neck pain, headaches, and weakness.

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bluefiggie
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June 12, 2014 at 12:05 pm

Post count: 1

#11031

First of all, I would like to say thank you for creating this forum.

Here is some brief and boring info about me. I am a 30 y/o female, have somehow managed to be rear ended about a dozen times (I was driving once), I work on my feet for about 9-10 hours a day (occasionally lifting 50+ lbs), and was a very active youth and teen.

Now for the good stuff. I have had neck pain for about twelve years now and have talked to at least 4 doctors about this. My neck has been x-rayed 3 separate times. 2 radiologists say it is structurally fine, 1 chiropractor said atlas was misaligned which would cause my headaches and after a few visits with him I should be ok. I am frustrated because this level of pain cannot be the norm. Most of the pain is where the skull meets the spine and typically when that gets really bad I get terrible headaches. Where my neck and shoulders meet frequently gets very tight and causes extreme pain. This feels more like muscle tightness than joint pain. It seems like my headaches alternate between tension headaches and migraines. (Head either feels like its in a vice or I am being stabbed on one side with pain at loud noises and bright lights) They always start with neck pain. On a bad pain day I am unable to so the lifting my job requires. If I tilt my head to the side (ear to shoulder) the pain shoots down into my back and upon straightening there is a weird noise (slight popping/slight grinding) coming from neck. Randomly while normal turning of head there is a horrible crunching/grinding feeling that leaves me unable to move until it passes. If I slowly tilt my head back it feels like a my head will fall and almost like I fall asleep briefly.

A few odd symptoms that may or may not be related. If I roll my shoulders back I can pop my lower neck. I have sciatic pain but I think that might be sciatic endometriosis. My knee pain fits the description of jumpers knee and I am not quite sure how to describe the foot pain (I get new quality athletic shoes on a regular basis). I mention these simply because sometimes one problem can cause several.

I have tried professional massages, pain creams, tens devices, and the chiropractor. I am not really sure what my next step should be. I know some of this is normal wear and tear but the neck pain started after a car accident when I was 18. I didn’t seek treatment at the time. I foolishly thought it was simply whiplash and would heal in time. I wish I had the xrays to post for you.

I guess what I would like to know is 1. what should my next step be? I am not simply making this up as the fourth doctor I spoke to suggested. (this discouraged me enough that I have just dealt with the pain for 4 years now). 2. Is there a better test to have other than an xray? 3. Do you have any advice or ideas what may be wrong? 4. Could any of the other pains be related?

I appreciate any advice! Thank you

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

June 13, 2014 at 1:52 am

Post count: 8660

#11035

First, I need to get that black cloud out from over your head as you seem to hold the record for rear-end motor vehicle accidents.

Radiologists who reviewed your films might consider “normal wear and tear” not to be “worth dictating” and your films might still hold some clues to your pain.

Pain at the base of the skull can be generated by inflammation of the facets of C2-3 and C3-4 (rarely from C1-2).

You might consider a consultation from a spine surgeon or neurosurgeon. You must understand that some of these specialists do not understand this syndrome. You need to do your homework.

MRIs and CT scans can be diagnostic. Facet blocks (see website) can be both diagnostic (see pain diary) and therapeutic.

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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