After Cracking Her Own Neck Went Wrong, Spine Surgery Solved Anna’s Pain

Adjusting her own neck used to be second nature to Anna Grueninger, so she didn’t think much about it the last time she took her head in her hands and quickly tilted it to one side to relieve tension.

But when the 29-year-old mother last did this in October 2023, the response wasn’t relief.

“I guess I did it wrong,” Anna says. “I instantly felt a sharp pain shoot down my left arm and the back of my neck. I knew right away something was not right.”

Anna hoped she just pulled a muscle. She waited for things to get better. Instead, they got worse over the months that followed. Headaches she sometimes battled before her injury became debilitating migraines after it. Head and neck pain on her left side arrived and intensified. Dizziness and nausea came and went in waves.

“There were days I couldn’t get out of bed,” Anna says. “I couldn’t take care of myself. I couldn’t take care of my daughter. It was hard, trying to explain to her why her mom couldn’t do things. It even got to the point where I was unable to work.”

A search for relief

Determined to reclaim her life, Anna turned to BJC HealthCare to find a solution.

When physical therapy and nerve-blocking injections did little to alleviate her symptoms, Christian Hospital’s Pain Management Center referred Anna to Kumar Vasudevan, MD, a WashU Medicine neurosurgeon at Christian Hospital.

"Young people tend to have healthy necks, so when they come to you with a neck problem, you sit up and pay attention,” Dr. Vasudevan says. “That’s how it was with Anna. She had tried multiple things, but the pain was still intolerable. That’s when surgery enters the discussion.”

A unique case

Dr. Vasudevan’s examination of Anna could not medically confirm if she had caused her injury by cracking her own neck.

“It would not be the first time something like that has happened,” he says. “She may have had an issue before, then suddenly made it worse.”

The source of Anna’s pain, though, was clear. Anna was suffering from cervical radiculopathy, which is commonly called a pinched nerve. A damaged disk was creating pressure on her spinal cord and nerves, causing painful sensations to course through her arm. Dr. Vasudevan and Anna discussed a procedure known as anterior cervical discectomy and fusion to remove the damaged disk and relieve the pressure on her spinal cord.

“I always think twice when I’m suggesting an operation on a young person,” Dr. Vasudevan says. “It’s not only a lot to go through, but there is flexibility in the neck that we reduce a little bit when we do this kind of surgery. Some of the risks could include needing more surgery later in life. But you must weigh that against debilitating pain. That’s a personal decision for patients. She decided the pain was affecting her enough that she wanted to do this.”

Dr. Vasudevan performed Anna’s operation at Christian Hospital in late spring 2024. He reached the upper part of her spinal column in the neck through an incision near her throat. He removed Anna’s damaged disk and replaced it with a titanium implant that included small pieces of her bone, a method that encourages the body to grow new bone during its healing process. He fused together Anna’s fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae. She returned home to recover after two days in the hospital. By then, the worst of her pain was already gone.

“It was a night and day difference,” Anna says.

A meaningful anniversary

It’s now been more than a year since Anna’s surgery.

After completing her recovery, following Dr. Vasudevan’s initial restrictions about how much weight she could lift, and attending multiple check-ups along the way, she is back to fully enjoying the kind of life she once feared was out of reach.

She’s working, celebrating her love of animals in her job as a manager at a dog daycare facility. She no longer has to explain to her daughter why she’s stuck in bed.

“I’m able to go out and do things,” Anna says. “I take my daughter to the park. I go on hikes with my family and my dogs. Before, even grocery shopping was hard. I enjoy it now. I don’t have to cancel plans. I don’t have to miss out. I would do this surgery again 10 times. I can’t thank Dr. Vasudevan enough.”

There’s one thing Anna doesn’t do—crack her own neck. She hasn’t since her injury and encourages others who have developed the habit to reconsider.

“Any time I see someone doing it now,” she says, “I warn them.”
 

Learn more about spine care and surgical options.