Treatment for neck spondilosis?

Question:
I was just told yesterday i have arthritis in all vertabreas of my neck, any hope for this, to get better, and how do I deal with the pain?

Answer:
To actually deal with the pain, you have to find out what is causing it and maybe even why. Please do not just live with it because chances are that it is going to get worse,,,, not better. Isn't the Arthritis her pain problem? Have you had a CT-Scan yet? Try to find out from your doctor more specifics about your condition. I was told i had arthritis in the neck before too, but only when it got much worse and they did diagnostics (x-rays, MRI) were they able to help me get started on some kind of management (pain management, physical therapy, traction, etc). I think at first it was hopeful it was just a temporary flareup which would respond to motrin, but turned out otherwise. FWIW, I discovered I had a bad habit of letting my neck muscles get cold without noticing. This in turn added to a series of spasms that just piled up the problems. Since paying attention to my bad habits, I've not had a crunchy neck for some time (still got the clicks though). Arthrotec75 seems to help too. Yes, arthritis is her broad and general pain diagnosis. What type of arthritis? Is there stenosis? Are there spurs? There are many specifics that are necessary before anyone can begin to share their experiences and suggestions. Were you dx'd by an RD or an orthopedic surgeon.? What tests were used for the diagnosis? This may help us understand where you are coming from and make us able to comment in more detail. Have they given you a name for the diagnosis? stenosis etc. ???? Like the other people have said, we don't know what you really have. In the mean time to help with the pain you can use a hot wheat bag, if that does not help try a bag of frozen peas. You will probably have to learn some neck exercises. If you can't afford to go to a physiotherapist you can do these simple exercses that wont hurt your condition but may be painful. Remember to stop when too painful. Chin to chest slowly count to five, up slowly. Repeat about 5 times. Head to shoulder slowly, count to five and up slowly, repeat five times. Do the same to the other side. Just for a starter. I'm sorry to hear this news. My neck (arthritis) is in bad shape and has been for years. All you can do (or at least I've found) is *gentle* range of motion stretches, pain pills, and ice/heat when it flares. Mine never got better; just being honest with you. Take care. If it helps any, I just had an epidural in my neck last Thurs. I am down to between 1 &2 instead of 6/8 pain level. Course, I am being very careful for a week (per instructions) and yesterday I started the very gentle, very specific, range of motion exercises that I had been doing with the PT'er from Nov to Feb (just not as many or as often). I'm pretty happy as I was up on the 'highest amount I can handle' on the Pain Killers that I had been on--now I'm down to my 'usual' and I even made dinner tonight with just a little bit of help...DH did set the table, etc. Top it all off it is raining outside and those are my worst days, so I'm quite pleased. I do not have any idea how long this will last. I have high hopes right now that it will for awhile so I can cut down on the Prednisone to 4.5 from 5 MG and stay there. I've had injections in both sides of my neck twice and both time worked very well for a good long time. You might want to try it. I'll certainly check with my Rheumy about it. He has given me injections in other areas, but not the neck. I'd be so grateful for any easing of pain in that area. Please, consider reconstructive therapy for your neck. This mode of treatment uses injections of a proliferant solution (typically phenol, dextrose, glycerin, water, plus lydocaine) into ligaments, to provoke the body into strengthening the treated ligaments. When done properly, the mechanical relationship between bones is improved and mobility improves as a result. In my opinion as a patient, the best doctor to see is Milne Ongley, of the Milne Ongley Institute in Ensenada, Baja California. There are of number of doctors in the US who do reconstructive therapy, also known as prolotherapy, but Ongley is the only one that I can recommend. You can find more information at http://ongleyonline.com. I particularly recommend following the research link you will find at that URL, to read the text of a research article published in The Lancet, on a double blind clinical study of Ongley's treatment for chronic lower back pain. Unfortunately there has been no similar study of Ongley's treatment for neck pain. But no one, that I know of, has had better results than Ongley in scientifically tested treatment of chronic low back pain.