please help multiple problems

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mr woodall
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December 13, 2014 at 1:21 pm

Post count: 2

#11849

About 3 years ago i awoke with a chronic knee problem overnight.I had this for a year had 1 steroid jab in it it cured it for 6 week or so but then came back.I awoke 1 morning with back and kneck pain, after walking i had really knumb buttocks.I had a mri ive not seen it but the results where imflam in lumba and cerv and sac,i was given a shot and 4 months later i had a xray on my left hip theres quiet a lot of wear and tear in your left side given a jab and told to be back in 4 month.When i went back i had what she called rotator cuff in my right shoilder give me a jab in it discharged me from clinic i had a mri of neck done a 3month later { ihad 1 done whole spine 14 month before witch ive not seen} i have numerous problems i feel like im heading to ground when i walk hip pain back pain i cant look over my shoulder i take 8 df118s a day if i didnt have these id be in agony this is the report…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Normal alighnment degen changes seen within the cervical spine Some disc bulging is seen at c45 56 level efacement of csf from around the cord is noted at at the c5/6.The cord bone marrow signal normal.The block axial sequences show widespread degen change .There is mild flattening of the cord at the c4/5 level and c5/6 levels.There is marked c6 exit foraminal narrowing bi laterally.The other exit foramina are rela tively uninpeded There is some prominence of lymph nodes on the axial sequence …………..I dont understand it and my lower back hurts more than my neck dread to think what its like down there could some one explain the mri thank you ive give up on my gp @quiet messed up she said Last 2 weeks or so ive had red feet and hands and elbow pain and weak ankles am awaitng bloods have the hla b27 gene as well and hemochromotosis gen really poorly feel like no ones bothered thank you

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

December 13, 2014 at 11:41 pm

Post count: 8660

#11850

You are all over the place with your symptom complaints. It is hard to tell what is going on with cervical, lumbar, knee and shoulder degenerative changes and complaints in the hip, full spine and shoulder (s?).

You have to be focused on each area and treat each area as a separate problem. Do not mix them when reporting symptoms. See the section “how to describe symptoms” to better understand how to convey what disturbs 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.

mr woodall
Member

December 27, 2014 at 12:12 pm

Post count: 2

#11917

so sorry for the previous email dr corenman.Im frustrated and dont think im getting a fair deal from my health team…Main problem i had a head jolt in bed a few week ago like a tourettes tick but quicker flash second jolt.Allso i awoke from my sleep with the feeling of been electrocuted full body.I had a full spime mri 16 month ago the report i got off my specialist said………….ddd cervix and lumba osteophytes mild overlaying imflam nothing signifficant just had 1 done 6 weeks ago………………………………Normal alighnment degen changes seen within the cervical spine Some disc bulging is seen at c45 56 level efacement of csf from around the cord is noted at at the c5/6.The cord bone marrow signal normal.The block axial sequences show widespread degen change .There is mild flattening of the cord at the c4/5 level and c5/6 levels.There is marked c6 exit foraminal narrowing bi laterally.The other exit foramina are relatively uninpeded There is some prominence of lymph nodes on the axial sequence.
When i visited my doctors she said your necks pretty messed up but theres no nerve involvement.Id had the feeling of a cat brushing up my back left shoulder blade pain gen neck and shoulder pain and pain in my left elbow. I got a copy of the report off a different doctor the clinical findings ie the reason for the mri shed put kneck pain and stiffness like i needed it for that ive ddd in my kneck it was nerve issues that i went to see her about i have the feeling there not playing fair.On the bottom of the mri report thats seen by your doctor she puts what action to take it says no action and like i said all she said was its pretty messed up but 14 months ago it was nothing signiffacant dread to think what my lumba is like ive no strength in my lower half weak at the knees sloutching the big toe on my leg that has the sacroilliitis is turning upwards and the little 1 has just packed up and ive developed what looks like MITCHELLS DISEASE erathmalgina could that be linked to my kneck problems is flattening of the cord serious i was working construction 3 years ago i struggle to get up stairs whats the outlook for me thanks ian w

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

December 30, 2014 at 9:35 pm

Post count: 8660

#11924

Your symptoms seem to be full body involvement and not specific to a nerve compression syndrome. Normally, with nerve compression, you would have one arm or one leg involvement. If you really had significant degeneration of both neck and lower back, you might have one arm and one leg involvement.

With bilateral arm and leg involvement, I would be more suspicious of a metabolic. Inflammatory or infectious process such as B12 defeciency, Lyme disease or even Lupis.

Neck stiffness is very common with degenerative disc disorders. If the cord is flattened, you can look in the myelopathy section of this website for symptoms related to that disorder.

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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