The Front Row

Get an MRI immediately. I too suffered similar feelings and loss of use in my upper right arm back in 2001. I went to chiro etc but after two months nothing improved. I couldn't even hold the gallon of milk when pulling it out of the refrigerator. It was hard for me to shave the left side of my face reaching across. Went to a neurologist who suggest MRI immediately. That revealed impingement of the nerves C-5 C-6 vertebrae and neurosurgeon said surgery was needed which I did. Replaced the disc and had spinal fusion of C-5 and C-6. My muscles atrophied so bad over those two months that I still, to this day, don't have full strength in my right upper extremities and probably never will. Building the mass back to be symmetrical with my left side doesn't seem possible after all this time which the surgeon told me would likely be the case. If I had got to the problem sooner it would've been able to be corrected.

Don't waste anytime!

Acupuncture.

Completely disagree. A Chiropractor is the conservative approach. Try that first. Back surgery should be your last resort, as they are not always happy endings. The Chiropractor should use a traction method, or disc pump.

Medications, physical therapy and chiropractors are conservative treatment. An orthopedic surgeon will not cut unless there are very specific symptoms and the MRI backs up the symptoms. If it is musculoskeletal in origin, surgery will not likely help. Even if a discectomy is feasible, they will not cut until conservative measures have failed because there is a possibility that the surgery will not improve the symptoms and the scar tissue formed could make the pain worse. Unless she has a condition called cauda equina syndrome, they will not take her emergently to surgery, nor should they. It really depends on what the MRI shows. Without knowing the medical history, MRI results and doing an exam, it's difficult to give advice. If she has neurological symptoms though, she needs to see a spine surgeon.

THIS! I have 8 discs that are either bulging or herniated. The trainers in the athletic department pushed for surgery and I refused. Fusing discs together is an absolute last ditch thing because it creates more problems for the other discs in your back. If you can afford it and are really wanting surgery, I would look into artificial disc replacement. That's your only chance at retaining a little bit of mobility so your other discs don't suffer.

As others have said seems she has advancing symptoms. If she has any weakness needs to be seen very very soon. If loss of sensation ASAP. Should be seen by more specifically an ortho SPINE surgeon or a neurosurgeon which specializes in SPINE surgery. Both work on spine and do well difference is path they took to get there. Advancing symptoms should not be ignored. Backup plan if surgeon believe no surgical issue would be an anesthesia pain specialist which could do either facet injections or possibly epidural injections. Before I would consider that rule out a surgical issue. Has she been put on a medrol dose pak?

Wow I can't believe there is any dissent for this scenario. As an orthopedist, I can understand why anyone would want to avoid surgery - but you have to admit that sometimes things are required to be done in life that we'd rather not go through. You didn't choose for this accident to happen, and didn't choose to have these nerve deficits. With the information presented, it is crazy/bad "medicine"/borderline unethical to act like something that could be treated with chiropractic care.

This is the type of patient that could get better with manipulations, but could herniate a disk remnant into a worse position and now you can't control bowel or bladder function. She could also get better with waving monkey dung over her back for six week - and would be a hell of a lot cheaper.

On average half of disk herniations get better on their own in 3 months. Doing due diligence up front just makes sure you aren't in that extreme risk cohort. Just get seen - a car accident and both leg involvement with weakness and numbness is by definition not your average pinched nerve.

No offense to anyone in this thread, but medical advice on college football forums may not be the best idea.

Disc replacement surgery is expensive and not covered by most insurance companies as it's still considered a little experimental by insurance companies. It was developed in 2004, so it's not really all that experimental, but rather insurance company A faces don't want to pay for it.The cost of the procedure is between $35,000 and $50,000 on average.

Chiropractors have their usefulness, but having been through a similar, but worse experience I'd recommend finding the best back guy. Do your research first when it comes to your back and never settle. I was almost killed by a drunk driver and had numerous issues, one being my back so I'm pretty familiar with the physical and emotional toll situations like this can produce. The issue with her foot may subside in time as her back heals, but she could also develop drop foot.

I would seek a second and independent opinion. I made the mistake of trusting my leg guy to refer me to a hand guy, I'll never make that mistake again. Trust no one in the medical field before getting a second opinion. They do not care about you, you are typically just a number and over inflated pay check(surgeons). No offense to the good Dr's on the board.