Hi, I have suffered with neck pain for five or six years now. I have been diagnosed with Degenerative Disc Disease. I have had two surgeries...........the first one was a fusion as C-5 because I had a ruptured disc - along with stenosis and bone spurs. One year later I was back in surgery......three out of the four screws which were securing the metal plate to my cervical spine had broken completely off at the head - making it very difficult to remove them. To make a long story short, I am now fused from C4 - C7, and bone had to be taken from my hip and put into my neck. The huge double-plate hardware used for the fusion, had to be special-ordered.......there are only about twenty of these in the entire country. I was in a neck brace for 4 and a half months and also hooked up to a bone growth stimulator unit. I am now fourteen months post-op and doing quite well despite the trauma and complications. I still have some pain in my neck, but the intensity of the pain varies greatly depending on the weather and my activities. Beacause my ruptured disc was not diagnosed for about two years, I am left with permanent nerve damage in my right arm.....that is the most frustrating for me because I have to really limit how much I use my arm. I'm sure your problem is far less complicated than what I started out with, and you will breeze through surgery with great results. I'm not trying to scare you out of having the surgery, but I do have some advice. Do your research! Get third, fourth, and fifth opinions before you agree to let anyone operate on you. I really regret not seeking out other surgeons......with a surgery this serious I should have gone to a place like the U of M in Ann Arbor, Mi or a big hospital in Chicago or something like that.  Best of luck to you..............Tammi

I have neck problems too and saw a new procedure on The Doctors where a specialized chiropractor

trained in Atlanta, GA and his practice is in NY.  He uses a metal-like instrument that puts a quick pressure through the ear and supposedly realigns the neck onto the proper position.  It stated that it took about 6 visits and it is an additional training learned at Life Chiropractic University in Marietta, GA.  There are offices here in Atlanta also.  They mentioned that there is no pain involved and patients were healed for good.  I'm going to look further into it.  Stenosis may not be helped since it is a narrowing of the blood vessel being pressured doe to the bone growing thicker inside the walls.  I worked for an orthopaedist and many physical therapist said that physical therapy should never be done for this problem.  It's useless.  Surgery by drilling the bone around the vessel to allow more of an opening so blood can flow through more freely is what is needed.  This is what I was told by them and many attened the actual surgery in the OR to see it done.  Maybe this will help, God Bless!