I am scheduled for a cervical epidural on Oct 2 and am a little scared. I have a chiari malformation in which I had surgery for in 2001. I have nerve damage from the chiari. A lot of pain in the neck and shoulders. I also have a syrinx (spelling?) at C5, not sure how big it is…
Has the cervical epidural injections helped anyone?

I’ve never had a cervial epidural. But I have had them on my lumbar area of my spine and they worked wonders for me. I had to have two of them. The link below has info on your syrinx. Good luck with the epidurals. I hope they help!

I have a torn rotor cuff and carpal tunnel, but the overall pain was never this bad. And now my hand and index finger is tingling, in fact the index finger has gone numb and burns badly. My PCP is offering Chiropractic or Acupuncture as treatment options. BTW, physical therapy was tried repeatedly and only aggravated the conditions.

It would be unusual for cervical radiculopathy to not have neck pain. Pressure on a "pinched nerve" will push the nerve against bone and the sensory fibers will protest. There will also, usually, be neck muscle spasms when the pain hits. You haven’t described having any of these symptoms and so I doubt that the pain is originating in the neck.

But there is not enough information to actually try to pinpoint the source of your pain. What I can say, however, is that the numbness in your finger is a worrisome sign – especially if it is persistent. It suggests that permanent nerve damage may be occurring. What I would suggest, since things are not getting better, is to get a referral to a Neurologist. A Neurologist can do nerve conduction studies to find out where the actual site of the nerve injury is.

It may be at the wrist, or Carpal Tunnel. But you say that you tore your rotator cuff and I’m actually more worried that you may also have torn the nerve during that injury. The torn nerve is known as a Brachial Plexus injury and the torn nerve can be anywhere from the shoulder to the neck and trapezius area.

The doctor prefers not to operate because of it’s proximity to my spine and nerves. Unfortunately the cyst creates pressure on my spine and nerves which causes a lot of pain in my back, shoulders and even down to my fingers. What can I do besides pop pain pills? Is there anything else I could do shrink the cyst or alleviate the pain?
It is not a sebaceous cyst. The cyst can not be seen bulging on the surface of the skin.

If it is a simple sebaceous cyst that is inflamed, Tea Tree oil applied topically will shrink it some. It’s also a mild analgesic. It is somewhat drying, so I’d also use a bit of olive oil once a day.

I have this neck pain about 5 months ago and I so a doctor and said I have cervical arthritis, gave a muscle relaxer and Ibuprofen, the pain still their and sometimes is really bad, the pain goes to my shoulders and stiffnes is always there, now I have numbness and tingling on my arms and legs, cramps and swelling on my feet and legs, Can someone have an Idea whats wrong with me, please? thanks

cervical means neck; arthritis means inflammation in the joint between bones – so you have neck arthritis: that is, inflammation between the bones (vertabrae) in your neck.

There are too many factors which you have NOT mentioned (such as your age, previous neck injuries, duration of the arthritis, and severity of the pain, etc.) to come up with any type of explanation for your symptoms. (For example, if you are 65 and have had 10 severe Whiplash events in car accidents, then cervical arthritis would be expected.)

HOWEVER, if you parathesias (numbness and tingling) in your arms and legs, plus swelling, the inflammation may have compressed some of the nerves that come out of the spine.

I recommend that you visit your doctor IMMEDIATELY ! ! If he prescribes more of the same, I would make an appointment with a doctor specializing in arthritis and immune diseases.

Kier- yes straightening of the cervical curve will cause neck pain and sometimes headaches. This is often called a "military neck", or decrease in the cervical lordosis- and it puts stress on the cervical nerves. Normally you should a c curve in your neck. This reduction of the neck curve can occur with a trauma (such as a Whiplash accident), repetitive motions where your neck is in an awkward position, sleeping incorrectly, bad posture, bad ergonomic set up at work– these things will all contribute to straighening of the cervical curve. The nerves of the neck supply the neck muscles, the blood vessels, your ability to talk and everything else to do with your head +neck- so if there is pressure, then headaches are possible. There may be other contributing factors for your headaches such as diet, loud noises etc, but a misalignment in the spine will affect them as well.

I think traction of the neck will ease some of the neck pain, and also sleeping with a traction pillow will help- this will put your head and neck in the optimal position. Read more information about cervical supports and traction here: http://www.arc4life.com/site/615058/page/623226; You can easily do traction at home everyday. Consider getting a traction pillow for at night: The Cervical Traction Neck Pillow can help you with that. Sometimes it can take a while to get used to, but it is useful because it aligns the cervical spine in the optimal position.

Before you do traction of the neck, make sure you get a proper evaluation by your Dr- a consultation, exam and x-rays may be necessary. It sounds like you may already have had the x-rays taken. Before starting traction, you want to make sure you are healthy enough to do it, and there are no contraindications.

I Hope this helps you out.