i had my discogram and a nucleoplasty and now i'm confused. where to go now. still hurting after 6 weeks.

my discogram read:

prominent right posterolateral radial fissure connects with a right lateral partially circumferential anular fissure. 2mm bulge

opening pressure of 8mm hg and closing pressure of 60 mm hg with posterior leakage of dye into epidural space

DOES THIS MEAN I HAVE A TEAR SINCE THE DISC IS LEAKING DYE.

Yes.. sounds to me like you have a tear.

(I had one too - my picture showed dye leakage)

what are the options besides fusion as far as surgical and non surgical procedures.

Hi Jay

Well, it is so highly personal, you know?...depending upon your situation.

I tried all procedures except accupuncture to rid the pain - none really helped for long. In time (over 5yrs), my pain escalated - despite my halting my exercise habits (running, biking). I'll never know for sure, but I think maybe my disc was just leaking and leaking...causing too much irritation. My surgeon said that when he removed it, it just came out in big chunks - easily, he added. A healthy disc would be tough to remove and wouldn't come out in chunks.

Anyway... with all that said. I think the jury is out on IDET. I tried for 2 1/2 years to get approval from insurance to TRY that - no go. In the meantime, I had a discogram which proved my tear beyond a doubt and my pain was getting bad on a daily basis - enough to use up to 3 4mg dilaudids per day. I didn't like it and felt like I HAD to try my last resort.. fusion.

I actually had a successful fusion - massive bone growth - and had my hardware removed a few months ago. I have found though that my spine is now suffering the effects of less movement at L4-5. My sacroiliac joints are now giving me h#ll. Soooo... after all this jibber-jabber... my humble advice is:
Unless you are in DIRE pain...having to use large quanities of medication to control it...if you're still able to do your job...can still walk... WAIT to do fusion... in fact...wait & try to get ADR instead. I'm sure ADR is now getting closer to FDA approval.

The SI problem I'm having may be more common for women than men (just because of our anatomy) ...so don't totally count out fusion if youre asked to consider it. Still - ADR is best because it allows you to retain your range of motion and doesn't throw off your other joints. The good part about my fusion is that I feel very little pain from my actual fusion point. But, like I said..the arrested joint movement has caused a problem below my fusion point. So......best bet if you have to do surgery for annular tear?? ADR.

Its ADR or do your best to deal with the pain. SOMETIMES, they say, discs will heal themselves. I waited 5 yrs..then didn't think I could wait any longer b/c it was getting worse... So, again.. its a highly personal decision.

In the meantime...use all available methods to decrease your pain.. PT, tens, massage, etc... Take it easy on your non-indestructible body. ;)

SORRY for the long post...

Good luck, and God Bless