Pinched nerve in shoulder. Where to treat?

[Sheryl]

9 minutes ago, Thaiwrath said:

I had exactly the same, as mentioned several times above, in fact, yours sounds like a carbon copy of mine !

I went through with the operation, but in a Government hospital, and the total cost was no more than 120,000 baht, which included the implant. I live in Issan, and see the top specialist there, but the price quoted for yours is totally obscene

Are you sure you had an artificial disk inserted and not a fusion using titanium screws?

 

The artificial disk itself costs more than that amount and is imported, govt hospitals cannot cut the cost of it for you.

 

I also doubt artificial disks are available at govt hosp in Issan.

 

120K sounds about right for fusion at govt hospital with most of that cost being the titanium screws.

 

[dginoob]

Thanks Sheryl,

 

Dr. Wicharn did say that with older patients he would opt for fusion, but for someone my age it would be better to have a prosthetic to preserve mobility. I have to say I agree with him. 

 

I have another appointment with Dr. Wicharn on Saturday morning, so I will discuss my options with him then. The cheapest option for me may be to go back to the UK and have the surgery on the NHS. Hopefully I would be able to get the X-Ray and MRI files from BNH (don't see why not as I paid enough for them!), which I could show to the doctors back home.

 

Not sure how long I would need to wait though. I could end up having to come back here to Thailand while waiting then travel back again for the op. If this is the case then it may not work out as the cheapest option.

Thanks again.

[Thaiwrath]

16 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Are you sure you had an artificial disk inserted and not a fusion using titanium screws?

 

The artificial disk itself costs more than that amount and is imported, govt hospitals cannot cut the cost of it for you.

 

I also doubt artificial disks are available at govt hosp in Issan.

 

120K sounds about right for fusion at govt hospital with most of that cost being the titanium screws.

 

I am not an expert, but it was ACDF surgery, which is probably what you have explained.

I was told at age 35 that my cervical spine was not in good shape, following an MRI scan in the UK. I declined any surgery then, but the specialist did inform me that I would most probably have problems with it later on in life, and 22 years later, true to form, I had to have the surgery.

There is no problem at all with the actual fusion itself, but I do get neuropathic pain in my upper arm and shoulder. I have my next appointment on September 29th, and I know that another MRI scan is necessary. I can only wait until the specialist sees my next scan to see what the next procedure will be.

Straight following my operation, my specialist had to go to Germany for a couple of months, but he added me on his LINE application, so I had contact with him whenever I needed advice. This was a great help for me, rather than see another doctor with little knowledge of my problem.

As it is not life threatening, my cousin back in the UK told me that had I wanted to go home to have the surgery it would have taken the best part of 6 months via the NHS !   

[Sheryl]

25 minutes ago, dginoob said:

Thanks Sheryl,

 

Dr. Wicharn did say that with older patients he would opt for fusion, but for someone my age it would be better to have a prosthetic to preserve mobility. I have to say I agree with him. 

 

I have another appointment with Dr. Wicharn on Saturday morning, so I will discuss my options with him then. The cheapest option for me may be to go back to the UK and have the surgery on the NHS. Hopefully I would be able to get the X-Ray and MRI files from BNH (don't see why not as I paid enough for them!), which I could show to the doctors back home.

 

Not sure how long I would need to wait though. I could end up having to come back here to Thailand while waiting then travel back again for the op. If this is the case then it may not work out as the cheapest option.

Thanks again.

No guarantee the NHS would give you a prosthetic disk.  They might just do a fusion. With just one level of spine involved the difference is not that great.

 

While you said the disk was pressing on the spinal cord I suspect not, rather pressing on the nerve root. If pressing on the cord you would be losing sensation in your lower body and it would be a dire emergency.

 

No problem at all to get films etc from the hospital, just go to medical records with your passport.

 

Hard to say how much of a wait you would have with the NHS. Depends on the severity. If you are experiencing numbness/weakness in the affected arm then there is a need to act fairly quickly. The surgery will remove the pain and prevent any subsequent nerve damage but cannot undo any nerve damage that has already occurred, so important to intervene quickly if the compression is severe enough to affect motor function.

