ADR x 2,
You are welcome.
Almost all the surgeons will recommend conservative therapy first if they think it will help or there is no emergent issue.
Or if they are any good.
I know you are worried about getting worse and then not being a candidate for ADR, but IMHO, you should concentrate on seeing if you might get better and avoid surgery all together.
I was just speaking to a lady the other day who told me she had a big, large herniated lumbar disc recently. She was going to schedule surgery and then after eight months of therapy, her body reabsorbed the herniation. Wow. She still might need surgery in the future but for now she dodged a surgery.
You will most likely have a different timeline but most cervical people get better with conservative therapy. Now there is all kinds of controversy with any of the therapies, including the surgery, but you are not going to avoid that. If you fail the therapies, then you at least know you tried just about everything to avoid surgery.
I don't know when your mom had surgery, but in the past 10 years or so, fusion surgeries have become more successful. Any surgery is a risk and there are some people who end up worse off. That is the gamble.
I don't care how minor a surgery is, there are risks.
Traction isn't that bad. They had an automated machine at my PT's place, and then I tried home traction, which was okay. My problem is that the traction made me worse, most likely because I have bone spurs and the PT thought they were rubbing against the nerves with traction.
Hey, I also get the idea of missing working out. I am a runner, was a runner, always will be a runner and I miss it. If you can and your doctor recommends it, walk. It is not running but it is something.
Here's hoping that the herniation goes away,
Kimmers (BTW, I am a writer too. I did that before I went back to school for nursing. Hang in there.)
