New severe neck pain

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Ren24
Participant

February 19, 2015 at 9:33 am

Post count: 21

#12279

Hello dr
I suddenly last night had severe sharp throbbing neck pain occur for an unknown reason. Actually started when going to the bath room and bearing down some. On the right side of my back of neck about halfway down it started hurting badly. The pain was so severe I couldn’t move or anything and it has continued throughout the next day. A pain pill and flexeril only took the edge off of it and I can barely move my neck at all and it is triggered again. So you have any idea what this May be as the o my other time I had pain this severe was when I ruptured a disc in my neck. The pain is kind of the same but different somehow and In a different spot. When I ruptured a disc that kind of pain was in my shoulder. This pain also seems to travel down the right side of my upper spine. Thanks for your opinion

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

February 20, 2015 at 2:03 am

Post count: 8660

#12284

You performed a Valsalva Maneuvar (increasing belly pressure by pushing your diaphragm down). These maneuvers are famous for causing herniated discs if the state of the disc is tenuous (ready to herniate).

The difference in pain locations probably has to do with the location of the disc and the nerve root involved. I have also seen facet irritation with the Valsalva maneuver.

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.

Ren24
Participant

February 23, 2015 at 11:18 am

Post count: 21

#12296

Hello dr
Well the new neck pain became quite severe and I ended up in the ER where they did an X-ray which of course was useless and showed only that the hardware was Intact. They also ended up giving 2 pain shots and an IM decadron of 10 mg which took my pain down to a zero before 24 hours was up. Well not exactly a zero but to where I can actually get up and move around easily. My concern is as the steroid wears of and this pain is starting back up is it just masking the real issue. Since the pain is slowly returning and I can still feel that burning sensation underneath should I pursue trying to get my dr to order me further testing or does the fact the steroid worked that quickly mean somethin I am missing. This pain was horrible in the back and side of my neck and down my right upper arm on the inner and outer aspect but went only slightly down to my hand. This only compared to when I ruptured my first disc but even that severity went away after a few days and was just constantly sore. I am so incapacitated with the pain and spasm ice had going on but there is nothing these surgeons wanna do n say they can’t see anything causing this problem I guess I am asking two things. Does the response so quickly to the steroid mean anything g and where should I go from here. Def don’t want a pain attack like that one again. Thanks for any advice in advance

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

February 23, 2015 at 8:41 pm

Post count: 8660

#12302

The medications certainly reduced your pain to quite tolerable levels. There are times that this treatment can interrupt a pain cycle and you can be much better off even in the long term.

However, if you have the same return of pain intensity and then return to the same ER, the ER doc would have a good argument to image you with an MRI or at least a CT scan.

Your surgeon would also have the same incentive to re-image you.

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.

Ren24
Participant

February 25, 2015 at 11:29 am

Post count: 21

#12306

Hello dr
I started physical therapy today. All we really got to was an evaluation and some e-stim with heat. Well tonight it feels like a truck ran over my neck and shoulders and the spasms are worse than ever. A strange thing happened. On my right upper outer arm where she out on an electrode was numb after the stimulater was removed. Just like being shot with novocaine. I could tell it was being touched but was numb for 15 min or so then sensation returned. Any ideas why? One other thing that may interest you turned up in my bloodwork and XRays from arthritis doc. I had a 1.67 positive item/igg tiger for Lymes disease which has been negative in that last. Question ….if it is Lymes could that be causing all my neurological and arthritic like symptoms? Also XRays showed all levels of lumbar spine show disc degeneration as well as lumbar spine. And both si joints have some degenerative signs with the right being worse and having sclerosis? And a small bone spur Could this be causing my tailbone and right hip pain. I’ve read that many people have the same thing as me with degeneration and never have symptoms or pain. Why me? “Old Arthur” as my dad calls it. Runs in the family and my grandmother had spinal stenosis with same kind of pain as me. In arms and legs n just everywhere. I know the Lymes has to be confirmed with another test but I tested negative a couple times before for this. I have no idea what some of this may or may not mean and would love your Input. I have learned a lot from your forum and appreciate in advance anything u have to say on this matter. Thanks. Ren

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

February 26, 2015 at 9:07 pm

Post count: 8660

#12311

If your therapist was using iontophoresis and not muscle stimulation, this can cause temporary numbness as you describe.

Lyme disease can cause many muscle, joint and nerve pains. It is certainly worth getting a rheumatologist consolation to help understand if this is affecting your outcome.

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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