Question
I had a virus infection early November and was coughing and recovering from it. In the second week, my neck became stiff and i was having pain in my left arm. At the end of this week, i woke up one morning with pain in the neck and should and fainted and ended up in ER.
After treating my pain and CT scan the Dr released my noting that i have a cervical herniated disc and acute bronchitis and also prescrined pain medication. I went to the attending Neurosurgeon's office few days later and discusssed the situation. He asked me to wait and see if the pain goes away and noted that i have Radiculapathy.
I went to my PCP who put me on a predisone regimen and said similarly to wait and see. In the mean time i'm going to chiropractor as well.I did not do well with Predisone.

My CT Scan IMpression:
1. Mild Cervical Spondlylosis with a probable left foraminal protrusion at C5-6 narrowing foraminal entrance zone.

Question:
What does this impression mean. Do i have a herniated disc or a bulged disc? What is the difference.

How long will it take for the current inflammation to subside?
What can be done to prevent another flare up?
Now that i have this condition, what do i need to learn to manage this?


Answer
Dear Lazar,

Mild cervical spondylosis is just fancy terminology for degenerative arthritic changes to the spine. This is often visualized by some small lipping and spurring around the endplate of the vertebra where they attach to the disk or at the joint spaces.  The fact that is is classified as mild is good.  Left foraminal protrusion indicates that the disc has bulged outward on the left side of the spine and is pushing into the hole (foramen) where the nerve root exits the spine.  This is enough to cause pain and tingling into the neck, left shoulder and forearm.

The only difference between a disc bulge an herniation is the size, and this is debated in the medical literature.  A bulge is usually classified as protruding more than 3mm, where as a herniation would be more than 5mm.  

Either way, you can benefit with conservative care such as traction, and chiropractic adjustments to alleviate pressure on the disk and nerve root.  I work with disc bulge patients all the time in my practice, and rarely do they need to have surgical corrections ...probably less than 5%. Ask your chiropractor to perform weighted axial traction of the spine, or cervical decompression to take the pressure of the disk.  It will take a few weeks to get the best results, and you may want to research a device called the Posture Pump online as well.  I use these in my office and have my patients utilize them at home as well.

Listen I know that my explanation might also confuse you a bit due to the terminology.  However, you can look up the terms used on my website, I have a glossary there which explains them all, and a page dedicated to disk herniation so that you can actually see the anatomy and how the nerve roots can be affected.

http://suncoasthealthcare.net/chiropracticinformation/discherniation.html
http://suncoasthealthcare.net/chiropracticinformation/spinalanatomy-overview.htm...
http://suncoasthealthcare.net/chiropracticinformation/spinalanatomy-detail.html
http://suncoasthealthcare.net/glossaryofterms/

Hope this helps Lazar.

Respectfully,
Dr. J. Shawn Leatherman
www.suncoasthealthcare.net