Question
Seven years ago, I was involved in a car crash.  I was at a complete stop, as was the car in front of me, when I was hit from behind by an uninsured motorist at 40-45mph.  I recieved double whiplash and spent the next 4 years trying every treatment suggested.  I've been through physical therapy, occupational therapy, spinal therapy, chiropractics, medications, heat, massage, accupressure and I even had a pain specialist.  At the end of 4 years, I gave up.  The pain never lessened.

My doctors told me that my T3 and T4 were bulging (enough to be visible) and because of this, my posture had become terrible.  I desided to begin doing yoga, which seemed to help immensely, unfortunately the effects haven't been perminent.  

In the past few weeks, I've been having episodes of stabbing pain between the shoulder blades (obviously, the area of the bulding vertebrae).  I can now feel 4 vertebrae that are bulging outward.  Yesterday it became so unbearable that I finally went to the ER.  The doctors there said there are no neurological red flags, however the possibility of slipping a disc isn't out of the question.  I'm need to set up an MRI- without insurance.

My question is in regards to the possibility of surgery.  Is there any chance I could have surgery to help my spine remain straight and stop this bulging from getting worse?  The accident occured days before my 19th birthday and I just turned 26.  I can't bear the thought of losing the ability to walk or the choice of maybe having children in the future.  

Is there anything you can suggest with the information I've provided?  Is surgery possible?  I can't live in this kind of pain, it's effecting every aspect of my existence.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me.

-Jaymi

Answer
Dear Jamie,

Surgery is a crude option.

Understand that discs don't just sort of ... "bulge" ...  They get compressed between vertebrae, and then bulge.  The compression is almost always caused by tight muscles, something that can't be surgically corrected because tight muscles are caused by the nervous system's shock reaction.  Hence, my starting comment.

Whiplash injuries trigger muscular contraction as a protective response against a broken neck in the moment following impact.  To overcome the contractions, you have to retrain your muscular control and reset the muscles to their normal tension level.

Please see the article on whiplash injuries at somatics.com/page4.htm.  It explains the situation more clearly and offers a fast-acting, non-surgical option.

Surgery is a permanent, life-changing event.  You can't go back.  Follow up on my suggestion; you can get the relief you want in less time than it would take to recover from surgery.

with regard,
Lawrence Gold