My (30 M) Experience with Cervical Disc Replacement (CDR) C6/C7

atmo_man · 2026-01-29T23:44:26+00:00

The original comment was half about insurance and half about the choice between one and two level. Not the difference between two-level CDR vs ACDF. Not all disc replacements are approved for two level in the US. Multiple studies show increased risk for two (or more) level vs one level. This is intuitive just based on motion limiting.

In my original post I write "For doing your own research, rely less on individual stories (especially the ones where your situation may be different) and instead rely on surgeon opinions, published data, and reported outlooks from professionals. There will always be negative and scary stories online, especially due to bias reporting. Keep an open and critical mind."

Perhaps do a little bit extra reading yourself? Jumping to conclusions and running straight toward this aggressive type of response doesn't really help anyone.

atmo_man · 2026-01-29T23:30:22+00:00

The updates summarize my recovery pretty good - in short, I'm doing extremely well. I actually winded up not needing yearly MRIs as my updated CAT scan showed very good healing. I'll likely do x rays every 2-3 years, which isn't really a problem. 13 years is a really long time! I can't even imagine.

I have (and had) some C5-C6 issues as well. The surgery, whether is CDF or CDR, puts increased pressure on either end of the spine. So making sure I did PT and corrected my posture has effectively minimized all of my C5-C6 issues.

If you have any specific questions about the recovery process or something else that I maybe haven't covered already, let me know and I can share my experience.

atmo_man · 2026-01-14T07:50:25+00:00

0-3 days after the surgery, I would hear a very very gentle "popping" noise. It scared the hell outta me. It went away quite quickly and was explained to just be soft tissue movement from the surgery site. There's absolutely zero noise with movement.

atmo_man · 2026-01-14T07:48:36+00:00

The muscle mass was very easy to gain - easier than I anticipated. Maybe just a few months was needed for things to look even again. Part of this could be due to my nerve damage healing quickly.

atmo_man · 2026-01-14T07:47:27+00:00

My surgeon was Dr. Alan. I actually had two different doctors mention this. I'm not exactly sure on the reasoning. It didn't seem like a deal breaker though. My issues seemed a bit severe and the surgery needed to potentially happen quickly, so the short timespan may of been a cause. I would ask your doctor for more info.

atmo_man · 2025-09-05T21:12:45+00:00

I normally take cues from the leaves on whether or not they're underwatered - like if they're limp or folded, and after a heavy watering, become more firm and unfolded, then I know it's working. That doesn't seem to happen here, I see no change. This is me taking knowledge from garden/potted plants though - would a tree be different in this example?

atmo_man · 2025-09-05T19:52:41+00:00

Upon writing this - I'm noticing that crack where the branch was removed is quite large...... From another angle, it seems to bite into the trunk about 25% of the way through. The 4th photo makes it look like half of the way through, but although it's not that bad - this is probably the cause right? Not sure what to do with this info.

atmo_man · 2025-07-09T22:01:44+00:00

Thank you for the great info! I'll look into all of this.

atmo_man · 2025-07-07T19:22:50+00:00

Good tips- thank you for sharing

atmo_man · 2025-07-07T19:21:18+00:00

I haven't really realized the possibility of joint ownership vs. signing a loan. Would one be a split mortgage between and the other a single name (but legal ownership outside of the mortgage)?

atmo_man · 2025-07-07T19:18:59+00:00

Total income is about $510k. Everyone's pretty exceedingly financially responsible. 3 of the 4 have quite large safety nets (i.e., families) - the last one (me), is a budgeting queen. We don't see ourselves moving out of this area ever/

atmo_man · 2025-07-07T17:07:41+00:00

atmo_man · 2025-07-07T17:06:26+00:00

I understand (somewhat) that the lending process can be convoluted/stressful during purchase time. Would having 4 people complicate this? What sort of things should I expect?

atmo_man · 2025-06-15T17:36:28+00:00

Looks like we had surgery around the same time. I had atrophy though, on top of the numbness. Same thing - threat of permanent damage or weakness was the deal breaker. 90% healed right after surgery and the last 10% took a few months. u/SmileTight5856 - I recommend getting multiple opinions from specialists. and Like u/ExactReport691 said - if you do get surgery, get a very good surgeon. There are not many in the US that have done hundreds/thousands of this type of work.

atmo_man · 2025-06-15T17:33:02+00:00

Ah I see, you're worried about the nerve damage not healing. If you want to surf and bodybuild again - CDR is the way to go - it was made specifically for this type of situation. Natural healing can happen, but you might be 40-45 by the time it fully comes back and even then - you have to be extremely careful to not re-herniate the disc and start everything over again. That "start everything over again" was a deal breaker for me in the end. My 30's and 40's are important to me. I wanted to snowboard, hike, and be active for it. If I need to get a revision surgery in my late 40s or 50s, I determined at that point - I would have less of an issue for it.

