Question
I am 65 years old. On 6/03/05, I had a cervical laminectomy C3-7. A ski accident revealed a slight bruise on the spinal cord and a previous stenosis. All the tingling sensation in my left arm eventually ceased until it with some pain began again about a month ago. I have been working out and lifting weights since December 06 consequently losing 30 lbs.  My left shoulder feels like I have pulled something while lifting. It's most painful while walking for exercise. Massage therapy seems to temporarily help. Would you recommend I go back to my neuro-surgeon for follow up, or see another doctor?  Maybe this is normal after this type of surgery? Thanks for your advise.

Answer
Hi Chuck,

Glad to hear you lived through the surgery, most either die or wish they were dead after such a procedure.

You WILL experience progressively worsening pain secondary to scar tissue proliferation as the months pass. This is inevitable, lets hope your neuro doc prescribed post-op therapeutic ultrasound treatments to minimize this physiological change.

I don't know, maybe you had to have surgery, I hope so! Most are done unnecessarily and cause horrific outcomes, study after study shows 90% of them are done without merit.

What's done is done, now you have to aggressively ward off scar tissue. You can do this by seeing a D.C./D.O. or M.D.

Going back to the Neurosurgeon is unadvisable, They do surgery, not rehab.

Ice it down, cool it off, get the inflammation reduced before seeing a doctor. That way he will find the problem easier. When everything hurts, you have to wait 'tll the dust settles before you can nail down what is and isn't clinically significant pain.

You must be one tough cookie to get through all that and still be active, I admire your resilience and inquisitive nature.

We need to find out if you have a rotator cuff or labral tear in the shoulder or if it is referred pain from your neck. The only one capable of differentiating the two is a Orthopaedic surgeon, D.C., or Physiatrist. There are others of course, but these specialties should be your first point of contact, not a naprapath or message therapist.

Please get back with me on a diagnosis and I will help you decide on the best course of action.

Thank you for your question,
Dr. Timothy Durnin
drs.chiroweb.com

Regarding your comment Chuck,

I meant no such thing, I even advised you to see a surgeon for your shoulder. I stated also that I didn't know the circumstances surrounding the neck surgery, maybe you needed it, maybe not. I simply implied that outcomes from cervical surgery are usually very bad and I hoped you were not a victim of a "rush to judgment".

I am sorry if you took my response another way, I am not sure how I could have made this more clear.