Help understandidng MRI results

Hi Everyone! My name is Mike, I am 50, have been very active, sports, and generally abused my body with physical activity over the years. I thought by being so active and staying fit that I would be able to keep up the pace a lot longer... :) Well, I guess that's not the case.

I have been having severe pain in my neck, mild headache, left shoulder, upper back, some upper chest area, triceps, elbow, down the arm, considerable weakness in the left tricep, and left thumb, numbness in index finger, and some numbness in the thumb. The symptoms are there pretty much 24x7. A definite problem for getting a good night sleep.

In September I went into the ER thinking I was having a heart attack but all tests were negative. I did a dye/heart stress test which was normal.

It took abount one month for the pain to go away. I then resumed exercise and things were good until mid December. Then it hit again! This time it was more intense with the addition of significant muscle spasms between the left shoulder blade and spine. All of the other symptoms listed above were present.

I went to the Dr. and was given muscle relaxer and pain medications. He sent me to physical therapy. I did that for two weeks and when the meds ran out it came back with a vengence. I went back to a sports doctor that gave me injections in the trigger points where the spasms were occuring and then cracked my back an neck a couple of times. He gave me prednizone, tizanidine, and percocet. He ran xrays and could see that C6-C7 had very little space between them so he ordered an MRI.

It has been about 6 days since I started the new meds and I just got the results. I don't understand them very well and the pictures were a little concerning but I am no expert.

After reading some of the other MRI's it seems that my results are much less involved but it sure has stopped me in my tracks!

Can someone please help me to better understand my condition?

MRI C Spine WO Cnt

(Status: Final)

Exam: MRI Cervical Spine Without IV Contrast

History: Neck and left arm weakness

Comparison: Plain Films of 1/2/2012

Technique: Standard pulse sequences in various planes without IV contrast

Findings:

Base of skull: Normal

Bony alignment: Normal

Paravertebral soft tissues: Normal

Cervical cord: Negative for signal or morphologic abnormality

Vertebral bodies: Normal

C2-C3: Normal

C3-C4: Normal

C4-C5: Normal

C5-C6: Shallow concentric disc bulge. The neural foramina a patent.

C6-C7: Prominent disc herniation on the left. It measures 7mm in AP diameter. Probable nerve root contact with the left 7 root. Moderate to severe foraminal narrowing. Mild flattening of the ventral aspect of the cord.

C7-T1: Normal

Impression:

1) Prominent disc herniation on the left at C6-C7. Likely nerve root contact with the 7 root.

2) Shallow bulge at C5-C6 without nerve root contact.

Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Mike