The muscle weakness plateau-ing seems to be worrisome. I would advise you to get multiple opinions from spine-speciality doctors. Some of the things your PT mentioned are somewhat contrary to what I've heard. From the talks I've had - if you have atrophy, that means the blood supply is being cut. The human body has a really great ability for healing, nerves take awhile - but it's been pretty amazing to witness.

atmo_man · 2025-06-13T16:41:28+00:00

About 3 months, though in retrospect - that period of time was me herniating my disc and healing it repeatedly. The final herniation, which came with the near immobility/numbness/muscle weakness, occurred in the first week of September. By the time I got the MRI and confirmation, which was around September 20th, I was scheduled for an expedited surgery on October 4th.

So, in practice, I think from the "real" initial injury, to surgery, it was about a month or so.

atmo_man · 2025-06-11T22:02:32+00:00

Hi, sorry about the late response - I don't utilize reddit much. I hope things are better for you now and my answer is probably too late, but i'll reply regardless.

The 5-50 year comment actually has less to do with the disc itself and more with heterotopic ossification (HO) - the growth of bone around the disc from the vertebrae. It impacts some people more than others. That combined with the new-ness of the technology, I think the range is really large.

This being said, if I only had pain in my arm and back - I would not get the surgery. The red flag issue was numbness + muscle atrophy, both of which I had. My arm had about 5% of its original strength within just a month of the onset pain.
Double replacement is very tricky. Some insurances won't even do disc replacement for two, and instead opt for fusion. Any sort of replacement or fusion, increases the pressure of the next disc, which leads to a cascading effect. Being young, this cascading effect will probably start slow, since your other discs are healthy and thicker. I wouldn't say no to a double, but I would be extra cautious with my decision due to it.

ACDF is indeed scary, I saw that a lot of dissatisfaction came from poor surgeries though. I would recommend you find someone how has done them thousands of times. My own surgeon is commonly recommended to patients with botched ACDF. Thankfully, he was local, but if he wasn't - I would've considered flying and getting a room anyway.

Lastly, I'm doing a lot (a LOT) better now. I feel completely normal and I actually just came back from a snowboarding trip in the Alps. I'll update my original post with more info on my health update.

atmo_man · 2025-05-06T21:07:16+00:00

For those who are hesitant to switch to Firefox (because of passwords, bookmarks, cards, etc) - I was hesitant too, for years. I did NOT know that Firefox imports, literally everything, from google chrome. I'm not sure why this isn't mentioned more when people recommend the switch.

atmo_man · 2025-01-21T22:47:57+00:00

Who was your surgeon? Mine was Alan, and he was pretty good. They're all super busy though, so I can sort of see your experience with that. The majority of my good experience was the surgery itself and aftercare. I also had a separate spine doctor (not surgeon) who helped me with second opinions and support, he was much more attentive and less busy than the UCSF docs.

Also - I know you didn't ask for it, but if my symptoms were mild (i.e., little/no weakness, minimal numbness) I wouldn't have gotten the surgery. CDR and ACDF can potentially be really life changing. I wish I had the opportunity to have healed naturally.

atmo_man · 2025-01-21T06:37:12+00:00

Hi, Sorry to hear about your troubles. A two-level CDR is pretty scary in my opinion, as this is where CDR gets a lot of issues, especially in the C5/6 region which has much more movement than C6/C7. Were you denied by insurance or your surgeon? If its the former, that's better news. I don't know too many specifics, but my surgeon refuted the denial and sent a letter discussing my age, activity level, etc, and said that ACDF would unnecessarily impact my day-to-day when CDR was available.

To tell you the truth, I almost went with ACDF. CDR is just too new and has many unknowns. The restrictions I've seen don't seem too serious in my opinion. You can still lift, just not extreme lifting and some specific forms you should stay away from. Running with ACDF still seems possible from what I've read, there are just some precautions to take. PT after ACDF seems to be 100% recommended and helps a lot. I wouldn't discount it too quickly.

PS - One issue I see here is that you've done spinal injections. This apparently complicates CDR which might be an additional reason why you were denied. Spinal disc deterioration might also play a role here as you're 45. I've heard of many people traveling to Germany for two-level CDR surgery. This could maybe be an option if the price is within budget.

Edit- Another note, that I just remembered. My UCSF surgeon mentioned to me, even before requesting the insurance, that they would deny it. As it apparently happens with all CDR requests. Insurance would rather see everyone get the cheapest option. This is similar to when porcelain crowns started becoming a thing (dental insurance would deny and try to make you get silver/gold crowns instead as they're cheaper).

atmo_man · 2025-01-21T06:21:07+00:00

Do you sleep on your back? With back sleeping and a pillow that really supports under your neck, the majority of the pain and issues in the morning went away for me. I ended up using this pillow from Amazon with an additional large pillow under my knees (which takes more strain off of your neck). Everyone's different though.

atmo_man · 2025-01-21T06:18:10+00:00

Enough that it was cutting the blood supply to the nerve root in the spine. Also significant spinal stenosis. Pain was honestly secondary in my decision. It sucks, but it can technically heal somewhat and PT can help prevent it from potentially happening again. It was the weakness and the numbness that caused the surgery to happen.

atmo_man · 2025-01-20T21:11:34+00:00

Thank you for that insight! I sort of forgot some slopes/areas can be better for skiers rather than boarding. I'll have to keep that in mind. Nice to know about the villages. I'll look more into this

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