ADR x 2,
First, welcome to this site. Second, glad you came on here, because you can learn a lot on here.
You are young, but that doesn't mean you are not a candidate for surgery.
Most people get ADR or fusion surgery because they have a nerve/disc problem that will not get any better and could be harmful to their health or they have intractable pain which is not getting any better after what they call conservative care.
After having two lumbar ADRs, I am a cervie now. I hurt my neck in 1986 when I was in a near-fatal car accident. I had intermittent numbness in my arms from that point on and neck tightness/pain off and on. Twenty-six years later, I started feeling hand pain, which has progressed to arm pain on both arms and other symptoms. I am in intractable pain, now. I wake up in pain, I go to sleep in pain. I am on heavy doses of pain meds right now.
I did not start that way.
When I had an appointment in November with a hand doc because my hands hurt and had an EMG, that showed C six and seven nerves being compressed, I started reading up on the cervical spine to learn what I didn't already know. The hand surgeon told me to get an MRI right away after he sent me to get cervical x-rays and looked at my cervical spine. He told me not to wait.
So I called up my neurosurgeon (office), who I had seen less than two months before when he released me from lumbar care, and told him what was up. Got the MRI, and it showed a whole boat load of disc osteophytes (bone spurs) and foraminal and central canal stenosis (narrowing) at C5/6 and C6/7 primarily.
Since I am versed a bit in back lore, before I got the MRI report, I got the disc, put it into the computer and read it as best I could. I did some studying to figure what was what and I have a medical background so that wasn't that hard. I could see the osteophytes and then I went to my pain doc (who had the radiology written report). The PA took one look at it and said, "Looks like doc is going to have to decompress your back as soon as possible".
WHoah...wait a minute. Soon after, had appointment with my neurosurgeon and he suggested I do conservative measures first like PT, ESIs and medication. From the reading, most cervical herniations can be resolved without surgery. Most resolve with conservative, non-surgical care like PT, traction, and medicines.
Now, I went to PT, I had two ESIs and had different medications to help and then I had home traction. When simple exercises and the traction, caused pain and increased numbness, several times although we adjusted what I did, and such, my PT wrote a letter to my neurosurgeon, telling him I needed surgery. PT and all the above did not work. This was over months.
ADR x 2, You don't want to do surgery unless it is totally necessary. You should give the conservative care route a whirl until you have exhausted all means.
I have had surgery, but it is not something to be taken lightly or entered into when you have other options. It may be that you will need surgery, IMHO, first you should get more than two surgical opinions about what you should do.
I can give you examples when I was first starting out on this road of spinal problems in 2007. I got multiple opinions. I went to a physical rehab doc who did facet and epidural injections, did a discogram, ordered PT, the works. He then wanted to do IDET, but he couldn't do it. He would have to refer me out. So I asked my physical therapists, they hadn't had a patient do IDET for some time. Then I asked my neurosurgeon, who I picked for my doctor after getting five to six other surgical opinions, and he said they didn't do it anymore because the treatment was so restrictive and painful and it wasn't getting results.
That is just one example of how if I had that treatment, I may have ended up in worse pain and probably not gotten the desired result.
My PTs, one of whom I had actually known before getting PT, knew what the good surgeons were, the excellent surgeons and the so-so surgeons, ones that they would not want to get treatment from.
ADR trials or other devices/treatments may look tempting, but you have to know what you are getting yourself in for. It may or may not be what would benefit you. The most important thing is to get a surgeon whom you trust, has a very good reputation and can do different surgeries. And you need to research and talk to people that have had good results and some who have had bad outcomes.
IMHO, do not rush into anything unless you have a case that is an emergency. IMHO, be real careful about your health care and advocate for yourself. Also, just because your mother did not have an optimal outcome, does not mean you won't. We are here to help, pick our brains.
Good luck and again, welcome.
Kimmers
