Lorraine
Neck and back pain is truely the worst. Not only do you have to live with such agony but you get absolutely no sympathy from anyone unless they have it too. I cannot give you any specific advise for your situation but I can tell you how I deal with it and the big decision of surgery and new carreer that I went through. At 28 years old I was in a car accident I herniated 2 disks I think L5, S1, I also bulged a disk in my neck C5, and I stretched the carpal tunnel nerves in both hands from the steering wheel. Needless to say my carreer as a Nail Technician after 12 years was ended with a sreetching hault. I had to close my business and was out of work for along time almost 2 years. After a year of treatment and several procedural out patient surgeries that were unsuccessful I had the painstaking decision of surgery. I went ahead with it. At 29 not even able to drive or sit through a movie I felt what else do I have to lose? Everyone told me I was crazy and filled me with scary stories but I did it anyway. The sugery was 8 hours long and they had to bring me out from anasthesia after 6 or 7 hours. My legs were numb afterwords and I was so scared. They stayed numb for almost 6 mos. and after a year and a half I decided to get into doing Cosmetology. At that time it was so painful that I had to wrap the perm on that dummy so fast to sit down everyone began to race me. By the time I finished school I was realizing the pain in my legs was lesser. After that I worked doing hair and nails so I could be moving around. Then I sort of stumbled on being an Instructor at a technical college, I still live with pain but I wake up OK and I work OK and I can sit through a movie OK. and believe me OK is an EXCELLENT thing to be able to be. I will never be GREAT but I will happily settle for Ok over excruciating pain. I had The top orthopedic surgeon in a metropolitan area, also the top neuro surgeon(worked on Gloria Estephan when she broke her back) and I know GOD helped me and blessed their hands The surgeon said it was much worse that he thought it took both of them to do it. So think about it. Make sure you have the best surgeons research their name in the industry if you opt to go with any surgery and be ready to be STRONG!!!! When they started talking about surgery on my neck I stopped going to see him I just sort of knew inside that it would be better and it is very much better I have no neck pain unless I have a jolting movement or something but see your inside instincs can work as well. The carpal tunnel was a streched nerve and after a couple of years it was better too. GOOD LUCK!!!