I first experienced a neck problem in January 1998, when I awoke one evening with very significant left arm pain. Because of the symptoms I was originally admitted to the cardiac care unit of North Tees Hospital, but discharged the day after when tests ruled out the cardiac cause.

However the pain persisted and the following week my GP arranged for my admission to Middlesbrough General Hospital under the care of a neurologist. After two weeks of various tests I eventually had a MRI scan which revealed a prolapsed disc at C6/7. My care was transferred to a neurosurgeon and I had a disc fusion and was discharged a week after surgery, by which time the arm pain had almost totally resolved.

In early 2007 I again began to experience arm problems. The “sensation” usually came on during the evening and eventually became so severe that it began to disturb my sleep. I was fortunate that I didn’t really experience any severe neck or arm pain during the day, and nor did the problem cause my any mobility issues. However the sleep disturbance became so severe that I consulted my GP and he arranged referral to Mr. Krishna.

I had some facet joint injections in December 2007 which did subdue the symptoms for a little while, however by March 2008 the symptoms were as bad as ever and got progressively worse, despite some fairly strong analgesia such as fentanyl patches.

In September 2008 Mr. Krishna suggested I have some further facet joint injections, but after discussion he suggested cervical disc replacement surgery may be a better alternative.

I had the surgery on 3rd December 2008 and my arm pain disappeared almost instantly and I was discharged after one night in hospital. On the evening on 5th December I had my first night’s undisturbed sleep in approximately 18 months. A small but significant advance.

It’s now approximately five weeks post surgery and although I initially had some severe pain in my right shoulder and numbness in my left arm I am pleased to say that these along with the original symptoms have now disappeared and I am now pain free.

The original symptoms worsened over a period of time, and it’s only now that I am pain free that I fully appreciate the really detrimental effect the broken sleep had on my day to day life, and the tremendous improvement I have experienced since my surgery.

Post-op Xray as seen on left with disc replacement .