i m suffering from ear pain, vertigo, heavyness in my head,lack of concentration and very very important MUSCLE SPASMS in my throat since 13 months. all this started on 2nd FEB 2011. But after few months my condition was too much worst as all these symptoms were increased their intencity. but doctors were not finding reason n i was diagnosed falsly. it includes HYPOTHIROIDISM, HASHIMOTO, HYPERPARATHIROIDISM and many more. now it is dignosed as its due to EXTRA CERVICAL RIBS ON BOTH SIDES AT C7. Though got the reason but not exact solution because homeopathic doctor diagnosed it n action of these medicines is very slow. at the moment i m suffering from tingling in hands and head, pain in arms, my neck n back is completely stiff; not able to move them.today i cant hold a pen, my cup of tea.on movement of head it started heavy tingling in head. my lower body also having complaints of heavy pains n tingling. since 13 months my life is changed n i m not able to do anythig.while posting this tears are flowing as its very difficult to press tabs of keyboard. please tell me the solution for these EXTRA RIBS and good surgeon to remove it. its a request dear friends
Depends on your location. My surgeon was very good and very experienced, but he was in Lancaster.
Have you had an xray? Or been diagnosed by a dr?
By the time I had my surgery I could not lift a cup of tea, it was a very difficult time. recovery from surgery is difficult too.
Good luck.
Thanks a lot Jopo. I am from India and I am not getting proper advice about my problem here.So please tell me contact details of your sergeon. thanks again
Hi,
It must be difficult being somewhere they don't have the treatment for it.
My surgeon was mr Wilson, at Lancaster hospital.
Good luck!
i know how u feel i also am suffering similar problems, i thing due to nerve damage ,but the worst problem at the moment is ,dissiness and general feeling ill , and i get pain in face and head and sholder ,my specialist is sending me for an mri , on head and is it called clavical top of spine to c if ,theres a nerve thing goin on as i feel i have no quality of life, i am not even getting out much now because of the dissiness and ,i am not reliable at all ,i miss out on lots ,because of being ill all the time i am hoping .they come up with something ,as i am rattling with tablets.
i had my surgery at leicester they were great ,it just unfortunate i getting problems again ,with the knuckle end left in .hope u get sorted, soon .
Hi I had surgery to remove my cervical rib left side on 7th March so early days of recovery although it is going well. I have feeling in my arms although they are very week. It took years to find out what was causing my symptoms, many different diagnosis first. It was finally diagnosed in July 2011. By this time I was on serious painkillers, not sleeping and also the relentlessness of the situation was reducing me to tears. I had Physiotherapy which included, traction, but particularly the massaging on the neck which together reduced the stiffness. This eased the symptoms for a while but then required surgery. My surgeon was very good and knew exactly what he was looking for when I gave the symptoms.
I hope you find a solution soon. 
Hi Purpleskimp at first i m so sorry for late reply because i was not able to press keys of keyboard and many more problems of arms. at present i m having pain in shoulders, neck, head, arms, wrists and both hands are having swelling. i m not yet getting solution in India. so if possible please let me know your surgeon. its a request dear friend. and how are you feeling now? what is post op experience? thanks a lot
Hi Aarti I am so sorry that you are getting so bad. My pain had become bad and functioning difficult but not as bad as you are experiencing.
It is now 13 weeks since my surgery and my life has changed. I can sleep at night, I am not taking pain killers, I still get some tingling but only if I do too much, if I rest for a day or so it goes. I have read many bad reports on surgery but my personal experience has been good. It took until a few weeks ago to feel the difference but it is now very good.
Straight after surgery I had warmth in my hands, due to the bad blood flow prior they were Ice cold. The pain after surgery was very bad for 2 wks then eased off over the next few weeks. I was off work for 6 wks but after the 5th week felt much better. The next four weeks still had pain at the end of a day and if I sat in a chair with no arm or neck support.
I had my surgery privately, my surgeon was Mr William Harcourt, at the Winfield Hospital Gloucester England
Have you tried physio, it worked to help the symptoms for me although was not a long term solution.
Good luck let me know how you are doing or if you need more information. The hospital has a web site with the surgeon on it.
