Progressive thoracic spine pain 10 months

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Lovelife
Member

March 23, 2012 at 11:37 pm

Post count: 16

#5825

Dr. Corenman, thank you again for responding to my message with very helpful information. I am not trying to beat a dead horse, just make sure I am doing the right things in order to feel better. I was in a graduate medical program before being put on medical leave and really want to get back and finish. If things are not improving by early summer, I may seek out a consult with you at your practice in Vail.
Your advice and thoughts have been very useful and again I thank you.

Lovelife
Member

March 30, 2012 at 9:02 am

Post count: 16

#5902

Dr. Corenman post=1516 wrote: I know that chiropractors use the X-ray as a tool to determine if the vertebra are “out of alignment” but the findings on X-ray indicating alignment issues are really not accurate. It is the palpation of the vertebra that really indicates restriction of motion. Using palpation skills, a chiropractor can “feel” restrictions in movement of one vertebra to the next and then deliver a thrust (adjustment) to mobilize that motion segment.

Many chiropractors manipulate the entire spine as they believe that a spine without restrictions of movement, even in non-painful regions, will allow the painful segments to function better.

Dr. Corenman

Dr. Corenman,
can you give me an idea of how long it takes for a new patient to get an appointment?
I can contact Sarah to see about setting something up. What typically happens on a first visit for someone in my case with almost one year of thoracic spine pain (If you were willing to see me, I have no problems with traveling there). Sorry if these are basic questions, but I am beginning to think a clinician needs to just do a thorough exam of my spine to try to determine what and where the dysfunction is and why it’s causing pain. If there is not an answer to this, at least I know I tried everything.
Thank you again.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

March 30, 2012 at 8:59 pm

Post count: 8660

#5908

I do not handle new patient appointments as my nurses take care of me in that department. They know I am incapable of that task. You would have to call DIana or Sarah for that information at (970) 476-1100

New patients have about an hour appointment but if it takes longer to determine the course of action, so be it. I require X-rays and an MRI or CT myelogram to review to make the diagnosis. Both tests can be accomplished at my clinic. Many times, diagnostic injections are ordered and can be performed within 1-2 days of the appointment. There are times that prior tests have to be repeated. Occasionally, a consult is needed to a neurologist for an EMG or such.

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.

Lovelife
Member

April 10, 2012 at 6:32 am

Post count: 16

#5993

Dr. Corneman,
got your message regarding my images and thank you.
I figured it is some kind of joint dysfunction so I shall attempt rehab again as you suggest. I was probably a bit over tested in this situation but mistakes were made with my lumbar spine so there’s a bit of paranoia now.

Hopefully my school academic advisor will allow me back in with better knowledge in August… they were more concerned about instability because of my history and want me to be able to succeed in a tough program.

Thank you so much!
You are an amazing doctor and person and I thank you for taking the time you have.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

April 10, 2012 at 12:31 pm

Post count: 8660

#5996

Good luck.

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.

Lovelife
Member

April 13, 2012 at 1:50 am

Post count: 16

#6011

Dr. Corenman,
I have one final question … sorry .

The chiropractor I saw (noted in previous post) indicated that on x-ray my thoracic spinous processes aligned like forward and backward slashes:

/

/

That mis-alignment seems pretty extreme but if true I would suspect chiropractic would be the only way to alleviate it. It is not something I have felt personally and has never been noted at that level of problem.
I know you view a lot of images, but no other clinician made a note of this problem, other than the first doctor I saw thought T11 had “slipped”…. and there is the T7/8 weirdness. Is the above a reasonable assessment to you based upon what you saw (if you remember) on my images? Just trying to make sure that I understand the possible pain generators before trying rehabilitation as I don’t have much time to waste doing the wrong thing. I also have some sporadic twitching of my bicep muscle and don’t want to make that worse.
Thank you again if you have any insight.
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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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