[CharlesinCharge]

Tyler,

Everyone is correct in that a discectomy or foraminotomy will correct radiating arm pain (which comes from the nerves being pinched) but probably will not correct neck pain if that is coming from the discs themselves. The best way to find out may be a discogram, where they inject dye into the discs and pressurize them to see if that replicates your neck pain. If it does, that indicates that the discs are the cause of the pain and not the nerves. In addition, they take a CT scan after the procedure (while the dye is still in the discs) and that allows them to better visualize the discs---if they are leaking dye that suggests they are degenerated and probably need to be replaced.

Most surgeons will not do an ADR or fusion surgery without doing a discogram first, to verify the source of the pain. It seems to me that this would allow you to find out if your neck pain was from your nerves being impinged or from the discs being degenerated.