Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

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Greg
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February 27, 2016 at 12:11 pm

Post count: 29

in reply to: lumbar spine #21437

Carolns: it reads like you are overdoing it at this time in regards to exercise. After these Epidurals you should just relax for a good month to allow for healing and inflammation reduction from the steroid. . It will teach you what to do and mostly what not to do movement wise. For instant, never bend over and pickup anything before late morning. Most back spasms are triggered picking things up in the early morning. If you have to, get on your knees to pick the Sunday paper up and carefully and slowly get up. Try to brace yourself with one hand on something while you bend to lessen torque on the disks. Never ever twist and bend to lift anything. It’s all in this small book. Discussions about proper posture whenever possible can mitigate disk bulging. Personally I never sleep on my back. Converting to a 100% side sleeper has made a big difference for me and Put a pillow between your legs. I learned a long time ago that physical therapy was not in my best interest. Older people get the most out of walking for exercise. Leave it at that. Walking gets all the muscles and vertebra moving gently. That creates healing and long term care for the overall body.

Greg
Participant

February 13, 2016 at 8:51 am

Post count: 29

in reply to: Pain Management Specialist suggests a Neuro Stimulator #21328

btw: Others with uncontrollable pain have had 100% success in controlling their pain in any part of the body with these modulators according to clinical phase testing. One has a communication device that allows one to control the amount of stimulation created by the electrodes in order to block the pain signals to the brain. Jerry Lewis was the first person of recognition to have one placed in his body for chronic back pain decades ago. Apparently the under skin devices have gotten much smaller to the size of a chip.

Greg
Participant

September 15, 2015 at 7:30 am

Post count: 29

in reply to: back surgery #20326

Dr. Corenman states under DDD that ” Epidural injections can be wonderful for severe onset of incapacitating symptoms.” That was directly in regards to Annular Tears. Beckett states that his MRI made particular note to an Annular Tear at L5.S1. You are correct gwccbc that epidurals do not work for everyone but for the vast majority they do. Steroids are wonder drugs for acute pain syndromes like Annular Tears

Greg
Participant

September 12, 2015 at 12:38 pm

Post count: 29

in reply to: back surgery #20324

Dr. Corenman may be on vacation at this time as he hasn’t been on the site recently. L5, S1 issues. How old are you? Be more specific about the MRI is a suggestion. I am amazed that you have not had an epidural injection. Find a pain management specialist that does not charge a premium for the use of the fluoroscope guided x ray. Many charge for their medical service and another fee for their outpatient surgery room. Those can get costly. My PM dr charges 232.00 for a guided epidural injection without medication. They don’t hurt. I had the same results with traction in a chiropractor’s office. They tend to apply too much pounds per square inch pressure to your back and you walk out in pain. I don’t use that machine for that reason. They want to get to 100 psi when 40 psi is all you need. The Epidural which is combined with a steroid and lidocaine will flush out the irritating chemicals that exited the disk and relieve the excited nerves that are causing the pain syndrome. Steroids work wonders on annular tears. I have had injections, 1-3 per year for 10 years and they take me from debilitating pain to complete remission within one month. Within a few days you will have noticeable results and it just gets better from there. My injections have lasted for up to a year on several occasions. My last injection in July from my worst spasm ever has resolved itself in full. I did have another injection two weeks after the first just to make sure this episode was over. Not everyone is helped by physical therapy and manipulation above and beyond deep body massage. Work on your posture too. We all roll our upper backs forward. That is not good. Sit up straighter whenever possible with your head back. You want that curve in your lower back to be present whenever possible. You are creating a form of extension in the spine that is good for the disks. You are a perfect candidate for epidural injection. If your spasms tend to happen on one side exclusively you want the injection to be placed on that side of the vertebrae. Get one next week.

Greg
Participant

September 6, 2015 at 9:24 am

Post count: 29

in reply to: MRI Results and McKensie Extension PT #20303

BTW: I have never had any thoracic or cervical issues.

Greg
Participant

September 6, 2015 at 9:23 am

Post count: 29

in reply to: MRI Results and McKensie Extension PT #20302

About a month ago I had a sharp pain across the T8/9 plane. It was stiff and slightly sore for a couple of days and I worked through it. Then the stiffness and soreness came back into the adjacent muscle group and has lingered ever since. When I am busy running my flooring business supervising my employees and performing the tasks that I can do standing up it seems to subside. Now all I have is a trigger point soreness right over the T-8/9 vertebrae. This is unfamiliar territory as I have never had this type of soreness with my lumbar spine’s DDD. Understand that I became deconditioned with my last month long recovery from my L5,S1 muscle spasm in July and I have made an effort to gain back muscle with bike riding and 8 lb. bicep lifting. I also am very aware of not letting my shoulders roll forward when sitting and therefore attempting to maintain a neutral correct posture whenever possible. Is this a soft tissue issue I am having with the T-8/9? I started yesterday with rolling a ball against a wall with my back where the soreness is located and putting a soft McKensie roll on the floor and laying on top of it centerline to the Thoracic spine and rolling all different directions in an attempt to deep massage this chronic problem away.
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Donald Corenman, MD, DC

Average rating:

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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Greg

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