Friday, March 19, 2010

C6-C7: Not Just Chord Symbols

I'm cutting ahead for a second before presenting my To Hell and Back story. Funny how these coincidences occur. I found out recently that a pianist friend has the same C6-C7 herniated disc issue as me and is considering surgery a few months down the road. My original perspective on this was somewhat driven by patient complaint posts from medical forums and a Dr. Ron Daulton, Jr., a chiropractor ( I will be reflecting on his Internet offering on a future blog). Plus the whole idea of them cutting open my neck and yanking stuff out and putting metal and grafts (yuck!) Anyway the friend has actually been in touch with many respected surgeons and upon re-examination it seems like success rates are much higher than I thought (although one site quoted the cryptic 48-98% success?? what the hell is that?) I have been doing some Internet research and honestly I can't find anything to corroborate Daulton's low 16% claim on his website www.healyourbulgingdisc.com. Perhaps he should just be asked :)It should be noted that a comment poster on my blog posted his success story with the procedure.

Two videos I have encountered today show the options. The first one, although essentially a cervical disc fusion and graft success story, is a bit eerie, due somewhat to the demeanor and the graphic explanations of the presenter (she posted this 10 days after surgery).

ACDF Anterior Cervical Decompression Fusion Internal Fixation Harvest Bone Graft **See also animiated ACDF below

The second appears to be a TV news story and features a St. Vincent's Hospital neurosurgeon and happy post-op patient after cervical disc replacement surgery. The video is from 2008.

New Cervical Disc Replacement

Although as far as I can tell (at least so far) the traditional fusion and the new replacement surgery claim similar success rates, the idea of retaining the mobility afforded by the replacment seems more appealing. As the fusion patient shows she has some mobility issues.

Cheers

Jon

** Note. The disc replacement surgery shown is(to my knowledge) still in the clinical trial stage. The hospital shown is St. Vincent's in Jacksonville, FL not St. Vincent's in New York City. This video is a replay of news spot on Jacksonville news. They ran a follow up story on it later on.

***Follow-up. For those of you still unclear on the ACDF surgery mentioned by the gal, I think this quick video expalins it best: ACDF Surgery Video. The technical name for the surgical procedure is Anterior Surgical Disectomy and Fusion. Essentially the disc is removed, the space filled in with bone graft (from your hip)and the graft is screwed in. Over 3 months the graft is supposed to fuse with the vertebrae adjacent to it.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Jon - I am a pianist scheduled to have cervical fusion of C4-C7 later this year. I have been wondering how many other pianists have similar injuries and how my playing will be impacted later. I'm planning to do some "re-learning" of technique since I was taught a strict finger independence "claw" technique for quite some time. I'll be interested to see how things go for you. I hope you are able to find some relief and be able to play!

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  2. Thanks.

    Fusion of 4 discs?? wow. I assume this is absolutely necessary. Seems like that would completely change your mobility.

    My arm and hand is still ok. I have the faintest inkling of tingle which I hope doesn't become full blown the more I practice. We'll see I guess. I may have been a case of situational injury rather than permanent.

    I still find the causal relationship between herniation and pain to be somewhat mysterious. Not because of the theory. I just find it to be a "ballpark" reason. Yes the disc is sticking out and it is "probably" the cause of the pain. I wonder if an MRI would show the spine as clear in my case. Interesting.

    To be honest. I don't know what "claw" technique is but I guess you should change it. I have issues with neck and shoulder tension that I should address at some point.

    Best of luck with your playing and operation

    jon

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  3. dear all,

    I been having disc troubles for more then 6 years now and have tried many thing however nothing has really helped,and doing sports usually make the pain more..
    I not sure if Dr Ron Daulton is only want to make money or also cares to help people.I do think his book is rather over priced.Can i ask here if i can receive to my email a copy of his book this way i can look at itwithout having to transfer 100 usd which is big amount for me.I am a dutch guy of 42 living in Thailand.I more then willing return favors and or send something in return.my email is flakes010@hotmail.com
    thanks alot
    sander scholte

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