Lumbar 3 scyatica

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Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

March 26, 2012 at 4:14 am

Post count: 8660

#5852

A back brace or corset is a double edged sword. On one hand, the brace increases pressure inside the core which stabilizes the lumbar spine somewhat. On the other hand, instead of tightening the abdominal muscles, patients who wear the brace tend to push the abdominal muscles into the brace which over time weakens these muscles.

If you wear the brace part time only or only when significant flair-ups occur, it is unlikely that you will weaken the abdominal muscles.

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.

hrosatelli
Member

December 26, 2012 at 2:51 am

Post count: 11

#7643

Merry Christmas Dr. Corenman. Can you tell me why my lower back, buttocks and left leg feel like they are on FIRE? I mean its burning. Thank you

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

December 26, 2012 at 5:03 am

Post count: 8660

#7644

Please see the section under “Conditions” regarding “How to describe symptoms” so that you can convey what symptoms you are having specifically, the history of the symptoms and what work-up you have undergone.

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.

hrosatelli
Member

December 26, 2012 at 9:43 pm

Post count: 11

#7645

BODY=Report Dictated By: Blake,Meghan MD||EXAMINATION: MRI LUMBAR SPINE WITHOUT CONTRAST|HISTORY: Chronic back pain radiculopathy.|COMPARISON: None.|TECHNIQUE: Sag T1/T2, Ax T1/T2.|FINDINGS: There is a moderately severe rotary levoscoliosis of the |lumbar spine with apex at L2-3. There is prominent endplate bone |edema and peripherally directed spur rightward along the concave |margin of the curvature and the disc at this level is markedly |degenerated and narrowed. Conus and cauda equina are normal.|Level by level analysis:|L1-2: Minimal bulge.|L2-3: Moderate to moderately severe right-sided foraminal stenosis |from right lateral endplate spurring. Remodeling and edema-like |signal change along the bony endplates suggests active motion segment |instability.|L3-4: There is a 2 mm broad-based protrusion, very mild facet |hypertrophy and mild foraminal narrowing.|L4-5: Thickening of ligamentum flavum and facet capsular tissue with |mild left subarticular and left foraminal narrowing. There is a 1 mm |broad-based protrusion.|L5-S1: Disc is desiccated and significantly narrowed, facets are |overgrown and there is moderate to moderately severe left and |mild-to-moderate right foraminal narrowing, disc desiccation and |height loss with vacuum disc phenomenon and more limited reactive |marrow change than seen at L2-3 here left at midline. There is also |a small annular fissure. Overgrowth of the left facet is associated |with mild capsulitis.|IMPRESSION:|1. There is degenerative change along the concave margin of |scoliosis at L2-3 with disc desiccation, large lateral endplate spurs |and reactive endplate change which suggests motion segment |instability. The right L2-3 neural foramen is stenotic.|2. At L5-S1, there is leftward endplate spur and lesser reactive |marrow change also with significant disc dehydration and height loss |and a moderate-to-moderately severe left foraminal stenosis.|CREATED=01-16-2012 04:20 PM

I have tried physical therapy, inversion table, pain meds and muscle relaxers, just recently tried acupuncture and it did not work. I get really bad pain in my lower back, left hip down to my foot, for the past two days my lower back and hip has felt like they are actually on fire, the burning feeling gets so intense.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

December 27, 2012 at 6:03 am

Post count: 8660

#7646

It appears you have a significant degenerative scoliosis of your lumbar spine. I have to ask how old you are as these changes take many years to occur.

The degenerative changes have created what sounds to be lateral recess stenosis and foraminal stenosis on the left at minimum of L5-S1 (see website for all these conditions). I would assume that the leg pain is much worse with standing and walking and improved with sitting and bending forward. This is called stenotic leg pain.

You could have some benefit from epidural steroids and traction but these might be temporizing measures. There are times that surgery might be the only long term solution for this condition but I do have some patients that can manage with this condition without surgery.

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.

hrosatelli
Member

December 27, 2012 at 7:09 am

Post count: 11

#7648

I am 55 years old.
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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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