 

As an aside, longer term you need to get health insurance. Right now you have a problem that there is time to decide how to tackle, and for which you can travel back to the UK. If you are in a major accident, have a stroke, heart attack etc you would not be and even in a government hospital costs can easily exceed 1 million baht. Of course with this now pre-exisitng condition, any insurance you get will exclude spinal problems but you can be covered for all else.

 

[scubascuba3]

I am not an expert, but it was ACDF surgery, which is probably what you have explained.
I was told at age 35 that my cervical spine was not in good shape, following an MRI scan in the UK. I declined any surgery then, but the specialist did inform me that I would most probably have problems with it later on in life, and 22 years later, true to form, I had to have the surgery.
There is no problem at all with the actual fusion itself, but I do get neuropathic pain in my upper arm and shoulder. I have my next appointment on September 29th, and I know that another MRI scan is necessary. I can only wait until the specialist sees my next scan to see what the next procedure will be.
Straight following my operation, my specialist had to go to Germany for a couple of months, but he added me on his LINE application, so I had contact with him whenever I needed advice. This was a great help for me, rather than see another doctor with little knowledge of my problem.
As it is not life threatening, my cousin back in the UK told me that had I wanted to go home to have the surgery it would have taken the best part of 6 months via the NHS !   

At 35 why was your cervical spine not in good shape? Was it a certain condition?

[Thaiwrath]

Just now, scubascuba3 said:

23 minutes ago, Thaiwrath said:

I am not an expert, but it was ACDF surgery, which is probably what you have explained.
I was told at age 35 that my cervical spine was not in good shape, following an MRI scan in the UK. I declined any surgery then, but the specialist did inform me that I would most probably have problems with it later on in life, and 22 years later, true to form, I had to have the surgery.
There is no problem at all with the actual fusion itself, but I do get neuropathic pain in my upper arm and shoulder. I have my next appointment on September 29th, and I know that another MRI scan is necessary. I can only wait until the specialist sees my next scan to see what the next procedure will be.
Straight following my operation, my specialist had to go to Germany for a couple of months, but he added me on his LINE application, so I had contact with him whenever I needed advice. This was a great help for me, rather than see another doctor with little knowledge of my problem.
As it is not life threatening, my cousin back in the UK told me that had I wanted to go home to have the surgery it would have taken the best part of 6 months via the NHS !   

At 35 why was your cervical spine not in good shape? Was it a certain condition?

I worked in an office, and in those days there were no computers, therefore, my posture was very bad, slumped over a desk all day whilst writing.

[scubascuba3]

I worked in an office, and in those days there were no computers, therefore, my posture was very bad, slumped over a desk all day whilst writing.

Very few people have good posture in an office. One day i looked about my office and not one person was sitting properly

[dginoob]

22 hours ago, Sheryl said:

No guarantee the NHS would give you a prosthetic disk.  They might just do a fusion. With just one level of spine involved the difference is not that great.

 

While you said the disk was pressing on the spinal cord I suspect not, rather pressing on the nerve root. If pressing on the cord you would be losing sensation in your lower body and it would be a dire emergency.

 

No problem at all to get films etc from the hospital, just go to medical records with your passport.

 

Hard to say how much of a wait you would have with the NHS. Depends on the severity. If you are experiencing numbness/weakness in the affected arm then there is a need to act fairly quickly. The surgery will remove the pain and prevent any subsequent nerve damage but cannot undo any nerve damage that has already occurred, so important to intervene quickly if the compression is severe enough to affect motor function.

 

As an aside, longer term you need to get health insurance. Right now you have a problem that there is time to decide how to tackle, and for which you can travel back to the UK. If you are in a major accident, have a stroke, heart attack etc you would not be and even in a government hospital costs can easily exceed 1 million baht. Of course with this now pre-exisitng condition, any insurance you get will exclude spinal problems but you can be covered for all else.

 

Hi Sheryl, yes you are right, it is on the nerve root (it just looked like that on the images).
 

I don't have any weakness, that I can tell of, but my thumb and 2 finger haven been numb for a couple of weeks now.

[dginoob]

Hi All,

 

Just thought I'd post some of my scans in case anyone is interested/curious.

 

MRI_XRAY_Report.pdf