Chronic neck pain and migrainosus

Tagged: Failed neck syndrome/ chronic neck pain and migraines

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 13 total)

1 2 3 Next

Author

Posts
Calmarjori
Participant

January 7, 2018 at 10:44 am

Post count: 7

#27253

I sent in question on 12/28 and still no reply . I had 2 level acdf with fixation of c5-7 2013 and failure to fuse. 8 months later had revision surgery from a different neurosurgeon. Chronic neck pain with dibilitating chronic migraines since . I have had blocks, neurotomies, epidurals, physical therapy, massage therapy ,bought a hot tub , etc to no avail. Was diagnosed with cervicocranial syndrome, chronic migraine, failed neck syndrome and facet joint osteoarthritis. Take horizant ER, norco and baclofen for pain and zofran for my vertigo and nausea. Developed chronic fatigue and other joint pain during all of this . Tested positive p41 on Lyme western blot and mycoplasma pneumonia very high. Completed 8 months of antibiotics and got mycoplasma down to 410. Fatigue much better but still chronic pain and migraines that do not respond to typical migraine meds,i.e.; rizatriptan. Any ideas….I have recently had to retire from a 24 year public health nurse position that required some travel . Driving is the worst !

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

January 7, 2018 at 7:32 pm

Post count: 8660

#27257

Sorry but must have missed that thread.

You have not described the outcome from the second surgeon. Did you get a solid fusion or is there still issues?

Headaches and base of skull pain is common with degenerative facet disease in the upper cervical spine. Facet blocks with temporary relief would be the next step if that were the suspected diagnosis.

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.

Calmarjori
Participant

January 8, 2018 at 2:45 am

Post count: 7

#27261

Revision surgery finally fused after 18 months. Had facet blocks that only gave immediate relief for a few hours just like the medial branch block did when testing the nerves. The radio frequency ablations gave maybe a little relief on right side but only made pain worse on left. Also had occipital nerve blocks that didn’t really make much difference. I have swelling at c7 and radiculopathy on left side. Tongue and lips are numb since before first acdf in 2013 when I was was receiving cervical traction in physical therapy . The first neurosurgeon thought that I may have had a vertebral artery stroke during traction….. I did physical therapy after revision surgery but would have down days ( and still do ) with dibilitating migraines. Some of them have the text book aura, last for up up to 1-2 days and then I take a day to recover… I feel like my head is bruised and have gi issues. Driving any distance or using my head requiring rotation and flexion/ extension will set me off for the neck pain that will end in the full scenario . Just turning my head can start tinnitus and clicking sounds and nausea. I had full work up early on with Neurootologist who said he thought it was Cervicogenic due to neck pathology.

Sent from my iPad

Calmarjori
Participant

January 10, 2018 at 3:07 pm

Post count: 7

#27280

Do you have any ideas about what could be going on in my neck causing such pain unrelieved by all the treatments and the awful migraines since surgeries?

Calmarjori
Participant

January 12, 2018 at 10:16 am

Post count: 7

#27293

[/quote]

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

January 14, 2018 at 10:13 am

Post count: 8660

#27299

Your symptoms can fit with migraines, cervicogenic headaches or autoimmune headaches (Lyme disease). The fact you had facet blocks without headache relief and greater occipital nerve blocks without relief lead away from the upper cervicogenic headache syndrome cause. If you have a solid fusion now at C5-7, it is much less likely that this is a cause of headache. How do you know that you have a solid fusion? Was it CT scan proven?

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.
Author

Posts

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 13 total)

1 2 3 Next

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC

Average rating:

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.

Submit your review
First Name, Last Initial:
Email:
Review Title:
Rating:	1 2 3 4 5
Review:

Check this box to confirm you are human.
Submit Cancel