I have had neck/back pain since a young child. I am 31 now. I had whiplash from being startled by a spider in June. I started doing Yoga which helped until Sept. when I started having severe muscle cramps in my legs and feet. My hand began to “wobble” back and forth when I would set down a drink etc. Since, my muscles jerk, including the ones in my neck, making my head jerk. The tremor then began in my other hand, mostly in one finger. My arms started hurting like I hit my funny bone and now I am having cramping in my hand. My thyroid, potassium etc was checked. I had an MRI of my head and one of my neck. The cervical mri showed a hernated disc pressing into the spinal cord. I was sent to physical therapy for a month, I am halfway through and feel worse than before, I now am having cramping in my neck and back. Do you think the disc could be causing the shaking and jerking? Since to me it seems to be progressing, would you recommend I get an opinion from a back specialist, I am currently seeing a neurologist. I am a student scheduled to start classes in two weeks and am wondering if I will have to have surgery, I am thinking I should drop my classes, especially since I am in this much pain. I don’t see the doctor until too late to ask him but am wondering what you forsee medically likely to happen in the near future.
Thank You

Doctor Sinuhe Answers:

Thanks for your question. Unfortunately, I can’t predict what will happen. I can, however, explain some things that can possibly happen. Since you’ve had neck/back pain since a young child, it is unlikely that they would totally go away. I do, however, frequently meet people who have been able to cope with their chronic back problems so that they every once in a while totally forget about their pain and carry on with normal life, and these periods of not having pain first last for hours, then days, then weeks and then months and years, gradually leading to complete or near-complete recovery. Thus, I think you shouldn’t drop classes unless it is absolutely necessary.

Since you already saw a neurologist who determined that you don’t need a surgery but rather physical therapy, I won’t second-guess your neurologist, but instead assume that the herniated disk is not actually compressing the spinal cord. If it were, your neurologist would probably had consulted a neurosurgeon. Even if a herniated disk on MRI is actually compressing the cord, the symptoms you describe are not typical symptoms for that. Muscle cramps are usually not caused by spinal cord problems but rather by problems at the level of peripheral nerves. Further, it is a good idea to check basic things, such as magnesium, sodium and potassium and thyroid hormone levels - as has probably been done in your case. Therefore, my guess is that a neurologist, who is probably better than a neurosurgeon in taking into account various general factors and peripheral nerve problems, is a good choice for a specialist to try to help you. You may want to ask him again if the disk is compressing the cord and what he thinks could be the cause of your symptoms.

Hope this helps a little.

Dr. Sinuhe

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