People use the expression “a pain in the neck” to describe problems that are really just minor inconveniences—think a long line at the post office, or a child that’s acting up. When you’ve literally got pain in your neck, especially intractable chronic pain, it’s much more than just an inconvenience. Having to live with constant pain, and having even simple movements like turning your head or looking down at your phone hurt, can make it difficult to get through the day.
Arthritic degeneration impacting a disc in her cervical spine was causing Michelle Roberts to have intense neck pain. Doing basic tasks—brushing her hair, picking up anything heavy, or turning her head to check her blind spot in the car—made the pain worse. By the time her research led her to Dr. Solomon Kamson and the Spine Institute Northwest, Michelle says she was “just at the end of my rope. I couldn’t tolerate it anymore.”
Michelle needed a minimally invasive fusion at her C5 and C6 vertebrae. She was ready to go forward right away, and Dr. Kamson’s friendliness and confidence made her even surer. “He did an amazing job on my neck, but it’s not just that, he’s always been straightforward with me and honest,” she says.
Michelle’s been happy with her progress since her laser spine surgery. “My recovery is going as it should be, as Dr. Kamson said it would be, and everything feels so much better,” she says. “I feel wonderful.”
Michelle is straightforward when it comes to the advice that she would give people suffering from chronic pain. “Don’t keep suffering. Don’t stay in pain. Don’t keep fighting with the doctors to believe you or to take you seriously or to get you to a surgeon. Just do what you need to do and come here, because they will help you.”
Listen to more of Michelle’s story, and hear why she recommends Dr. Kamson: