It's pinching a nerve causing massive pain and numbness in my left arm. Big shout out to aggiederelict for being the one to tell me I needed to see someone about it. (Also big shout out to him for keeping me mobile enough these past 8 months to do a half marathon, cap Tex tri, escape from Alcatraz, and the Chicago marathon).

That being said, doctor is recommending surgery because of the severity. The would remove the herniation and put in a titanium disk. Anyone had this done before? I have a second opinion scheduled for next Thursday to see if another doctor agrees with the surgery route.

Yep! I have two Mobi-C disks - C5-C7. I had it done in January of 2020. Drastically improved my quality of life. Recovery was easy. Happy to answer questions chutchtexas at gmail

Thank you sir!you will be hearing from me.

Where are you located?

ATX

I'm a chick. ;-) Happy to answer questions. (Billy Jack is my dog's name)

My apologies. You've got mail.

You probably need an acdf or artificial disk. A lot depends on the age. Vincent Wang is a good guy to see there in austin

My wife had C5-6-7 done in 2002. It has been a positive for her. Back then they used cadaver bones with titanium plates, so I am sure the technology is so much better now.

The fusion rates are so high for acdfs. Not much is going into improving a surgery that has a high success rate. I would personally just go with cadaveric bone. One reason surgeons use titanium or PEEK is because they can bill more meaning they can bill for the use of an interbody at each level for multiple levels vs the cadeveric allograft bone is billed the same whether it's one or four levels

Is the range of motion equivalent? I have two mobi-c disks and I have full range of motion. I forget that I ever had It done.

You probably won't know with a two level. Definitely not one. The main benefit with artificial disks has to do with avoiding adjacent level disease. With the artificial disk, there may be a time when the prosthetic fails. At that time it needs to be replaced. It can be difficulty to access with scar tissue though you can approach it from the other side.

Welp, had it done yesterday. Immediate relief in my arm, but this recovery suuuucks.

Aw man, I hope you have just one bad day and things improve quickly. I used an airplane neck pillow to support my head while sitting up.