HI Purpleskimp thanks for quick reply. i have tried physio but it increased my pains. please give me that website and tell me which tests were helpful in diagnosis of your problem because my MRI, CT SCAN, EEG, EMG all were normal only x-ray shows the extra ribs n thats why the neuro pysicians here are not believing my pain. how much your surgery costs? now i m planning to come there for proper solution. thanks again n take care dont give stress to your hands. ok bye
Hi Aarti I reply quick because I know how difficult it is to find any information or get any proper help or anyone who truly understands the pain. The condition is rare and I made a vow that if I had the surgery and came out ok I would help others. The risks of surgery are high and complications too but I got to the stage where the risks were worth taking.
The web site is www.winfieldhospital.co.uk The surgery cost was £1,600 this did not include the stay in hospital, I don't know the cost of that as my insurance covered it. I was due to stay in overnight only but recovered well so came home later the same evening. Surgery was about 3 hrs long. The consultations with the consultant ranged from £80 - £100. I don't know the costs of the tests as the insurance covered those as well.
I had nerve conductive tests that showed there was compression on the nerves from the neck and muscle wastage in the left arm. The consultant did various tests involving my arm and this showed weakness. He then sent me for an MRI, this showed compression of my aorta on the left side. I then had an xray that showed the rib. He said it was as clear a case of Theocratic Outlet Syndrome TOS from a Cervical rib that he had ever seen. My consultant was not Neuro he was an orthopaedic surgeon, I did ask him if I should see Neuro as this is what I had read but he said not, and that he understood and had performed the surgery. I trusted him and it has proved for me to be good.
If you need anything else just let me know,.
Good luck
Hi Purpleskimp thanks a lot for information n understanding my situation.i m sorry for late reply. its not my mistake your reply was pending for approval by this forum n its visible to me just today. i will go through this site n try to contact. i m in tension because my all reports are normal except x-ray. i hope this doctor will understand my problem. i will be in touch with u. thanks again. take care.
Hi Purpleskimp, sorry for disturbing you again. I visited to the winfield hospitals website and searched your surgeon but the results are showing " NO RECORD". I mailed to the hospital about it but they in reply they gave only hospital information. If possible please help me in this regard. How are you now? Are you able to do all work finely? bye take care
Hi AARTI try doing a search for Mr William Gerard Vaughan Harcourt Gloucester, this should bring up more information on him. If not if you send me your email address I will try and get his number for you and email it. I am reluctant to put it on this site.
I am doing well thanks, the scar is healing well, just need to remember to be careful.
Take care
Hi Purpleskimp thanks for information. I will search him with it. since last night my condition is worst. i am not able to sleep whole night. i wiil keep u inform about me. thanks take care
Hi Purpleskimp with your information i got the phone no. of Mr. Harcourt. now i can contact him. Please do one favor for me; send me your ISD code so i can contact him. Tell me about his nature. Thanks infinitely for your help i will never forget it. Take Care
Hi AARTI the STD code is 0044 the area code you then need to dial is 1452 as we drop the 0 then the 6 digit number so dial 00441452xxxxxx. Good luck I am thinking of you, let me know how you get on.
Hi AARTI the STD code is 0044 the area code you then need to dial is 1452 as we drop the 0 then the 6 digit number so dial 00441452xxxxxx. Good luck I am thinking of you, let me know how you get on.
Hi Purpleskimp thanks for reply. My condition is getting worst. I am not able to sleep whole night and the doctors are still doing only experiments on me. My exams are also going on and the bad thing is that I am not able to write because of pain and tingling. I am very thankful for your help. Take care and be in touch
Aarti~I cried when I read your post. I have two congenital cervical ribs. I have felt the sme things you described. I am so sorry that you are having these problems. I drop things all the time. I found out about my ribs after I was in an accident. The surgeons couldn't do my neck surgery because of the ribs. I went into denial that the ribs even existed. Then I was in another accident and the symptoms became worse. I travelled a lot on my job, but I knew that these symptoms would make my job impossible. I loved my job. I am still going through physical therapy, but my whole spine is "torked" out of shape. When I wake up my fingers are bent and crooked. I have to pull them back into place. It feels like setting broken fingers. I live in the USA, and there is no research here at this time. Good luck to you. Ariel