Neck Damage

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Thesnowbones

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Hi lovelies. I am a keen horse rider and owner of three gorgeous horses. I had a bad fall a few years ago, resulting in two of the discs in my neck having slipped. They’re pressing on a nerve and causing me a lot of pain. I had steroid injections years ago which worked well, but the pain and strange sensations have returned. I saw my consultant today who said I should seriously consider giving up riding horses, because my neck will likely never be the same again. She thinks even the rocking movement of walk will irritate everything. She suspects that there is more damage and degeneration, and I am waiting on a scan next week to confirm. I can have steroid injections and potentially surgery, but she is keen to stop me getting on a horse again. Any advice? I do suffer from constant headaches, neck pain and strange sensations in my hands and fingers, but never thought anything of it.
 
It's a bit different but I had a neck disc randomly slip one day. Well it had been building for a while I think as I had been losing feeling in my arm, but when it went it was obvious and I lost partial use of my arm.
Anyway I had surgery to replace it with an artificial one and I am good as new. I was back on board 2 weeks afterwards. Would it be worth getting a second opinion? I also had rods and screws put in my lumbar area which is a very big job but no one has suggested I not ride? Surely you walking on your own legs also has a rocking motion, singling out riding seems a bit odd.
All the Drs I saw were keen I got back to my sports as soon as was practical.
 
I'd wait until you've had the mri to know what's going on and what you're options are. Amongst multiple neck and back problems, I've had a bulging disc which isn't bothering me now and I understand they can improve on their own, especially with correct exercises. In general, riding and gentle stretching/mobilisation are good for mine. You need to find out if the consultant is worried that riding will cause more long term damage or just if it's something that could be painful at the time but which you can tolerate. I also saw a private pain management specialist (who was also working as an nhs consultant) and had prp injections which helped me for a couple of years. There are other options available privately which the nhs doesn't provide so this is also something to consider if funds allow and which may be safer options than surgery.

I know 2 people who have successfully had disc surgery, a piece of the disc cut away, and were very pleased with the results but they were both lower down the spine and they were warned of potential serious side effects.
 
I had bulged discs in my neck as a result of an accident 15 years ago. Crippling.
I found Bowen Therapy. Had regular treatments for a year, and hey presto! It niggles on and off, and I have occasional bodywork done when it feels dodgy.
 
I have all these symptoms and other stuff after a fall , I was completely paralysed for a few mins . I was told by 5 drs not to ride again unless I had surgery which wasn’t advised due to the risks.

If I was you I would get a mri to see what you dealing with . I pushed for one and they found I had a spinal cord injury alongside many other neck and back issues .
 
I would see a neurosurgeon, you may need surgery, better than giving up horses forever.

I had C3/4/5/6 fused and was back riding (starting gently) in 4 months. My surgeon would rather I didn't fall off but its a risk I choose to take.
In my opinion most of them don't know enough about riding to really comment.

To be pedantic, disks don't slip. They bulge, herniate and degenerate. It sounds like you will need surgery at some point in your life and if you have 'strange sensations' that's a sign of an increasing problem. Do you know which disks are the problem? Is next weeks scan an MRI? Would you share it?
 
Lady Jane said:
I would see a neurosurgeon, you may need surgery, better than giving up horses forever.

I had C3/4/5/6 fused and was back riding (starting gently) in 4 months. My surgeon would rather I didn't fall off but its a risk I choose to take.
In my opinion most of them don't know enough about riding to really comment.

To be pedantic, disks don't slip. They bulge, herniate and degenerate. It sounds like you will need surgery at some point in your life and if you have 'strange sensations' that's a sign of an increasing problem. Do you know which disks are the problem? Is next weeks scan an MRI? Would you share it?
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Thank you! The only scan we have at the moment is from 2021, when I had the original injury, and it shows c5 and c6 degeneration. My documents say it's cervical radiculopathy? I'll try and share MRI. I've been referred for another MRI next week to assess full extent of damage, but the consultant seemed really concerned which totally took me by surprise. Like many others, I don't think most doctors understand horse-riding. Originally, I was getting pain and pins and needles in my right index finger, but now it's moved to my last three fingers. My scan definitely doesn't look as bad as yours,. I'm so sorry that you were in so much pain x
 

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Ok so the pins and needles, the radiculopathy (my whole arm would go dead actually) was what proceeded my disc prolapse. When it finally "went" the pain was immense, which was when I was properly diagnosed. My disc replacement has been like witchcraft, it's incredible, but that was private. I don't know if they do them on the NHS. My gp had never heard of it.
You need to find out what they think riding is going to make worse. The reality is that most of these things are degenerative no matter what you do. So you may as well enjoy yourself getting there. And staying fit will keep you going for longer. Obviously if they think your head might fall off you should not do this!
 
@Thesnowbones The really scary thing is I had little pain but was becoming progressively paralysed. Cervical radiculopathy is a pinched nerve which does cause pain and other symptoms but it doesn't tell you the cause of your problem. My problem was spinal cord compression, because the disks had moved relative to each other and there was a cyst on the opposite side causing further compression.
I've had nerve root compression at C7 and L5 and that was really much more painful. Mine were resolved (for now) with 3 steroid injections in each. It works for some but not for others and no guarantee how long it will last.

You need the cause of the problem resolved, stopping riding won't fix it. I will say my consultant told me not to go near a horse when he saw my scans (I could barely walk by this time) but he did operate 4 days later.

Get your next scan and see what they advise.
Good luck and keep us posted
 
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