Neck/Arm Pain: Foraminal Stenosis with Radiculopathy Patient

Maxie was on duty in his patrol car when he was rear ended. At the time he did not experience any pain related to his accident. 5 years later Maxie began to experience neck pain running down his shoulder and into his right arm. Maxie said, its like someone put your shoulder in a vise and clamped down so hard that the pain would radiate into your neck and you could feel it in your eye socket. Maxie tried acupuncture and massage therapy which seemed to temporarily relieved the pain but it always returned. To Maxie, the pain was just an irritating part of life that he had to put up with and built up a tolerance for. But the pain slowly got worse and Maxie went back into his medical care group and they scheduled Maxie for X-rays to be taken in 4 months.

Maxie continued working and while patrolling on his motor bike he hit an oil slick and lost control of his motorcycle, laying it down on the road. When he attempted to right his motorcycle, Maxie aggravated his older injury. When he was taken for treatment, the Doctor noticed a muscle in his neck and shoulder twitching. The Doctor sent Maxie in for an MRI. The MRI showed a severe bone spur at level C4-5 and C5-6. Maxie was given the option of having a cortisone shot or surgery. Maxie opted for surgery as the cortisone shot was not going to fix the problem.

He was referred to Dr. Hamada who confirmed that Maxie had severe foraminal stenosis with radiculopathy. Dr. Hamada gave Maxie two options, one being bone fusion the other a foraminotomy. The fusion would probably require Maxie to retire from his physically demanding job. The foraminotomy would allow Maxie to continue working and Maxie chose to continue working. Dr. Hamada performed a foraminotomy at C4-5 and C5-6 with decompression.

After waking up from surgery Maxie realized he was pain free. He also started to get a little upset at the nurses because they kept waking him up every 30 minutes (standard procedure) to insure there was no paralysis or complications. But Maxie was experiencing some of the best sleep he had over the last 5 years. He also did not need the morphine that was available at the push of a button. He realized just how much pain he was in prior to surgery, that he had gotten use to the pain.

Maxie was back at work within 12 weeks with no limitations. Maxie said that prior to the surgery my family would have to deal with a grump when I came home, after surgery the grump didnt come home anymore. Learn more at: www.HamadaMD.com

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• back
• pain
• neck
• surgery
• discectomy
• health
• fusion
• Hamada
• herniated
• disc
• spinal
• cord
• extreme
• herniation
• spine
• orthopaedic
• officer
• patient
• testimonial

[ClicksToDoctors]

Yes, only a few blocks from Dr. Hamada's office.

[d260]

was this filmed in torrance, CA? i think i know where this is.