Question
I got rear ended in an accident in July 2008 - side airbag slammed into my left side of my head.  A cat scan showed a mild concussion.  Had Pain in left hand and neck  and it got worse, so  I had a MRI last week and it showed damage to C6-7. report states: "There is circumferential disc bulge with some superimposed disc protrusion in the left paracentral and pre -foraminal region.  Disc indents thecal sac and may be contacting the anterior left C7 root.  Left foramen is only minimally stenotic.  The right foramen is patent.  Central canal remains patent.'  I can not get into a specialist for 6 weeks, should I go to emergency? and what is wrong in English and can it be fixed.?

Answer
Shirley,
What this means is that you have cervical spine misalignment and this is affecting the discs.  Your discs are bulging out of the joint space and into the area that is occupied by the nerves and the spinal cord.  This is interrupting the nerve flow along those nerves so that there is malfunction at the area where the nerve supplies.
I do not recommend injections or drugs of any kind as neither of those address the cause of the problem, and I do not recommend surgery of any kind at least not at this point.  Surgery needs to be the very last resort for you.
You need to go to a cervical spine specialist, which is exactly what I do but unless you are in the St Louis area, that will probably not be a necessity.
If you would just send me your location and I will send you to the nearest specialist that can help you.
In the meanwhile, you can try icing the area that gives you pain and try to take it easy for now, but you will need to get in right away, because it will only get worse unless you have the cause corrected.
Yours in Best Health,
Dr Robert Arnone
Upper Cervical Specific Doctor
"Brainstem Specialist"
Arnone Specific Chiropractic
711 Old Ballas Road
St Louis, MO 63141
(314)995-5719
www.AchieveSuperHealth.com
[email protected]