Severe Coccyx pain that is affecting rectal area

Tagged: Newest MRI report

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Cjdegood
Participant

October 12, 2019 at 7:11 am

Post count: 26

#31291

Dr. Coleman
Thank you so much for the information. I went to my appointment yesterday morning with a local spine orthopedic here. He reviewed my MRIs and did an Xray there in the office. You were right on it! He said he could give me an injection, however that would only be a temporary fix. so i am scheduled for microdiskectomy on November 6th. I am relieved and anxious. I cried happy tears. while nothing is 100% he is 90% sure i will feel better. i do have to wait until i am 6 weeks post op from my abdominal hysterectomy. But looking forward to feeling close to normal again. i am ready to get my life back after nearly 8 months of severe pain that kept me from doing all the things i love! (like holding my grandbabies) and taking our 12 hour road trips to see them. his office is very busy and he is top rated in our Houston area, but the wait was definitely worth it! i did fail to ask a couple of questions.. no rush on getting back to me, but during this procedure, since it is micro.. if there was anything else in the spine, would the doctor be able to see it? i am sure this is outpatient and i can go home the same day, but was curious about that. i signed a paper that stated if there was anything else or something like that when they went in, that i am giving permission for them to correct it. But 2 inches is very small opening, so not sure what else they could see. Thank you again for your time and the inforamtion. I truly appreciate it. And i am so happy that i am not getting another injection that doesnt last long.
Sincerely,
Connie

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

October 14, 2019 at 8:48 am

Post count: 8660

#31298

I think you are on the correct pathway. This procedure should help you. Please keep in touch.

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.

Cjdegood
Participant

November 7, 2019 at 1:14 pm

Post count: 26

#31402

Dr Coleman
I had my microdiskectomy yesterday. other than being extremely sore i can already tell this was successful! I do not feel any pain down my left side and nothing near the rectal area any longer.It is wonderful! i am however very sore and moving slowly, but i know that is just temporary. I am so thankful for this doctor getting right to the source and not prolonging it with injections that would only provide temporary relief. I follow up with him next week. The only thing that concerned me was the conversation he had with my husband. He said the nerve was fine and not damaged, however my vertebra was destroyed? and i will need a fusion in the future. but right now he was taking care of the problem at hand. Not sure what that means or what it is, but i know i am going to get back to normal after this recovery. Looking forward to the holidays now. It has been a long road to get here and finally have a diagnosis and resolution. Thank you so much for all of your responses,it did help me through this by not feeling alone and maybe a little nuts, thinking it was all in my head.
Take care and wish you and your family a blessed holiday season.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

November 8, 2019 at 8:42 pm

Post count: 8660

#31409

Thanks for keep us updated with your surgery and glad to hear your pain is abating. Your surgeon was probably talking about your disc being “destroyed” which is common with a large hernation. Many discs flatten due to the loss of nucleus (the hernation material) and still function adequately so don’t worry. Go through your rehabilitation and work hard on core strength. Avoid the BLTs!

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.

Cjdegood
Participant

February 21, 2020 at 2:26 pm

Post count: 26

#32088

Dr. Coreman
Good Friday afternoon!
i am reaching out to you once again for what I hope might be some comforting information. My micro-discetomy was back on November 6 2019, after 2 weeks post op I certainly started to feel great! I was able to get back to nearly normal although restrictions were in place for a few more weeks. I do recall most of the month of December feeling alright, and I did have my grandkids here with us for the holidays (4yr & 2yr old) I performed all of my holiday chores and duties and did not think much about it. Then after the New year around January 3rd, I woke up during the night with terrible low back pain. I have never had anything like that, especially during sleep. So i got up and took my ibuprofen (800mg) I was up for about 4 hours before it let up enough to go back to bed. The next morning i woke up and was okay for the most part, but as the morning progressed i started feeling the pain again and this time it came with a sharp pain mostly on the left side. I just started to deal with it and take my ibuprofen and try to keep normal going. But i was up again the next night and the next. Now when i walk i can feel sharp pains on the left(near the area of my incision site) mostly with every step I take. Actually when I step with my left, I can feel something shifting? I am not sure how to describe it. I also am not able to lift myself and roll over at night, if i do i am thinking that is when i am waking up hurting. I have to grab side of bed and use my upper portion of myself and pull that way even to just get out of bed otherwise i feel like i am pulling something out of place. If I put full weight on my left foot when walking the pain is there in my back. Sitting at night though, i feel tingling (not strong pain) all the way across my lower back. The only relief i have found, is stretching forward (basically bending over) it seems to take what ever the pressure is, off of me. now coming back up is not great, but those few seconds are such a relief. I have alot of popping which i know may not mean anything, some people just pop, but i wanted to note that was new and i can definitely feel it. Its almost like i can feel something rubbing me? inside? always when i am walking, so i definitely walk slower. Maybe a better way to describe it while walking or getting up is like a “catch” and a sharp one. I have been participating in physical therapy as well (aquatic) i dont feel any better, but it doesnt make it feel worse either. The therapist said my left leg is weaker and shorter than my right (dont know what that means) we do a lot exercise in the water and then they put some sticky pads on my back and this machine puts some kind of tingling in them. The doctor gave me a steroid pack today (6 day dose) and 800mg Ibuprofen. We did not do a post op MRI as he said there would be no sense in the expense, if something showed up and i did not want anything invasive? so your thoughts? should i see if the steroids help with any possible inflammation? because maybe that is what it is and i just need to give it more time? I always sleep with pillow under knees as well, since i cannot lay flat anyway, i cant stand that empty space between my bed and my lower back..that causes sharp pain as well but it always has. on another note.. I only feel tingling in my left foot at night when i go to bed and it doesnt last long and not as bad as it was prior to surgery. However that was never a chief complaint! I really was hoping by now i could get back to my regular workouts and jogging.. but i dont want to do anything that would even remotely bring that pain that i had last year back, however i dont think i am willing to live with an alternate pain either. I don’t think i planned on trading one pain for another. I am only 48yrs old. I am about 5’2 and have been maintaining 143lbs since last year. This whole journey started last year when i made the decision to lose weight and get healthy. (lost total 50lbs) I had made that decision after losing my mother a little while back- she was short, overweight and went in the hospital with terrible back pain (could hardly walk) and that is when they discovered that her spine had started crumbling?? not sure exactly and they did kyoplasty. Turns out she had multiple myeloma and it had already consumed 70% of her marrow..that was in the month of Sept (2018) and she died that November.. the chemo was too much for her heart. All i wanted to do was get healthy weight.. and i have hurt ever since.
Thank you for your time Dr. Coreman.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

February 22, 2020 at 9:06 am

Post count: 8660

#32091

You had a microdiscectomy in the beginning of November and then 2 months later developed lower back symptoms. “When i walk i can feel sharp pains on the left(near the area of my incision site) mostly with every step I take. Actually when I step with my left, I can feel something shifting…The only relief i have found, is stretching forward (basically bending over) it seems to take what ever the pressure is, off”.

It is not unheard of to have a facet fracture after a decompressive lumbar surgery or even develop late symptoms of an infection (rare). I would think the next step would be X-rays and a new MRI.

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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