zookriz

Hi Dr. Corenman,
It’s been a while and I wanted to give an update on my situation.
First, I have had several cervical disc injections for my two herniation’s at c5-6 and c6-7. They gave decent relief but only lasted a few days. The doctor decided to try the facets next. I then had a right side cervical block done c3-c7 I believe. Great relief 90%+. The effects were supposed to last 2-4 hours but the pain started coming back before I even left the building. My P.M. doctor decided to do the rhizotomy on the right. It had no effect what so ever. Why is that?
I recently had my left cervical facet block done but only received minimal relief so I decided against the rhizotomy procedure.
I have been having bilateral knee pain since last spring, it’s not always constant but when I get the pain it’s bad, it usually happens when I stand a lot. An x ray of my knees came back negative and the MRI of the right knee came back negative. I then had a lumbar x ray which only showed some undeveloped ribs and only 4 lumbar vertebrae.
To add to the mix my upper back is hurting bad, with burning sensations in shoulder blades, in between the shoulder blades and the shoulders themselves. I also have a very strange, painful thumping, snapping noise when I move my left shoulder blade, like it’s rubbing on my rib cage.
When I lay down before I fall asleep I get weird sensations then my legs and sometimes my whole body has a violent reflex reaction. It usually happens 2-4 times before I fall asleep. Is this a sleep thing or a nerve reaction?
I like to think I’m proactive and have been doing a lot of research, I’m not a doctor nor should I self diagnose but I don’t want to sit on the sidelines not understanding what’s going on. When I looked at my cervical x ray down at the shoulder region (I could only see one view) I swear there are several herniations. My husband looked and agreed. Now I know you can have herniations even severe ones with no symptoms but I brought it up to my doctor and he laughed at me and told my that is was not herniations I was seeing. It only concerns me because I’ve learned upper back herniations can cause neck pain.
My PM doctor told my of another disc procedure that can be done but I have to go see another specialist to do it. Should I continue on the cervical disc journey or should I be concerned with my upper back? Most of the procedures are only helping a minimal amount or they don’t last. I don’t know which direction to go in. I want to be able to be able to play with my kids and get back to life and I’m getting no where fast.
Thank you for all you time and thoughts,
Kathy

Hello Dr. Corenman,
It’s been a while and I’m now receiving cervical epidural injections for my two herniated disks. It seems to help but the effects are very short lived. I only get 1-2 days of minimal relief. My headaches lessen and the muscle spasms lesson but I still have shoulder pain and upper cervical pain. The doc said if I don’t get good relief he’s going to try some other areas. He has me on Celebrex and hydrocodone/apap 10 mg 3x day. I’m trying to stay away from the meds so I can get a realistic effect from the injections.
I was looking at my mri and I’ve noticed that from my c3-c6 looks very narrow. No doctor has said anything about stenosis congenital or otherwise. The mri program allows measurements so I decided to try to measure my canal and cord to see the difference. According to my research most canals are about 13mm give or take according to the disk itself and anything less than 10 is stenotic. Less than about 8mm is severe stenosis. My measurements of the c3-c6 canal range from 9.6 mm to 7.4 mm. (They may not be exact but it’s close) At the site of one herniation the measurement is 7.4 mm and the cord itself is 6.3 mm. Is it me or does that seem narrow? If my measurements are even close and I have a loss of lordosis also does this set me up for an easy injury if I hit my head or get whiplash? At what looks like a more normal level my measurements are more like 11.2 mm still a bit narrow not like the other levels. Should I be concerned or is this relatively normal for my age of 41?
Thanks for your time,
Kathy

Dr. Corenman,
I was able to get a quick appointment at a pain clinic, as you suggested. I explained both areas of my pain. Pain in the middle of my neck on the left and under my skull on the right (worst of the pains), with a constant headache. No doctor or radiologist so far has been able to see a problem with the right side, under the skull pain. The pain doctor would only treat the areas from reading the reports, not actually looking at the mri’s or x-rays. I don’t know if this is how they normally operate. My last mri says:
Straightening of the normal cervical lordosis is noted. At C5-6 there is a small left lateral disc herniation noted creating slight left neural foraminal compromise at this level. At C6-7 there is a small central focal disc herniation without cord compromise. No myelomalacia is present.
The pain doctor would only address this issue and gave me an epidural which should cover both disc problems.
I almost passed out two times and they had to pull the needle and try again later. Third time was a charm and we got it done. Needless to say, my neck is a bit sore.
The injection did seem to help somewhat with the headache but not entirely and the upper right side pain is still there. How do I get this spot addressed? Do I demand a flexion extension x-ray? Is there another test that might help diagnose this upper pain? I’m getting tired of getting pushed from one doctor to the next. This has been going on over 1 year. The pain doctor thinks I’ve almost exhausted my resources, if these injections don’t work he suggests seeing a surgeon.
Thanks for your time,
You have no idea what this means to your readers!
Kathy