Central Protruded disc at c5-c6

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deweyc981
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April 21, 2011 at 4:21 am

Post count: 4

#4485

I have been having pain that runs from neck down to my mid shoulders. It is very difficult to sit for long periods of time. I am 30 years old and At this point i see pain management but i am not recieving relief.

I am at my breaking point because i have to work and no work is not an option. II do not know what routes to do to anymore. Pain medicine helps i have had spinal epidurals, also I have a 5mm perinureral cyst on C7-t1
and A 1.4 cm lesion within T10. Everyone keeps dismissing me and its a bit upsetting. What do you think. The only way to relieve this pain is to lay down or have my back flat up against something. Also I have numbing down my left arm and in both hands and fingers. Sometimes my feet will be tingly but that isnt my concern. I am at a cross roads because the amount of pain i am in is just horrible and i do not know who or where else to turn to.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

April 21, 2011 at 9:28 am

Post count: 8660

#4486

Pain in the neck that radiates to the shoulders equally may not be from nerve compression but from disc or facet disease. You mention a perineural cyst at C7-T1 and one at T10. The T10 cyst is most likely not causing your symptoms and the cyst at C7-T1 is most likely unilateral (one-sided) and again- most likely not causing your neck and shoulder pain.

First- what do your discs look like on a normal X-ray and on flexion-extension X-rays? If there is substantial narrowing and bone reactivity (increased spurs and bone deposition), this could be the source of pain. If there is a slip of the upper vertebra on the lower one (degenerative spondylolysthesis), this could also be causing your pain. Finally, nerve compression can also cause this type of pain but more rarely.

You need to get a new set of eyes from an expert in this field.

Dr. Corenman

PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.

deweyc981
Member

April 21, 2011 at 11:24 am

Post count: 4

#4487

I was told i had degen disc disease also hbla ankylosing spondilitis but no xrays or indepth review of wether there is narrowing. I believe there were signs of bone spurs last i heard but no doctor will agree with anothet doctor. I have just had mri no contrast and it said that my body could have been spasming due to its form. If i do have disc diease what are my options besides medication. There is a 5 mm protruding disc c5- c6. That is def noted on the results.

deweyc981
Member

April 22, 2011 at 6:10 am

Post count: 4

#4488

Im sorry im hlba positive for as i had to beg my doc just to have the mris done. So this is all i have to go on. My pain doctor gives me pain medication and does epidural blocks. He told me i had degenerative disc disease. C7 has a bone spur in that area. The pain is diabling. I can not sit for long periods of time numbess in hands and fingers. When my back does hurt alot i find it hard to breathe i know this sounds silly i know this isnt anxiety. The pain it gets uncomfortable to where i feel it run right from my back to my chest. The as was diagnosed a while ago but the pain and stiffness i had i do not have anymore. I was on enbrel and was thinking maybe this could be the ankylosing spondilitis. Its hard for me to understand because i want to live my life work and there has to be some where i can get relief or be pointed in a type of doctor who can help me. I had severe migraines which have been mimimized through epidurals

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

April 22, 2011 at 11:32 am

Post count: 8660

#4490

I am not sure by your statement that you are HIV positive or HLA- B27 positive. Both have ramifications of the diagnosis. Ankylosing Spondylitis can affect the neck but normally later in the disease process. There are some X-ray changes that can lead to the diagnosis- especially of the sacroiliac joints and the lumbar spine.

You note bone spurs at C6-7 and a herniated disc at C5-6. Either or both can cause neck pain that radiates down to the shoulders. The MRI will signify the disorders (either spur or herniation) but by itself may not reveal what is causing your pain. You need a respected surgeon to look at your MRI and go over your complaints.

PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.

deweyc981
Member

April 23, 2011 at 7:05 am

Post count: 4

#4505

I am hla b27 positive and was diagnosed w ankylosing spondilitis. So seeing a surgeon would sound silly and pointless?
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Donald Corenman, MD, DC

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81 reviews

Eric S

Sep 26, 2021

by Eric S on Donald Corenman, MD, DC

Successful pars repair at 46 years old

Back in November of 2018 (at 46 years old) I came from Vancouver BC to have a pars repair done with Dr. Donald Corenman at the Steadman Clinic in Vail Colorado. I'm finally posting this review nearly three years later in late 2021. The reason I waited so long was I wanted to know the final result before I posted my review. Unfortunately in that time Dr. Corenman has retired. Nevertheless, I want to post this review of Dr. Corenman and his staff at the Steadman Clinic in their excellent treatment of my L5 pars interarticularis.

