SJohnson

USA
1 Posts
 
Posted - 10/22/2006 :  17:29:40  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Physical therapy has been great for mey neck. I had cervical spine
surgery 4/04 due to spinal stenosis. An MRI showed my spine was pressing on my spinal cord. Vertebrae 3 thru seven were pried open to alleviate the condition. Later that year I began to experience head pain which was not alleviated with non-surgical methods, so another surgery was scheduled to fuse vertebrae 1 and 2. The outcome was predicted to give me 80% relief and that surgery was performed 6/05. I participated in physical therapy following the removal of my cervical collar which I had worn after surgery up until 9/05. My neck was particularly stiff at that time. My therapist recommended stretching and range of motion for the neck and head and also performed massage therapy to alleviate the stiffness. The physical therapy really helped. I continue to perform the stretching and range of motion exercises most days. I do experience aches in my neck and shoulder area, which is probably the 20% that could ot be fixed. I recently told my therapist about a new ache in my shoulder which he fixed with stretching. I believe physical therapy, regular exercises, and stretching has kept my range of motion from deteriorating and also kept discomfort to a minimum since undergoing surgery.