Need help understanding ... and hopefully some solutions

Viewing 6 posts - 7 through 12 (of 14 total)

Previous 1 2 3 Next

Author

Posts
JJSS
Participant

August 30, 2014 at 3:23 am

Post count: 9

#11364

Thanks again

It is hard as I can’t move without hearing or feeling something. There are so many different “noises”. If this affected me 1 or 2x a day,fine, but it never leaves me. The hard cracks are horrible! I just wish it would go away!

I don’t understand why all this had to start and is very distressing.

One thing I would like to know for sure:
is it a ligament I feel moves sort of in and out by the disc? I hear crunching. This is about at C5-C6

if you get periodic tingling in your legs and have spondy L3-L4 is that any cause for concern?

I will say it again. It is really wonderful for you to take time from your schedule to help those in pain and so desperate. I have read many postings and feel their pain.

I have dealt with: back, neck, and knees in severe pain. PT has always helped. Sure wish any of this would just stabilize but I know time and aging does not make anything better.

I do have a few sessions of PT on order. Guess strengthening is mostly needed..not more stretching!

I plan on this being my last posting— so thanks again.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

August 30, 2014 at 10:36 pm

Post count: 8660

#11365

It is easy to get sensitized to this noise and then become obsessed with it. Again, no pain, no issues to be worried about.

The occasional numbness in your legs and a “spondy” at L3-4 could be associated. I cannot tell you the strength of association based upon the information I have.

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.

JJSS
Participant

August 30, 2014 at 11:22 pm

Post count: 9

#11367

Wow I did not expect a reply so soon.
I just wanted to add a comment and here you had already replied.

I have noticed my hands are falling asleep much more now-when I sleep however I do have carpal tunnel and ulnar nerve issues so don’t know if neck related. My whole hand is asleep when I wake. It Affects both hands.

My rt shoulder cracks really loud too now-never before. I get spasms next to my shoulder when lying down-a constant twitch-in the fleshy part where the shoulder attaches to the chest.
Can spasms in that area be neck related?

I don’t get numbness in my legs yet thank goodness only tingling on and off. It seems that became more widespread after the flexion-distraction treatment.

I have been trying since last Sept. to get used to all this but it is not easy.

Sorry for the additional post. I just figured I might as well ask since 2x last night my hands were asleep and the twitching has been constant for several months now.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

August 31, 2014 at 10:29 pm

Post count: 8660

#11372

Hands “falling asleep” while sleeping is typically due to compression of the ulnar or median nerves (cubital or carpel tunnel syndrome-see website) Cracking shoulder sounds are typically caused by rotator cuff syndromes or by instability of the shoulder joint.

Spasms in the anterior shoulder muscles can be related to the neck or the shoulder.

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.

JJSS
Participant

September 1, 2014 at 12:25 pm

Post count: 9

#11373

I had asked about ulnar nerve pinching initially but removed that as going to go ahead and see a dr. about this.

Could that activator with stretching misaligned the neck so now tendons/ligaments catch or rub differently or even the vertebrae joints fit differently?

What happens to ligaments that crack/snap multiple times a day?

Can facet arthritis develop in a matter of months?

My MRI only showed facet arthritis at C6-C7.

The cracking can be heard by my husband. Yesterday I cracked at least 4 x. loud and hard. Rolling in bed causes crunches and lighter cracks.

I felt it all the way up my skull this am.

I don’t know how my neck is now such a crunchy mess with something moving out of place in the low discs and these horrific cracks.
Sorry to ask again. I keep asking myself “Why this all had to start?”

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

September 14, 2014 at 11:00 am

Post count: 8660

#11428

Facet arthritis can occur in a matter of months but that situation is normally associated with trauma. Degeneration of the facets typically occurs over a long period of time but the symptoms won’t be present until the final small action that causes symptoms.

It may seem that this small action is the cause of the arthritis but a long period of asymptomatic degeneration is necessary before onset of symptoms.

Again, non painful cracking of the joints generally should be ignored.

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 - 7 through 12 (of 14 total)

Previous 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

Need help understanding … and hopefully some solutions