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Unfortunately, those side effects you mention do occur in about 20-30% of patients who take those medications. I hope she has undergone a good therapy rehabilitation program by a skilled spine therapist. Again, a consultation by a spine surgeon would be the next step.
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.in reply to: New pain following rear end accident #7284About 50% of my work is revision work (from patients who have failed prior spine surgeries performed elsewhere).
Yes, the revision is generally performed from the anterior approach.
The only hospital I use is Vail Valley Medical Center.
About 60% of my patients are from out of town. You would generally need to be in the hospital for two days after surgery and stay in the valley for another 2-3 days. We have discounted rates for all the major hotels in the area including the Evergreen, 20 yards from the hospital, the Four Seasons if you desire 100 yards from the hospital and the Sonnenalp, a quarter mile from the hospital (they have a driver).
For all out of town patients, almost all post-operative care can be done in your home town. At six weeks, X-rays are taken by your family doctor or local hospital and you would then FedEx the image to us. Physical therapy starts at six weeks in your home town and continues for four to twelve weeks. Generally, twelve weeks after surgery another set of x-rays are taken and if the grafts have incorporated by then, you are free to do whatever activities you like.
Vocal cord checks are typical if a patient has had prior cervical surgery. If however, the same side is approached and the prior surgery did not leave you with a “breathless voice”, there is less concern about vocal cord checks. In that case, the anesthesiologist in Vail can check the cord status.
All patients need a primary care giver clearance. I look at all surgeries as I would a space shuttle launch. All systems need to be “go” or the surgery is scrubbed. This is rare but in the best interest of safety.
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.in reply to: Cervical radiculopathy and headaches #7280Headaches can originate from many sources and one of them is the cervical spine. There are two nerves that originate from the upper cervical spine and radiate to the skull. The C2 nerve turns into the greater occipital nerve and radiates over the skull to the top of the eyes. The C3 nerve turns into the lesser occipital nerve and radiates over the ears to the jaw line.
The facets of C2-3 and C3-4 may irritate these nerves and cause headaches. Facet blocks (see website) may yield temporary relief and possible long term relief.
Lower cervical radiculopathy normally radiates pain and numbness into the shoulder and arm, possibly to the hand. Rarely, degenerative of the cervical discs can cause headaches but normally these headaches stop at the base of the skull.
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.in reply to: Chronic Back pain, L4, L5 S1 #7279I cannot answer your question. This diagnosis really needs a specialist to determine what her disorder is.
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.in reply to: Chronic Back pain, L4, L5 S1 #7276Lower back pain can interfere with bowel habits without compression of the central canal (cauda equina syndrome which is highly searched for but rarely occurs). Increased intraabdominal pressure (required to create a bowel movement) will also increase lower back pain in certain situations. This can be misinterpreted as cauda equina syndrome.
Your mother may also have a bowel disorder. The specialists I am sure have looked for rectocele as one of the sources of your mother’s bowel problems.
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.in reply to: help with understanding my MRI #7274You have congenital stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal from “birth”). On top of that, you have some degenerative changes of the discs. This causes further narrowing of the canal and cord compression. The terms used by the radiologist are moderate to severe stenosis. This is concerning for two reasons.
The first is the potential for spinal cord injury. The spinal canal in the neck narrows with bending the head backwards (extension). A fall onto the front of the head can cause this extension motion vector. This can lead to a central cord injury (see website for further information). If you participate in sports that can put your neck in jeopardy, you should curtail these sports (mtn biking, horseback riding, water and snow skiing, wrestling among others).
The other potential problem that could occur on a chronic basis is myelopathy, the dysfunction of the spinal cord from continued compression. See the website for symptoms of myelopathy.
It is unusual for a 32 year old to have this significant amount of stenosis. The neck pain that you complain of is not from cord compression as the cord compression is generally painless (has no pain receptors). Most likely, the neck pain originates from the degenerative changes of the discs or facets. The arm pain (down to the pinky and ring fingers) is most likely from nerve root compression in the foramen (see website).
It may be in your best interest to gain a second opinion. Remember however that modifiers (mild, moderate, severe) are in the eye of the beholder and the radiologist interpretation may be different than the spine surgeon.
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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