I am wanting to know if surgery will help with my cervical and thoracic pain that shoots throughout my shoulders and down my shoulder blade. I have been getting facet block injections, and now radio frequency injections from C7-T1. I am a 32 year old woman with a history of Arnold Chiari Malformation with cerebral tonsils extending 12 mm below the foramen magnum. In Feb 2010, I had a suboccipital craniectomy with decompression and removal of posterior arch of C1 duraplasty with bovine pericardium graft and duraseal. This surgery helped a little bit but in February of 2012 AND August of 2012, I was rear ended by another driver at a rate of 50 mph causing my whole right side to go numb and pain severely increasing to a point of desperation. Thus, resulting in all of these injections. I am 3 weeks post procedure from my completed set of radio frequency injections and the pain is back. I rec'd 3 weeks of very little pain, which was great, but these RF injections are supposed to last much longer, sometimes 6 months to a year.
I am very frustrated that the pain is back and I know surgery is my only other option. My diagnosis since the accidents are as follows: Degenerative disc disease in cervical, thoracic, and lumbar. Lumbosacral Spondylosis, Sciatica, Lumbar Radiculopathy, Lumbar Disc Displacement, Cervical Radiculopathy, and Cervical spondylosis. I have a mild reversal of the lordotic curvature also.
What surgeries can help and what are the success rates for pain relief.
Thank you so much
Alicia