Thoracic bulge pain

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BlackSwan
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July 11, 2012 at 9:10 am

Post count: 10

#6511

Hi Dr.,

Thank you in for reading this message.

5 years ago, I was having osteopath treatment on my back and shoulders. I was aware that I had athritic changes to neck and 1 bulge somewhere in C-spine. During one of my massages, the osteopath pressed hard right on the center spine and I heard and felt a pop. I knew something was amiss so I stopped the treatment and went home. For the next 5 consecutive days I felt burning over my T-spine by bra strap. My husband was angry at me, and I kept quiet.

Neurological pain went away in 2 weeks, and it had resolved to an ache in mid back and was stable for about 4 years. Last March 2011, I ran over a curb with my car and my spine jarred quite a bit. It was somewhat like a mild whiplash and being thrown in the air. I had very painful
shoulders and tingling in arms and midback. This settled down within 1 week, and I went to physio after for a review. They gave me core exercise to strenghthen core. I
am in good shape and normal size and weight and am 39 years old.

After attempting some of those forward bending stomach crunches i stirred things up badly in the thoracic back area and the burning and tingling magnified by 100%. I was in massive pain with parasthesia and burning in face,back,arms and some in legs.

This is my MRI report. March 2011

C2-C5 all demonstrate central disc protrusion with mild unconvertebral joint and facet joint hypertrophy and no neural compromise.

C5/C6 left paracentral disc extrusion with mild unconvertebral joint &facet joint hypertrophy. Dimensions of disc are 11×2.2x6mm (transverse x AP x cranio caudal) Moderate to severe left
Foraminal narrowing with potential to impinge C6 nerve root. Mild spinal canal narrowing.

C6/C7 central disc protrusion with mild unconvertebral joint and facet joint hypertrophy.The disc just contacts anterior aspect cervical spinal cord. No neural compromise.

T5/T6 small right paracentral disc protrusion with annual fissuring and contact and mild flattening of right anterior aspect thoracic cord. Neural exit foramina and spinal canal adequate.
Scoliosis convex to left centered at T5/T

I have been reviewed by an orthopaedic spine specialist who only saw the films, and did not
read the report. He has said that there is nothing in my MRI films that alarms him or warrants
surgery.
My problem of course is pain, sometimes burning, & tightness in back where bra line is. I haven’t been told how to deal with that. Also sometimes my hands sting (both of them) sometimes only 1 stings.

I am not sure what to do, and I don’t know if the T5/T6 disc is a spinal cord compression? I rarely speak up for myself and i was sandwiched between my husband who never lets me
speak and the orthopedic who only addressed him in the consult.

I have been to a neurologist last month for continuing numbness and paras thesis and have normal Brain MRI, NCV, EMG. I have no weakness or balance issues. Purely sensory and of course the Trigeminl nerve is involved as head goes numb. My GP has now referred me to neurosurgeon as she thinks this ll is coming from T disc. I asked how can T5/T6 disc cause numbness in left top head, and she couldn’t offer explanation. The ortho only looked at my films and said it looks fine, he id not look at the radiologist report. I wonder if the tear is significant in my case?? I thought maybe the hand stinging could be from c5c6 disc and all the other neurological stuff could be something else?

Goodness I don’t know where to go

Thank you again, God Bless
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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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