Male 42 C4/5 and C5/6 double cervical disc replacement surgery
Hi all. I’m 42, and am now 10 weeks post double disc replacement surgery in London. I found it pretty helpful searching on here before making a decision, so here’s my experience
2022, playing football, my neck goes. Pain runs down my shoulder and arm. I think it’s muscular so try to exercise through it. It comes and goes in flare ups. Eventually, a round of golf sends me seriously south. I get scans and am diagnosed with spinal spondylosis. My neurosurgeon gives me an injection, I take the next 6 months off any real exercise. After that, I take up Padel and return to the gym. I enjoy nearly 3 years of pain free living. Only thing I have to stop is running. Then, in February this year, I do a HIIT class, and I feel it go again.
This time I see a Orthopaedic Surgeon. Injections don’t work this time, and so in July I had a double disc replacement (C4/5 and C5/6). I had experienced severe pain for 5 months, hugely impacting my quality of life, and I needed a fix.
The surgery went smoothly. I was in hospital for one night. The initial discomfort wasn’t too severe. I was able to eat a full English the morning after (albeit it with some difficulty). I took a week off before returning to work
immediately post surgery, like others have documented, you notice the nerve pain is gone (albeit you are still pretty tanked on painkillers). in the weeks post-surgery, the biggest change for me was new neck pain. All the muscles and tendons move around and the pain was quite substantial, mostly at night trying to sleep. After about 2-3 weeks, I did get some residual pain from my nerve pain back in my shoulder/arm. This was mainly in the mornings, and improved as I loosened up and got mobile throughout the day. I was able to undertake all normal daily activities pretty much from the outset post surgery
After 6 weeks, I began physio. I followed my physios exercise plan to the book, and bought the new cervical pillow he recommended. The results have been excellent. I am now back in the gym, doing light exercise. I am hoping to return to the sports I love in the coming weeks
My only regret is not going back to see my original neurosurgeon for a second opinion, as he had totally ruled out surgery when I saw him back in early 2023. All in all, so far, so good