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thebird
Participant

November 6, 2017 at 3:22 am

Post count: 24

in reply to: Symptom question #26769

Hi Dr Corenman,

I have since developed a dizzy/unbalanced feeling that comes with movement of my head/neck. It is short and brief (as in seconds) and purely based on neck movement. I receive this while sitting or standing. The unbalanced feeling feels like it is in my head only, I don’t feel as though I’m going to fall over but don’t feel steady – quite hard to explain.

Have seen ENT specialist who ruled out inner ear infection and vertigo issues.

The nuerologist has seen me again and revisited the cervical MRI and advised at c6 level there is not enough room due to disc bulge and possibly receiving dynamic cord compression. He is conducting a further SSEP test shortly and has advised he is recommending decompression at this level of the cord. Most likely when I see surgeon again will be looking at ACDF.

The nuerologist did not comment on reflexes of legs. Therefore, I’m not sure if the delayed comment by the surgeon was a miss judgement. The nuerologist also has mri on brain which was all clear.

Thanks for your time and just wondering your feedback on new symptoms and current process ?

Kind regards

thebird
Participant

October 2, 2017 at 9:50 pm

Post count: 24

in reply to: Symptom question #26523

Hi Dr Corenman,

Nerve tests completed and came back normal. Nuerologist completed physical examination and could not find any issue. Has suggested neck flexion may have caused the leg symptoms if temporarily compressed the cord. He also mentioned this can take 12months or more to go but will go away on its own.

He has ordered mri on my head to double check but again advised me that he has no signs of brain issues from physical examination.

Would you agree with the information I received?

Kind regards

thebird
Participant

September 24, 2017 at 6:09 pm

Post count: 24

in reply to: Symptom question #26485

Thank you for reviewing my symtoms Dr Corenman, it is much appreciated.

Hopefully goes well with the Neurologist next week.

Cheers

thebird
Participant

September 24, 2017 at 5:08 pm

Post count: 24

in reply to: Symptom question #26483

Thought I should provide some better background that may assist you answering my questions. I am a 30yr old male. Back in July during the 2 week painful period prior to leg sensations, I forgot to mention that I did experience the cold/wet feeling in my shoulder blades, this was only brief and occured while sitting down, leaning forward. Quickly vanished when getting up and walking around. I only experienced it in this location for around 3 days, possibly once a day before it proceeded to my legs and never returned to my shoulder blades. This triggered me to see my Nuerosurgeon who ordered the full spine MRI. He did perform a physical examination by the means of tapping on my knees and said there was slight delay. He also said, while it is possible my neck can cause this issue, he said many other things can also and referred me to the nuerologist.

While waiting for my appointment, I have experienced the cold feeling in my lower back, but only when bending over putting clothes in the washing machine. So I’ve only really experienced it twice in the 3 month period in this location as i rarely do the washing due to the issues im experiencing. But again, the primary location is my legs and it comes on it’s own without any much trigger besides sitting, but will still be present walking around unless going for a decent walk, it will clear up.

Medicines I’ve tried to no releif

1. Lyrica 75mg
2. Mobic (anti inflammortory) 7mg and 15mg to no relief. I did think i had slight relief on the 7mg so my GP upped it to 15mg but it did not do anything so I’ve stopped taking as I figured I may of just had a good day or 2 on the 7mg.

I’m scheduled to see the nuerologist next week, is there anything I’ve mentioned to you that would be most valuable to him? I guess it’s easy to blame my bulging discs on the issue and the fact that I disturbed it and all these symtoms presented, but at the same time I’m hoping the Doctor doesn’t get side tracked and will consider all options.

Further to this, it’s been occuring for 3 months while waiting for my appointment and I do worry about permanent damage, however it is hard to get into these doctors. Should I be doing more? Should my GP be doing more? the GP has only checked my blood counts at my request and wrote the referral.

I think that is everything I wanted to ask, sorry !

Again, thank you for reading my questions and providing some feedback.

thebird
Participant

September 24, 2017 at 3:24 pm

Post count: 24

in reply to: Symptom question #26482

Thank you for taking the time replying to me Dr Corenman.

I have no arm symptoms at all. Purely both legs however has not affected the feet. Shins, calves and upper thighs above the knees only. I do notice certain chairs, or sitting can bring it on more intense which makes me think it is based on movement and something touching somewhere that it doesn’t like. In regards to the cord indentation, could you elaborate on this a bit for me? For example, can sitting with head motion forward put extra pressure and cause compression from the disc bulges? It is usually always like for like too, where I suffer a stinging or burning pain in one leg, it’s equally in the same spot on the other.

Thank you for mentioning peripheral-neuropathy, would movement of my body that as mentioned above that triggers it fuether still entertain this condition?

Cheers
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Viewing 5 posts - 19 through 23 (of 23 total)

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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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thebird

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