Severe Coccyx pain that is affecting rectal area

Tagged: Newest MRI report

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Cjdegood
Participant

July 8, 2020 at 1:38 pm

Post count: 26

#32731

i forgot to answer part of the question..my left leg is not numb.. but still weak and i cannot put my full weight on it due to the burning going down the back of the leg. I was told this burning pain in my leg, would be the nerves.. and will take time to heal. I am on Gabapentin 300mg twice a day. I actually had to call the Dr. office Monday and request something for the leg pain as it was waking me up in the middle of the night. I also have Norco 10/325mg and Flexeril 10mg. I only take the latter as needed every 8 hours..so max i take is 2 times a day if needed.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

July 9, 2020 at 6:49 am

Post count: 8660

#32738

The fact that you have no saddle numbness is a good finding that pushes away from Cauda Equina Syndrome. You unfortunately are having a rough recovery but should start to improve over time. I don’t think that you had a decompression with the surgical technique you mention but hopefully the surgery “indirectly” decompressed the canal (by stretching out the collapsed segment).

Please keep the forum informed of your progress.

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

July 14, 2020 at 10:51 am

Post count: 26

#32755

3 weeks post op! I saw urologist yesterday and the good news was the catheter was able to be removed. ( I had a foley since surgery due to something called ileus and bladder spasms) i was unable to empty my bladder and then it became emergency situation and had to go ER to have it drained 1400ml) so i spent the last 2 weeks with a foley but at least i was home. i can now empty my bladder completely, not without a little pain but i can handle that.. probably just result of having that in for so long. My lower back feels good and incisions on both abdomen and back are healing nicely. The only issue i am now dealing with is that awful tailbone pain again! i am not able to sit without pain, and rising from sitting takes my breath away. So i am walking alot and can only sit in the bed comfortably. I just hate this pain! i see the surgeon tomorrow for my post op check up. Not sure what they do or if they look at the fusion to make sure its all good. My question is.. can the L5S1 affect this area? As far as i know he did not touch that part only L4 L5. But MRI did mention disc desication and moderate disc height loss and discogenic endplate changes? i am at a loss.. I may just have to live with this particular pain.but I am thrilled to not have that terrible aching low back pain any longer. I always appreciate your responses! Thank you very much for that. if anything it usually offers some form of comfort. Have a blessed day

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

July 16, 2020 at 10:40 am

Post count: 8660

#32772

Coccyx pain has many different causes including injury to the coccyx itself, lumbar disc referral pain (unlikely), radicular pain (nerve root compression pain-more common) and pudendal neuropathy (“sickness” of the sacral plexus-common). Give your recovery some time as it takes months for a nerve that is decompressed to recover.

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

August 12, 2020 at 2:15 pm

Post count: 26

#32836

Dr. Corenman
well.. 7 weeks post op yesterday and feeling rather stable now I must say. That part is fantastic!! still have terrible pain down the back of my left leg and foot..the tailbone area is still just as sore and i have given up riding in a car even with several different tailbone cushions. X-rays last week did show the hardware all in place, so that was good news. I have been working from home, which does require sitting at a desk, but since i am remote i can get up and alternate between walking and standing. At least now i can get relief by laying down, where before surgery the only relief i could find was hot tub. Sleeping is definitely not an issue now. I am truly hoping it was all fixed and i do not have to go through that surgery again!! Back is still very sore where they went through, but was told that would be sore for a while. Starting PT next week too. If i can just get rid of the tailbone pain when sitting and the leg and foot pain it would be great! patience i guess. They did get XRay of my neck as well as i have been experiencing some issues. They said that no significant stenosis showed so that was good. Here is what i am dealing with and maybe i just need to go to primary doctor and see what it could be… it may be completely unrelated to spine. Neck hurts cannot turn to the left all the way.. when pushing my head down to my chest it gives me relief, but if i try and look up with head towards my back, it is very painful. i am also not able to lift my left arm above my shoulder too much without pain. Index finger and thumb go numb, but not constantly.. the pain i was experiencing going down my arm a couple of weeks ago has also let up some. i have been dropping items alot lately so trying not to use my left hand to pick anything up. already lost 2 of my favorite coffee mugs. I have changed pillows, sleeping position of my head etc, pain in the neck still the same. I did not mention any of this to the Dr. pre surgery as i just wanted the back fixed and that was all i wanted to focus on.. then after the hard recovery i really did not want to bring up anything new. i am currently taking gabapentin 300mg 3x and muscle relaxer at night for the leg aches, and a new medicine he put me on called APAP-Caffein-Dihydrocodeine.. never had that before but was what they gave me when i told them i could not take norco and work at the same time. i had other questions but i have already gone on too long. Will write again after my next follow up appt. in September. Thank you for listening and always answering.. wishing near Colorado.

Cjdegood
Participant

October 7, 2020 at 10:01 am

Post count: 26

#33119

Good morning from Texas Dr.
I am now a little more than 3 months post op of my 360 lumbar fusion. Things are better and the terrible low back pain is definitely better than it was. I was mistaken on the level that was fused. My MRI report stated L4 L5 however my doctor said it was L5 S1. I asked and he said he goes by the MRI not the written report. Although my report did mention something about L5 on Left is sacralized and right is partially sacralized so confirming the level prior to any intervention would be reccomended..so that is probably why I had it wrong. Either way the pain is alot better now.. not gone completely, but manageable with Ibuprofen. About a week ago I noticed I have the pulling feeling again in my left leg, and i can only stand up for a little while because i get that burning feeling in my foot. I can pretty much handle it as it comes, but it does cause me a little problem. I still cannot sit properly or ride in a car due to the pain my seat area. I can sit forward without putting pressure on it and I am fine, until the burning starts in my leg because of the way i am forward in the chair.. so i can stand for a while and then only sit leaning forward. I cannot go very far in the car as its just too painful. so the most i will drive is to town and appointments. I think i am going to have to live with this as i already did a round of steroids and i take Gabapentin 3 times a day and one muscle relaxer at night. I do have Tylenol with codeine prescribed to me, but i dont take that unless its an absolute must. I dont like the way it makes me feel and i cannot work properly on it. My question actually is this.. would a surgeon fix or take care of anything else during the procedure? I know per the report i had a disc protrusion contacting the exiting L4 nerve root and 4-5 mm synovial cyst contacting the desending left L5 nerve root.just curious because after December 31st.. i am done. In the last year I have had to spend 13K of my own money on deductables.. and i just cannot do that again.. so i will have to live with whatever i have left wrong and pray it just gets better with PT and stretches. I have not even had my left arm looked at. it still throbs and thumb and index finger go numb.. but I can live with it as long as it doesnt get any worse. Thank you again for reading my small book.
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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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