“I Couldn’t Put on My Jewelry”

A Brave Patient Recounts her Experience with Cervical Myelopathy and the Laminoplasty Procedure

After suffering for years with slowly progressive numbness, worsening balance and loss of manual dexterity caused by a degenerative condition known as cervical myelopathy, this patient experienced a rapid and frightening decline in her neurological symptoms. When cervical myelopathy gets acutely worse, it can feel like you are losing control of your body and this patient was smart and sought out care immediately. She was treated with a surgical procedure called a cervical laminoplasty that is used to take pressure off of the spinal cord but still allow you to move your neck (unlike a fusion). In this video we learn about her recovery.

Cervical myelopathy is caused when there are bone spurs, disc herniations or degenerative accumulation of tissue in the spinal canal which puts pressure on the spinal cord in a pinching fashion. It is a serious condition, that is almost always treated surgically to prevent permanent neurological deterioration.

I discuss the cervical laminoplasty procedure in great length in my book The Spine Encyclopedia, but in brief, it is an elegant and technically demanding surgery used to open up the spinal canal without causing any loss of cervical function. Small plates are used to reconstruct the vertebral ring so that it is larger, and with the proper post op rehab your neck goes back to normal within 6-12 weeks. After the procedure you spend one night in the hospital and then go home. I love the procedure because it can take care of a serious condition, without causing neck stiffness.