l5s1 massive herniation

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Byczkowski
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June 25, 2012 at 6:21 pm

Post count: 3

#6426

Dear Dr. Corenman,

I am 30 years old male in good athlete shape. I was injured with herniated L5S1 disc April 16th this year during my bodybuilding training in the gym. I felt a little bit of pain in my backs at the same day and after two days I could not walk. What is interesting I felt only pain in my lower back. I went to the doctor and he told me it might be a result of overexercising. I was prescribed some non steroids drugs with advice of the bed rest for two weeks. After few days I was in much better condition nevertheless I was feeling some pain in my left leg (outside thigh and calf). The pain was not so big so I could easily work 8 hours at my desk at work. I was a little bit worried with this small pain and I did MRI after consulting my doctor. It was done 13th May this year [hide]The results you can find under following image link:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101016139523903621227/albums/5757881451772698465%5B/hide%5D
In the meantime I have started physical therapy (exercises plus ultrasounds, TENS, laser etc). I visited three surgeons and they were really surprised of my good physical shape in relation what they saw on MRI scans (negative leg test, no muscles weakness). One of them advised surgery. The other two were not sure if to do surgery. Currently I feel a little numbness in my foot but it is not constant. It appears at the end of the day mostly. I am still missing Achilles reflex in my left leg. I have no constant pain in my leg. It appears rarely during the whole week.
I focused now on conservative treatment but I do not think it is the right way for me. Till now I was a really active person (playing squash, horse riding, some bodybuilding, running, skiing etc.) I partially came back to swimming and biking at the moment.
I was doing some research of the topic and read that in some of the cases the body can absorb the herniated disc. Do you think it is possible in case of such huge herniation as mine? I have read some articles that professional athletes (NHL, NBA, soccer player, even weightlifters) came back with success to their sports after microdiscectomy. Is it possible to reach the same level with conservative treatment?

Thank you for your response in advance.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

June 26, 2012 at 12:53 am

Post count: 8660

#6428

You have a typical story for a new herniated disc. Back pain for a couple of days results from the new tear of the annulus. It takes typically about 2 days for the inflammation to create leg pain if the nerve compression is not severe and even with that large herniation, your nerve impingement is not too bad.

There are locations in the canal that a large herniation can situate without significant compression of the nerve root and your herniation has found such a spot. This is the reason you only have mild symptoms.

This herniation can most likely be treated without surgery. Yes, some of the bulk of the herniation will recede as the water in the fragment is absorbed out. There have also been cases where the fragment migrates out of the canal and into the psoas muscle where it adheres to and stays forever.

If you choose no surgery, an epidural steroid injection I think is helpful to reduce the volume of the fragment and make the nerve more resistant to the herniation. If you choose surgery, I have many athletes who have undergone a microdiscectomy and returned to competition.

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.

Byczkowski
Member

June 26, 2012 at 4:31 am

Post count: 3

#6429

Dr. Corenman,

Thank for your response. If I decide for not having the surgery is the probability for reharniation the same as if I have the surgery?

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

June 26, 2012 at 6:58 am

Post count: 8660

#6430

In general, yes.

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.

Byczkowski
Member

June 27, 2012 at 3:55 pm

Post count: 3

#6435

I think I will continue with my conservative treatment and see what will happen next. I will come back to you in half year to share the outcomes of my recovery. I have one additional question. Does my herniated l5s1 disc have any impact on strength of my upper discs (i.e. l4-l5)? Is the probability that my other discs herniate higher now? I would like to continue some parts of my bodybuilding training in two months. I am not thinking of any dead lifts or leg presses but i.e. some TRX suspension training. Should I follow the same post op rules when it comes to my return to sport activities despite treating myself conservatively?

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

June 28, 2012 at 9:33 am

Post count: 8660

#6443

The herniation at L5-S1 does not predispose by itself to any additional herniations at the levels above. However, genetics plays a rule in disc herniations so theoretically, the levels above are genetically predisposed. Do not lose sleep about that.

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.
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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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