Question
Im writing for my wife, she is 37 years of age and has had two neck fusions, if Im right it was C5-6, C7. The Dr. did a bone graft from her hip to replace the disk in her neck, since her surgery she has been in pain daily. Although she says the pain in her neck is not the same as it was before the surgery,..it still hurts her so bad she cant sleep, rest, do anything but lay in bed. She also has a great deal of pain on her hip where they took the bone. She complains of a hot ,burning pain there. She just recently started to have sciatic nerve pain that is probably worse than all the other pain she has. She also gets very bad headaches just on the right side of her head, temple area that last all day long, sometimes for more than one day. There are a very few rare days when she doesnt have a whole lot of neck pain, but the pain in her hip from the steel plate,  and the pain in her butt and right leg are there every single day. Our question is, can the sciatic pain and the headaches be related to the injury from her neck? Can anything be done to treat this pain? She is going on her second year post-op and the pain is still the same day after day, never getting any better. Is this what she has to look forward to for the rest of her life? Can someone please offer some advice.
Regards
bmolinar  

Answer
Dear Ben,

Muscular contractions are a common aftermath of surgery; it's the body's reaction to injury.

Pain in the hip can easily lead to muscular contractions of the pelvis and low back -- which can lead to sciatic nerve entrapment and sciatica.

Same with neck pain leading to headaches, as neck muscles go into contraction following surgery.

What's needed is muscular retraining.  Doctors are not versed in this, and most physical therapists have only rudimentary skill in it, mostly resorting to strengthening, stretching and traction, which are primitive methods.

The field of somatic education can help.  Rapidly effective in most cases, the process restores or improves muscular control of tension.  I'd suggest reading the relevant articles on pain at somatics.com.  Click the Articles link.

Getting your wife out of pain shouldn't be difficult with a skilled practitioner (see the Practitioners link at somatics.com).

There are also self-help resources (see the Bookstore link).

Very sorry to hear of her trouble.

best wishes,
Lawrence Gold