Question
Hi pls advise
I am a woman of 31 yrs and hv 3 kids under 5 yrs of age.i suddenly woke up and had sever pain in my neck .mri report is as follows.... bulge at C4-5 level-mild.
Disc osteophyte complex with left paracentral disc profusion and hypertrophied PLL collectively causing ventral nerve roots compression, mild right lateral recess narrowing and significant anterior thecal and mild cord compression on left side.
Pls advise
Nasreen

Answer
Hi Nasreen ~
So sorry you are suffering with this. First, to be as young as you are with this condition there is likely to have been a trauma in your past - a fall, a whiplash, etc. Your pregnancies would have very little to do with it. As I'm sure you have learned by now the disc is the shock absorbing cushion which separates the spinal vertebrae. In the neck there are 7 of these called cervical vertebrae and the MRI indicates that your issue is at the disc between the 4th and 5th cervical vertebra and this is abbreviated as C4-5. As you are well aware a mild bulge doesn't mean that the pain is necessarily mild.

It is easy to suppose that if an old injury (or old age) resulted in the bones "catching" or "rubbing wrong" or any of the mishmash of other phrases that patients use to describe this phenomenon that eventually the bone would wear down but, in fact, the exact opposite occurs. Remember that bone is living tissue and like other living tissue such as the skin on the palm of a hand, for instance, it will build up when stressed, and this we call a callous. Abnormal or excessive mechanical stress to bone causes it to respond in the same way as does skin and results in a buildup of deposits of calcium. The bone and/or supporting ligaments become denser as these calcium molecules accumulate, and eventually become numerous enough to form visible bone spurs or osteophytes. There are a variety of medical terms used to describe this buildup of calcium dependent upon the location and severity, but in the end they all spell osteoarthritis. The ligaments themselves (PLL is the posterior longitudinal ligament) thicken as well under the mechanical stress much in the same way that a muscle when exercised or stressed thickens or gets bigger, this is known as hypertrophied.

Eventually the outside walls of the disc weaken to the point where they begin to bulge or protrude (you meant to type protrusion, not profusion). Left paracentral means that this has occurred around  nearly the middle, but a little bit to the left of where the spinal cord passes. As the bulge gets bigger and as the ligaments thicken the hole on the side (the lateral recess or foramina) narrows and eventually compresses or pinches the nerve root on the side or spinal cord in the middle. This causes sometimes unbearable pain.  Click to see my YouTube video which will make this much easier to realize Spinal Stenosis video .

In the past, a patient suffering from disc problems was usually given pain medications or injections, instructed to refrain from physical activities, referred for physical therapy, and when they weren't progressing they were sent for spinal surgery or simply told to learn to live it. Since 2001 when the FDA finally approved non-surgical spinal decompression therapy, there is new hope for those who suffer from degenerative disc disease. Spinal Decompression Therapy is a non-invasive, non-surgical treatment performed on a special, computer controlled table similar in some ways to an ordinary traction table. A single disc level is isolated and by utilizing specific traction and relaxation cycles throughout the treatment, along with proper positioning, negative pressure can actually be created within the disc. It works by gently separating the offending disc 5 to 7 millimeters creating negative pressure (or a vacuum) inside the disc to pull water, oxygen, and nutrients into the disc, thereby re-hydrating a degenerated disc and bringing in the nutrients needed to heal the torn fibers and halt the degenerative process. As the disc is re-hydrated the shock absorbing properties are restored and a normal life can be resumed. Many times at least some of the lost height can be restored as well.

Dr. Michael L. Hall, D.C. practices at Triangle Disc Care in Raleigh, North Carolina specializing in Spinal Decompression for the treatment of acute and chronic neck pain and back pain due to herniated, degenerated discs. This is a conservative procedure for patients suffering with bulging or herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, posterior facet syndrome, sciatica, failed back surgery syndrome, and non-specified mechanical low back or neck pain.

For more information call 919-571-2515, click on www.triangledisc.com or email [email protected] . Type "Free eBook - 101 Things I Need to Know about my Bad Back" into the subject line.