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The X-Stop device is designed for a completely different problem. If you had spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal), and felt better bending forward (this action opens the canal making more room for the nerves), then you might be a candidate for an X-Stop. However, your problem seems to be the disc herniation compressing the nerve root. This will be made worse with the X-Stop. Also, you have had a laminectomy in a prior surgery. The lamina needs to be intact for the X-Stop to work.
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.The procedure you underwent sounds like a discectomy. The term laminotomy simply means a removal of a small portion of the lamina. Laminectomy means removal of the entire lamina. In either case, a discectomy can be done at the same time. This means that if you had a herniation of the disc, the herniated fragment is removed to decompress the nerve. Since your pain has returned, most likely you have yet another herniation called a recurrent herniation.
There is another possibility however. If you have developed a collapse of the foramen (the bony area where the nerve exist out of the spine), your pain can recur. In this case, it is the bone of the vertebra that is compressing the nerve and not the disc herniation.
A good MRI and standing X-rays can reveal what the pathology is. A nerve block can then confirm the diagnosis. Repeat surgery might need to include a fusion of the area. Don’t be too concerned with a fusion though. If the nerve root has been compressed three times, a fusion of this area is needed to protect the nerve from any further damage as chronic nerve pain is no fun and hard to treat.
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: severe pain #4529By the description of your symptoms, you could have neurogenic claudication (but you need to see a qualified medical professional to have this diagnosed). This is a set of symptoms caused by spinal stenosis- the very common narrowing of the spinal canal caused by chronic degenerative changes that most of us get over time.
If this is the case, the reason you feel better “bent forward” is that the spinal canal changes in diameter with forward vs. backwards bending. When you bend forward, you increase the volume of the canal and reduce the “pinching” of the nerves. When you stand up, you effectively bend backwards which causes narrowing of the canal and compression of the nerves.
The epidural injections can be very effective to reduce symptoms of this condition but eventually, these injections can become less effective over time. Losing weight can be helpful but will not change the mechanics of the spine. Flattening the back when standing can be effective and is a useful physical therapy tool.
Eventually, this condition might call for surgical decompression. Do not hesitate to get an opinion from a spine surgeon or neurosurgeon.
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: Right sided pars fracture of L5 #4528Think of the healing of the pars fracture like the healing of a broken leg. You don’t want to go running on a broken leg until it heals and if you did run on it when it was still broken, you would impede healing. The same with this pars fracture. The mechanism of fracture is with extension, so extension is avoided until healing. The reason the bone fractured in the first place is the amount of extension generated with your serve and overhead shots.
Hopefully, the fracture heals with a great amount of callus formation. Callus is like the excess metal from a weld on a steel tube. It can create greater strength than the original bone had. However, a “partially healed” fracture may not have the same strength as the original fractured bone and possibly make you vulnerable to another fracture.
The bone scan is a radioactive tracer attached to a protein that accumulates in reactive bone. The scan will show up “bright” in areas of greater bone activity. It is a good test to see if there is a possibility of bone healing as if the area does not “light up”, the chances of healing are greatly diminished. The bone scan does not reveal if the area is healed- only if it has the potential to heal.
Physical therapy is one of the cornerstones of recovery after the bone is healed. If you return to your previous activity patterns in tennis however, physical therapy may not help you avoid refracture.
The bone stimulator probably does not help much, but even a little help is better than nothing as this stimulator has no down side that I am aware of.
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: Sports Injury – Thoracic #4525If there is no correlation between the lifting and the pain, then this is not instability and the possibility of a degenerative spondylolysthesis is lessened. I think the next step is to ask you doctor to see if he or she will order an MRI of your cervical spine.
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: Right sided pars fracture of L5 #4524If the pars is reported to be “partially healed”, that definition depends upon the interpretation of the radiologist. A pars fracture can heal without a full joining of 100% of the bone ends. If the other side of the vertebra is not fractured and the fracture side has 50% of the fracture ends fully united, more likely than not it will withstand extension. Extension occurs with your serve and overhead.
The reason the bone fractured in the first place is the significant forces to the pars generated with these actions. It is a possibility that the fracture can occur again. If the fracture occurs again, you might need a surgical pars repair.
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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