a titanium rod. They said if I'd waited, it was seriously possible the cord could have been severed.

In addition to the slipped disk, my spinal column is a little smaller than it should be. So when I have a disk out of place there's not any extra room there. Hence the cord damage.

I had some additional vertebrae added to the fusion in 2015. C2-7. I had to give up cave diving as I can't bend my neck in order to get into proper diver position.

I've still got lots of pain but I'm walking just fine, although I do have a lot of permanent numbness in my hands.

You should go see a spine doc or an ER and get an x-ray and/or MRI. My insurance requires an X-ray before an MRI, but the doctors can't ever see anything in the x-ray so it's just a time and money waster. That's my opinion, based on my experience. I wasn't in any kind of accident or anything.

 

[ND5342]

Wow! So sorry to hear your story, Glad that you are at least diving as well as even walking! I have gotten an MRI recently. I need to get an expert to look at though. With your numbness are you doing any technical diving?

 

[Flatline]

I’m sure one of the doctors can chime in. But I’ve had similar issues and have multiple levels of degenerative disc disease, disc compression and arthritis. Most of this is a result of 2 auto accidents where I was rear ended and working on computers for a couple of decades. I would say the good news is that they did the MRI and you’re not having surgery right now. The problem is that even if there’s actually enough room for the nerve to run through the foramen, it can get irritated and swell. Once this happens it’s very difficult to break that cycle. I had pain, numbness and tingling in my small finger, ulnar region and elbow. C-8 nerve was inflamed.

That’s where the pain management came in for me. I had multiple injections over a few years that took down the swelling and relieved the majority of my symptoms. However I’ve also spent about four years seeing a physical therapist off and on to unravel all the problems I had and get a good stretching regiment to keep things in order. Things aren’t perfect now but I’m not really in pain, I can dive and have not needed to have an injection in three years.

The cord compression sound like it was ruled out in the MRI? A wag is that the C-7 nerve is not happy based on your symptoms. All About the C6-C7 Spinal Motion Segment

 

[kelemvor]

With your numbness are you doing any technical diving?

No. Feeling a line with my fingertips is questionable. Also I can't dive in proper trim, increasing the likelihood of silting out a cave. I have done it a few times, and I can force my neck into position but it hurts for a week afterward and just isn't worth it.

 

[Sam Miller III]

You have a disc invomemt possibly infringing on the ulnar nerve

 

[Compressor]

I have had off and on neck related problems for last 7-8 years. My latest episode came on 2 months ago after a few days of diving and a long car ride home, I do not really remember anything happening during the dives to injure my neck. Anyway I can no longer look up without causing pins and needles going down my left arm and it is even difficult to go for a walk without being miserable. Also I have pins and needles in my left forefinger and thumb almost all the time. I have had a MRI and I have a couple of bulging discs and I think my record also mentioned some degenerative disc disease. I am 52 years old and I have always tried to keep in shape with running and exercise. I have been to physical therapy and a chiropractor and that has usually helped in the past but now it seems to do nothing. I am scheduled for pain management and accupuncture and my primary care doctor says if they do not work it will be time to talk with a surgeon. Just trying to understand why this is happening to me. All my diving buddies (tech and rebreather divers) are older than me and seem to have less aches and pains than I have.

I am wondering if I should just get the surgeon into the conversation as I am beginning to wonder if accupunture and pain management will be just band-aids putting off what really needs to get done. I also do not want a surgeon to cut on me just so he can put his kids through college or get that new boat!

Any advice or experiences to share? I am getting tired of missing out on our short dive season up here in the northeast!

Difficult to give medical advice without being aware of your history and working up the issue (physical exam, image reviews....).
The issues you are having are not unique to older people. Many younger people will have these issues.

If your spinal cord is impinged upon by a disc, it need to be looked at. Treatment does not always require surgery which is invasive.

 

[ND5342]

You have a disc invomemt possibly infringing on the ulnar nerve

Please bear in mind once your undergo surgery -- You can't Un surgery"
Surgery requires Hospital - Pt and long term recovery-and possible radical modification of life style

Samuel Miller. III

Good Point

 

[ND5342]

That’s where the pain management came in for me. I had multiple injections over a few years that took down the swelling and relieved the majority of my symptoms. However I’ve also spent about four years seeing a physical therapist off and on to unravel all the problems I had and get a good stretching regiment to keep things in order. Things aren’t perfect now but I’m not really in pain, I can dive and have not needed to have an injection in three years.

The cord compression sound like it was ruled out in the MRI? A wag is that the C-7 nerve is not happy based on your symptoms. All About the C6-C7 Spinal Motion Segment

I saw my chiropractor today and he feels that from his experience I am right on the edge to needing surgery. He feels that if one injection helps out a lot of my symptoms fine but multiple injections with minimal effect are just a waste of time.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

I have had off and on neck related problems for last 7-8 years. My latest episode came on 2 months ago after a few days of diving and a long car ride home, I do not really remember anything happening during the dives to injure my neck. Anyway I can no longer look up without causing pins and needles going down my left arm and it is even difficult to go for a walk without being miserable. Also I have pins and needles in my left forefinger and thumb almost all the time. I have had a MRI and I have a couple of bulging discs and I think my record also mentioned some degenerative disc disease. I am 52 years old and I have always tried to keep in shape with running and exercise. I have been to physical therapy and a chiropractor and that has usually helped in the past but now it seems to do nothing. I am scheduled for pain management and accupuncture and my primary care doctor says if they do not work it will be time to talk with a surgeon. Just trying to understand why this is happening to me. All my diving buddies (tech and rebreather divers) are older than me and seem to have less aches and pains than I have.

I am wondering if I should just get the surgeon into the conversation as I am beginning to wonder if accupunture and pain management will be just band-aids putting off what really needs to get done. I also do not want a surgeon to cut on me just so he can put his kids through college or get that new boat!

Any advice or experiences to share? I am getting tired of missing out on our short dive season up here in the northeast!

I would recommend consulting with a neurologist and maybe a neurosurgeon. You don't want to do anything that's going to aggravate the injury. If the ND5342 means what I think it does, you've probably had plenty of mechanical stress in the area; it could be an old injury that's becoming worse with age, it could be genetic, or it could be a combination. It wouldn't have anything to do with your level of conditioning.

Best regards,
DDM