I woke up about 4 weeks ago with very bad pain in my left shoulder and arm. I also noticed numbness in my left fingers. I went in to see my family doctor and had an MRI done. He said that I had a bulging disc in my C-7 and C-6 with #6 being the lesser of the two. Anyway he gave me some pain pills and referred me to a neurosurgeon. I went to the surgeon 4 weeks after my first signs of pain. Well by then my pain had subsided to where I did not even need any pills, I still have the numbness in my fingers is all. Well almost as soon as he took one look at my MRI's he started talking about fusion surgery and using some donor bone from a cadaver. He said that the whole operation would take less then an hour and a half and that there were very little risks, that I would be all better in one month. Now all I have read on this says that doctors only use surgery as a last resort. That the first thing most prescribe for my condition are nonsurgical treatments such as physical therapy and the like. I am 38 y/o and in otherwise pretty good health, not over weight ect. The surgeon also said that if I did not have the operation that it would come back sooner or later and that the pain going away could either mean it's getting better or it's getting worse. I am not sure of anything, the guy just came off more like a car salesman then a doctor and I'm not very comfortable offering up my neck on "slick willies" operating table ya know ? Can someone please give me some advice? Thank you very much in advance, the ppl at this site have been just so great!!! God bless those kind people that help others.