C5/C6 Herniated Disc - looking for hope

Hi all,

I'm sure this has been posted many times but I thought this would be a good forum to vent/ seek hope.

I have recently got the MRI results back after 7 months of waiting . I have central disc protosion c5/c6 (more on the left side) which is leading to a narrowing of the spac. It was a weightlifting injury that I took lightly at the beginning (I'm 30 and this is very much my first injury).

The symptoms have been pretty consistent. Burning/ tingling sensation in my left trap with the degree of pain coming and going. On good days, it is an irritant, on bad days it affects my quality of life. There is no nerve damage and I have full range of motion.

I have tried out of pocket physio for 4 months or so, focusing on strengthening neck/ upper back/ Mckenzie methods/ traction posture with pretty limited results. I followed the programme religiously. This also included dry needling which had very limited results. I have been doing an hour of yoga every day which does help and especially provide short term pain relief.

It is difficult to tell whether it is getting better - at the beginning (when I thought it was temporary), I was wearing ice packs for large parts of the day and taking Naproxen. I am now on Ibroprofun and rarely use ice packs. I do think it is better than it was three months ago but I can't be sure.

There have been seemingly so many false dawns where I think it is improving and then something minor happens (occasionally there is no seeming trigger point) and it gets worse again.

I am going to try an Osteopath (I did try one at the beginning but she misdiagnosed me as having rotator cuff problems so ended that quickly). In terms of more invasive options, the NHS is not willing to do anything at the moment, even steroid injections and it is very frustrating as I feel like their approach is 'we have tried nothing so you have to get used to the pain'.

Anyway, ranting section over - a couple of questions

1. Has anyone had cervical herniated disc and it actually get better/ notably improve after more than 6 months? (One of the hardest things is that all website talk about improvements within 6-12 weeks)
2. Has anyone had similar issues and just gotten used to the pain?

Many thanks,

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