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lizdan
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October 16, 2011 at 8:51 am

Post count: 2

#4998

For about 20 years I have suffered from a condition that no doctor can diagnose. Many years ago I started to feel of balance, this occurred when I would bend down or move my neck by twisting around while backing up a car. I have seen doctors that have taken MRI’S found nothing. It got to the point where in the morning when I woke up I could not walk straight as my balance was totally of ( NOT dizzy though ). When in this condition I felt a pressure in the middle part of the neck, when I placed my finger against the middle part of the neck and pushed I felt the pressure relief right away. I finally was told to see a chiropractor, he had a meter device that he would run down the back of my neck, he would tell me that the meter was showing pressure and the needle would rise on the meter. He would then place me on his bench, place pressure behind ( middle of neck ) then drop that part of the bench while applying pressure to realign the bones in the neck. I would feel really off balanced for a short time after but after a night’s rest I would feel ok. I actually was told by one doctor after MRI scan came back that the only thing irregular was that there is a pendulum that stretches down in my neck lower than other people. He described it as there is this circular opening that the pendulum sits above on most people but mine sits below, so sometimes the pendulum can hit the circular and cause spasms or unbalance. My sister actually suffers from the same symptoms as I do and her MRI scan ( pendulum ) are exact. I took a neck brace and turned it around, put over the neck brace a cover, under the cover I placed a rolled up washcloth in the front and one in the back. I then placed the neck brace around my neck fastening it from the front. The rolled up washcloths force pressure against the middle part of my neck causing relief. I also can not toss and turn in my sleep as it makes me lie on my back. This way by not tossing and turning all night I do not wake up off balanced. I can only assume that the pendulum can not move back and forth and this allows no spasms or unbalance. If I jump up and down shooting a basketball I get an unbalanced attack. I can not cut the grass on the whole 1 1/2 acre lot we own, I can only cut a third. Riding the lawn mower, backing up and forth and moving my neck I get totally of balanced. I am sorry for the long drawn out explanation. Have you ever heard of this condition. Have you ever heard about the pendulum. I have considered having an operation and shaving the pendulum shorter. When I get an attack from this condition I have to get my neck brace and lay down in bed for the rest of the day. Then in the morning I usually feel ok. Not always though. Thank you for your time. Looking forward to your reply.

P.S. I also sometimes when feeling unbalanced feel nauseated, and usually get heat flashes

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

October 17, 2011 at 2:06 am

Post count: 8660

#5003

Your symptoms could be from many different sources. Dizziness with nausea can originate from the brain stem or the vascular supply to the brain stem. There is a condition called basilar invagination (do an internet search as it is not on my website yet). This condition can cause some of your symptoms.

I have not heard of the “pendulum” in the neck but I can imagine that it is a different description of an abnormality of the natural curve of the neck (the lordosis- this is on the website). Do not allow further chiropractic manipulation of your neck as this could be deleterious.

See a spine surgeon who has knowledge of base of the neck anomalies to get a much more thorough work-up.

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.

lizdan
Member

October 17, 2011 at 5:43 am

Post count: 2

#5007

I do not suffer from dizziness, the condition I suffer from is I feel of balanced. I will look into a spine surgeon. Thank you for your website.
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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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