Pain that migrates in leg

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BlackSwan
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November 17, 2014 at 12:04 pm

Post count: 10

#11754

Hi Dr, Corenman,
I have had 2 microdiscectomies on L3/4 & L4/5. First was laser surgery in 2001 and 2nd was open-back in February 2011 due to left foot drop. I am 42 year old female and 62 kilos, 5ft 6 inches.

Over the last 8 weeks I have had level 10 sciatica in opposite leg, (Right Leg) I am on strong pain killers and was getting better slowly except a feeling of extreme tightness in leg and trouble standing in same spot for more than a minute. I then fell asleep in an awkward position on my couch and woke up in a knot with right sided muscle spasms and more sciatica, unable to walk so my recovery went out the window.

My symptoms are migrating right leg sciatica and back pain. No weakness, My sciatica is positional, and changes as i move and shift or stretch. I can stretch and it can leave one location and go into a new location. or even go away for a while.

I just had an MRI yesterday it reads:

Some straightening of lumbar lordosis. Marked disc height loss from L3-L5. Distal Cord is normal in contour and signal. Conus is not low-lying. The cauda equina nerve roots appear within normal limits.

There is an ovoid area intermediate signal material within the right L4/5 exit foramen and lateral recess. This is likely compressing the exiting L4 root and causes slight deformity of the right anteriolateral margin of the thecal sac.
There is also likely impingement on the transiting right L5 root in lateral recess.This material is closely related to the upper surface of the L4/L5 disc and although it is not entirely iso-intense to remainder of disc,it is most likely to represent some extruded disc material. It contacts the superior margin of the presumed parent disc in the canal. In addition, there is a mild broad based disc bulge at L4/L5.
At L5/S1 there is no evidence of canal stenosis. The exiting portion of the right L5 root within the exit foramina appears normal. However as described above there is probable impingement of the transiting portion of the right L5 root more superiorly.

Dr. Corenman I have a few questions please.
1. Is this a cause for surgery?
2. What is your recommendation on activities such as walking/exercise
3. what is the healing time frame
4. I am female and work in an office what shoes should i be wearing heel wise?
5. how long do i take anti-inflammatories

Can i actually recover from this? Any information/advice would be so helpful. I am so stressed out and i am a mum and have all my domestic duties as well. I just don’t understand how bad/concerning my situation is. My GP is Asian and I can hardly understand her at the best of times she did not really understand my MRI which was not helpful so I have nowhere to turn now.

Thank you in advance.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

November 18, 2014 at 1:31 am

Post count: 8660

#11755

You have a recurrent disc herniation at L4-5 (on the right this time). This herniation is compressing the L5 and possibly the L4 nerve roots. Your pain is from the nerve compression.

Do you need surgery? Possibly. See the section on “When to have lower back surgery” to understand surgical indications. You should check your motor strength to make sure you have no weakness.

The L5 root supplies the tibialis anterior and peroneal muscles, The L4 nerve can supply those muscles as well as the quadriceps muscles. You can check these muscles by trying to walk on your heels. If you can’t do that and the foot slaps on the ground, this is foot drop due to weakness of these muscles. If the ankle feels “unstable” (wants to turn in like an ankle sprain), you have peroneal weakness.

If you try to do one-legged squats and cannot rise up from a deep squat on your right leg (with your left leg lifted off the ground), this is weakness of the quad muscles.

In any of these cases, weakness warrants surgery in my opinion. If you have severe pain without weakness, you can try epidural steroid injections (ESI) and these can be effective. If the pain is intolerable, surgery is indicated.

You can try anti-inflammatories. These can work for mild pain but not for significant pain.

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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