I have worked with lots of surgeons, especially orthopedic surgeons. Surgeons offer surgery. Surgery, meds, injections, and maybe an offer to come to “pain clinic”, which is basically meds and injections. That’s their paradigm. They will often tell you that there are no other options. A good friend of mine was told that she absolutely had to have surgery, and still she would have a miserable life of pain. [She had injured her neck in a motor vehicle accident.]
Surgeons will also sometimes tell you that therapy will not help, and that alternative therapies are bogus. While they should be well aware of the benefits of therapy, alternative medicine is not their paradigm. They are speaking of things outside of their world, of which most of them know nothing at all. Even in the case of physical therapy, there has been a huge push for evidence-based practice, and a growing body of techniques, that most MDs are unaware of.
There are loads of things you can do. Most of them however are not covered by insurance. My friend (a massage therapist, from MVA above) spent over $15,000 out of pocket over a period of a year or so. Today she has no neck complaints. She had chiro, massage, Reike, and probably loads of other strategies.
I always [only half] jokingly say I’d try voodoo (given a seemingly unsolved-able health issue) if someone pointed me to a source. Here are some things to explore if you truly mean what you say, that you would do anything to avoid surgery.
Ice- You say you’ve tried heat. I know heat feels great in the moment, but the benefits of ice are well established in the literature. If you haven’t already, please try ice, 20 min, 3-5 times a day.
Physical Therapy- Call around and find a provider with “manual therapy” experience. This could involve maneuvers similar to chiropractic. Even if you are not a good candidate, manual therapists have a higher level of training and experience in therapy. One of our admin people at work was actually booked for surgery, but per my urging, insisted on a PT consult. The clinic has some new technique (I emailed her for name and details), and she is now essentially pain free, and has resumed activities she hasn't been able to do in years. She smiles all the time now.
Clinic e-stim, IFC, and traction. You’ve tried TENS and traction. Was this home versions, or physical therapy clinic modalities? I have a personal e-stim/IFC unit. It helps, but is not as effective as the clinic version.
Try chiropractic. Many people have misconceptions that because they have a certain level of degenerative or post-traumatic arthritic changes, that they are not a candidate for chiro. A chiropractor would be the best judge of that. If you’ve tried chiro, try another chiropractor before giving up.
Try massage therapy. Not the ‘warm fuzzy’ type massage. Find a provider that specializes in pain management and has advanced training such as cranial sacral, integrative therapy, etc. I have been going to such a therapist (“friend” above) every 2-3 weeks for pain and maintenance since 2009.
Try Young Living oils. They are very pure, and the company very reputable. I would not use any other oils, even from Whole Foods. You can get them on Amazon. If you want to get the wholesale discount, I can hook you up. I can also hook you up with people who can advise you on the oils. My brother hurt his back on the job about 3 years ago (he’s a therapist in long term care). He started using Young Living about a year ago, every night at bedtime. He often got nearly immediate relief. There are many oils good for pain. You just have to experiment. You can layer several oils. I’d start with peppermint oil because it is inexpensive. He used (past tense, I’ll get to that) Valor and Aroma Seiz. These are the two my sister uses on her back as well. They are about $30 for 15 ml, but last about 2 months. Panaway is another, specifically for pain, but expensive. Others for pain include Idaho Balsam Fir, Cypress, Marjoram, Rosemary, and many more. You can get a Young Living app.
Try Formula 303. My brother used this for his back too. It is a natural muscle relaxant. We have both had great relief with this product over the years. We order it online. There’s something else he uses, more for bones/spine, but I’ll have to get back to you on that. Young Living has a product (capsules) too.
Consider acupuncture. My doxie started having back issues a few years ago. By the end of 2009, he lost the use of his back legs, bowel, and bladder. My Western Medicine mindset assumed this had to be biomechanical, and that surgery was truly the only option. His MRI, surgery and aftercare cost me over $3000, after a generous military discount. He did well for 2 yrs, then started having problems again. I found a vet that does acupuncture and chiro for dogs and cats. Her practice is predominantly doxies with back issues. She said his issues could very likely have been due to scar tissue from his surgery!
