server neck pain!! PLEASE HELP!!

Tagged: Neck pain and anxiety

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Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

December 5, 2015 at 11:51 am

Post count: 8660

#20966

You have according to the radiologist “Disc hydration is reduced, consistent with early degenerative disc disease. There has bee straighten of the normal cervical lordosis” which is degenerative disc disease. This can cause localized neck pain and you could also have facet disease which can cause neck pain and headaches.

This disorder seems to be consistent with your earlier report and possibly consistent with your symptoms. You might consider a consultation with an interventional pain physician. You might respond to injections.

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.

RipScooter
Participant

December 5, 2015 at 4:46 pm

Post count: 7

#20972

I have been going to pain management and getting injections for almost 2 years, the injections are getting to where they are not helping. They did a new MRI of my neck to which it basically said my neck is normal. I am confused to why or how I could go from all these problems noted in the 2013 MRI to nothing now. It doesn’t make sense at all to me. The pain is still there very much so and getting worse by the day. From the new MRO I am afraid the drs will think I am crazy and dismiss me.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

December 6, 2015 at 6:07 am

Post count: 8660

#20976

Pain can be generated from sometimes “insignificant” problems found on MRI. That is, mild degeneration, small microscopic tears and inflammation that really does not show up well on MRI scans. The problem is that these pain generators are not capable of being treated surgically.

I will assume that you went through facet blocks and a pain diary (see website) and either never were a candidate for rhizotomy or failed that procedure. Without reviewing all your history, old images and procedures and a precise physical examination, I cannot comment on if there was any missing diagnostic elements.

You are not crazy but you might not have obvious pain generators. There is a disorder called fibromyalgia that could also fit your profile. This disorder is firing of the pain nerves with no pain stimulus. Have you been considered for that diagnosis?

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.

RipScooter
Participant

December 6, 2015 at 11:47 am

Post count: 7

#20977

I have had facet joint injections with triggers, these was the very first ones I had. Which resulted in the worst tension headache for a week straight. Ended up at the dr getting a toradol shot to release some of the tension. The dr said the trigger shots caused me to go into a constant muscle spasm that resulted in a server tension headache, and advice me not to get those again. So they decided to start doing the epidural injections, which have worked almost 2 years until Sept this year. I started having “new” symptoms, right at the base of my skull I would start hurting like someone hit me with a baseball bat, then I would get extreme pressure in my head. The pressure was so bad I could feel it in my ears, felt like my ears was going to bust, while all this was going on I felt disorientated and dizzy a little. Told my dr or should I say his NP and he told me that this wasn’t a new symptom and it was just the arthritis. So he decided lets do the facet injections again, to which there was no relief. They have never mention that I might could have fibro, they are so focused on my neck as of right now cause they say it’s the worst of my problems. I know they can’t make me completely pain free and the winter months are the worse for pain. I was just hoping that the new MRI would have shed some light as to why I have been feeling worse. The dizziness, the feeling of choking ( can’t breath) while turned my head left or right, the arm weakness, tingling and strange bruising type pain. Thanks for your time.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

December 13, 2015 at 5:55 pm

Post count: 8660

#21033

You might check to see if the diagnosis of fibromyalgia fits. Generally an experienced family practice physician can diagnose this disorder. Rheumatologists commonly diagnose this. There are however some physicians who are uncomfortable with making this diagnosis. I cannot tell by your description what your disorder could be but look into the chronic pain disorders as a potential for your diagnosis.

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.

RipScooter
Participant

December 13, 2015 at 6:25 pm

Post count: 7

#21034

I have thought I might have had it, but the Drs never suggested it. I will Talk more with them the first of next month about all of this. Maybe we can figure out what is going on with me. Thank you so much for speaking with me on this. Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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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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