I fractured my pars at age 42 back in 2014 when rolling on the gym floor, and was denied treatment by the Canadian healthcare system, probably due to my age. First my GP told me there was no surgical option for a pars defect, which was quite incorrect! I tried to live with it, but the symptoms worsened (periodic random spine slippage and weeks of resultant pain after just bending over to tie my shoe, so I eventually learned to mostly squat and hardly bend). When I finally consulted with Canadian spine surgeons, I was told they believed my pars defect had been congenital (since birth). This was absurd, considering I had done extreme martial arts (including jiu jitsu) for years prior, as well as 5 years of reinforcing steel full time in my 20s, probably the hardest job on the back you can find. No pars defect like mine would possibly have allowed this--ergo it was impossible that I had had the defect since birth. I did however have an asymptomatic congenital spina bifida occulta that made me more susceptible to a pars fracture. In 2014 in one instant, I went from having the strongest back people I knew said they'd ever seen, to being unable to safely bend over and tie my shoe without a non-negligible risk of my spine slipping randomly (which would lead to weeks of pain after each occurrence). This was due to the unilateral L5 pars defect, otherwise known as spondylolysis. It was when lying in pain on the floor 4 years later after maybe the 6th spine slippage event post injury, that I had had enough, and resolved to have surgery. If Canada's "universal health care" said no, I would make lemonade from lemons, and find the very best surgeon in the world at pars repairs. That was Dr. Donald Corenman. Dr. Corenman back in 2018 ran a website https://neckandback.com/ that dedicated many pages to the science of every aspect of pars repairs, from eligibility (good discs on MRI), to best surgical techniques (minimal open compared to minimally invasive), best imaging to use (i.e., O-Arm with Stealth imaging vs. older fluoroscopy), the ideal amount of BMP to use and why not use too much or too little, and much more, all to do with pars repairs, pages upon pages of his site just on the pars, with scientific references and his own extensive expert opinion. As a health research statistician, I was very impressed with this. It was in stark contrast to the websites of other spine surgeons which barely gave the pars a word or two, focusing almost exclusively on fusions. I had found the best surgeon in the world for pars repairs, and so after Dr. Corenman personally screened my MRI to ensure my discs were healthy, I booked the surgery.

Being 46 years old at the time of surgery in 2018, with a 4-year-old pars fracture from 2014 combined with a congenital SBO meant my pars fragment was somewhat atrophied, but it was "very solid", said Dr. Corenman in the operative report. Nevertheless, it was challenging with two things to fix, the pars and SBO, and OR time was around 4 hours. Recovery over the following months was guided by a very clear "Spine binder" from the Steadman Clinic with strict rules of "no BLT" (no bending, lifting or twisting), and illustrated physiotherapy guidelines. They even warned patients to avoid fish oil supplements, which could excessively dampen inflammation and hence slow bone healing. They answered many questions I had during months of recovery, with responses coming from the very supportive Lori Fugate (then director of Dr. Corenman's practice), and Ehrich Bean (then physician's assistant at the practice), as well as a couple calls with Dr. Corenman himself after two of the CT scans. Ehrich Bean offered great advice for taking the spine binder conservatively due to the nature of pars repairs vs. fusions. The final post-op CT scan I had was a couple weeks ago at 34 months post-op, and Dr. Corenman had retired, but I got a very positive and informative call from Eric Strauch (current PA at the Steadman Clinic under Dr. Corenman's replacement there, and who had also worked with Dr. Corenman previously). The staff at the Steadman Clinic were extremely supportive all the way through the process. I should mention, the local Canadian spine surgeon did offer me very good post-operative support including antibiotics as needed to deal with a mild surface incision-site infection early on, booking numerous x-rays when I felt something was amiss, as well as booking all four of my post-op CT scans. I am very grateful for that support also.

My final result shows plenty of solid bone across the pars and a healed SBO, with my vertebral body now a solid bone ring instead of being broken at two places as it was pre-op. Does my spine hold up in the real world? You bet! I have recently dug and moved several yards of dirt and sand and gravel by myself (shovel and wheelbarrow!) to fix our water main, pulled roots from the yard, moved several "portable" (these are HUGE) air conditioners up several flights of stairs my myself, and lifted weights. I now run 2 miles (3.2 KM) several times weekly with a hard 100 meter dash in the middle. I bend deeply before each run I go on, with no spine slippage. My spine feels amazing. I can bend over to do exercise, or real word tasks, with no risk of spine slippage.

My sincere thanks to God, Dr. Donald Corenman, Lori Fugate, Ehrich Bean, Eric Strauch, and the Steadman Clinic, as well as the Canadian spine surgeon who offered me excellent post-operative care back in Canada. You have all given me a new lease on life.

Sincerely,
Eric S

Robert S

May 11, 2021

by Robert S on Donald Corenman, MD, DC

Back Fusion Surgery

I had my entire lumbar spine fused in November of 2018. I had scoliosis , with pinched nerves that were so painful I could hardly walk - and standing for more than a few minutes was impossible. Even sitting was painful.
The fusion surgery produced immediate relief! And the recovery was much easier than I expected.
To this day I can do all the activities I love from hiking, to standing in a stream fly fishing to riding my bike long distances - or just walking down the street with my wife.
Kudos to Dr. Corenman and his staff, (including the two Erics) for taking such good care of me!

Leslie R

Jul 9, 2020

by Leslie R on Donald Corenman, MD, DC

TLIF

I had my TLIF surgery on 6/24/2020 by Dr. Corenman, I can not say enough good things about the Dr or his staff. I was always treated with respect and explained everything throughly, that made it easy for everyone to understand. I highly recommend Dr. Corenman and the Steadman Clinic.

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