Cervical spine problem at c5-c6, c6-c7..Very depressed :(

[Sonata]

Hi everyone

I am a 39 year old female. Married with 8 year old son.

I am diagnosed with slipped discs on my cervical spine. I have been playing golf and tennis regularly since 2004 and had some symptoms. The worst was last year after an advanced yoga class. But that went away as well with medication and rest and no more yoga. I have had symptoms the last 3 years on my left arm may be 4-5 times in 3 years mostly some pain that went away after medication. The latest episode I have had, started 5 weeks ago when I felt some pins and needles feeling on my left arm just a little bit only so I ignored it since there was no pain. I went to the doctor last Friday we did the MRI. One neurosurgen said I should take medication and wear a colar and wait for 4 weeks. In my MRI report I see that the c5-c6 prolapsed toward the right side, and c6-c7 prolapsed toward left (more than the other one). I have had no symptoms at all on my right arm. Only on my left arm. I play tennis and golf twice a week each and at the moment I have stopped doing everything. Medication and rest for one week already. Today I saw another neurosurgen and he said that the results look pretty bad and it's only a matter of time that one of those discs might cause permanent damage. Even if I do rehab he said there will be a very high risk for me in the future and I should go ahead and have spinal fusion surgery right away. I am so confused and very depressed. The surgery is risky and takes a long time to heal, plus there's the risk of other discs to slip because there will be more pressure on them. I am really scared and have no idea which way to go. I have found alphaklinik on the net offering alternative solutions but I want to avoid any intervension.

Do you know anyone with a similar problem that have continued his/her life without any kind of surgery? Do you think I will eventually need surgery as I get older?

Sonata

Pretty desperate and down