We did acupuncture once a week for a couple months. He was doing well, so we tried to wean down (up?) to 2 weeks, but he had a little set back. So we continued weekly for a while. The second time we tried to wean to every 2 weeks, he had a major setback. He again lost function in his back legs, along with bowel and bladder control. We had to use prescription pain meds at that point, and had to do acupuncture two times a week for a while. Now we are at once a month. He does really well most days. He’s a bit waddly when he walks, but he can run in the yard, and seems to be pain free most of the time. (More on Bastain in a bit.)
This brings us to Alternative Medicine. Notice I didn’t even include chiro and acupuncture in Alternative. These suggestions are much further away from the mainstream. First off, I’d advise you ‘suspend your disbelief’. We are so indoctrinated into Western Medicine mindset. It’s very hard to be open to alternatives. I still have to constantly stop myself from trying to find reasons and logic for pain and symptoms, that are steeped in WM. Here are some things to explore. They are much more “alternative” than chiro and acupuncture.
Go see an alternative medicine practitioner, such as a naturopath, homeopath, herbalist, or Chinese Medicine specialist. They don’t deny that you have very real, observable (on x-ray) physical changes to your anatomy. They don’t deny injuries, such as motor vehicle injury or other accidents. But they do look at pain and symptoms in a very different way from what we are accustomed to. They might assess the primary issue to your neck pain to be your liver!
Here’s a short version of a personal example: I was having right heel pain a couple years ago. In my mind it was biomechanical. A visiting provider at my naturopath’s office said to me that heel pain corresponded to colon in Chinese Medicine. I just nodded and dismissed it. A few weeks later I was sick, and decided to eat vegetarian during my illness, because meat is more difficult to digest. About a week and a half later I realized I had not had heel pain in almost a week and a half! It was probably about 4-6 months before I could eat meat regularly again. Haven’t had the heel pain since.
I’d also strongly suggest you explore “Energy Healing” such as Reike, Life Line, Radiant Heart, Pendulum Clearing, Portal work, and hypnosis.
So back to Sebastian. When he lost lower body function the second time, we upped his acupuncture. At the vet’s advice we got him some magnets and some healing crystals. At the “getting place” we wound up talking to an Energy Healer, and booked him a session. He is a biter (or at least was), and immediately she was nose to nose with him and he was kissing her. This session seemed to really turn him around. He has had about 2 more sessions over a 2 year period, and as above gets acupuncture about every 4 weeks now.
About 8-10 months ago, I started seeing this Energy Healer about every 2-3 weeks. More on that in a bit. My brother started seeing her about 4-6 mo ago, but more sporadically because of his work schedule. He is very sensitive to other people’s feelings. Not like ‘I sense you are sad and distressed,’ but more like he actually gets sad and distressed. She has helped him recognize these feelings, respect them, but shed them because it’s not his stuff.
We got the same Energy Healer to do a house cleansing for us a couple months ago. There were renters before we bought the house, and they had a lot of drama according to the neighbors. She detected a lot of negative energy on practically the entire back side of the house. My brother’s bedroom is on the back of the house. He got really sick a couple days after the cleansing, and it took him a couple days to get over it. After that, he realized his back no longer hurt, and has not hurt since! We’re still trying to take this one in!
I went home to SC to visit the month of Feb. While I was there my mom had a ‘little episode’. I woke at 06:30 on the morning of my birthday. Thought I heard talking, then a loud noise. Jumped out of bed and found my mom collapsed on the floor. Her eyes were open but vacant. She had loud, raspy breathing. Holle, I thought she had had a stroke and was dying. We went to the ER. They ruled out cardiac and stroke. Anyhoo, I’ve never been so scared. Obviously I was flooded with adrenaline. I could hardly eat for days without GI symptoms. Couldn’t lie flat for sleeping, or on my side (slept in recliner). For weeks my system was still messed up. Got to the point that everything I ate upset my stomach, and I didn’t want to leave the house. I had a session with my Energy Healer. She did “portal work” and my symptoms resolved almost completely, almost immediately.
I truly wish you the best Holle. And I truly hope you do not have surgery. Personally, I’d go in debt for alternatives, than have surgery covered by insurance. I spend a couple thousand a year on supplements and alternative therapies.
Well, I could go on, but better get to work. Evaluation reports to write. Papers to grade.
She does realize that writing is THE most important thing in the world, right? 
