Has anyone heard of Hemangiomas in the back and how serious is it?
Also can herniated disks cause a lot of pain and what's the standard treatment?

I dont know about hemangiomas, but for herniated discs there is no standard treatment really. they can do anything from leaving it be in hopes it heals by itself (it sometimes will) to removing the disc and fusing the vertibrae together or replacing the disc with an artificial one.

what usually happens for heriated discs is, in more or less this order, rest, PT, pain meds and muscle relaxers, epidurals (injections in the back), MRIs or others test like discograms, then maybe surgery of some kind.. and there are a lot of different surgeries they can do - everything from shaving the disc, zapping it with heat or laser or radio waves, to removing it altogether. and all this takes a lot of time to decide the best procedure.

how do you know its herniated? have you seen a spine doctor? what have they done so far?

Yeah I had an MRI done and it came back w/ two herniated disks- one is at L 1&2 and the other at L5-S1. Not a lot of fun and very painful unless the other hemagioma thing is also a culprit but don't know much about those. I had an epidural yesturday and that has helped for one of the herniations so far but not sure how long that will last me. I go back in two weeks for another epidural for the lower back. My doc's office lost my chart yesturday so I called the MRI center myself and go the report so that's why I'm asking all this as I don't see him again till next week.

Hemangiomas, my Doctor said that it was nothing to worry about, they do not cause pain, vertebral hemangiomas are benign lesions of the spine. The thoracic and lumbar regions are the most common locations for these lesions. He said most everybody with spine problems has them, but they have nothing to do with pain, or the problem. They heal up and leave a scar or discoloration that shows up in the film. When I read my report, I was concerned about them also, however he assured me that they have no outcome in the scenario.

I have Hemangioma's on my spine too . I did read up on it and yes they cause pain but my Dr never removed them. I would look them up If I were you , I don't think they are a big deal. Your disc problems is your problem.

Good Luck

coast gaurd dad I didn't mean any disrespect towards your post . I looked up the Hemangioma on the web and found they can cause pain and they can grow. Ours must of been ok because they didn't remove them ??

Yeah after I posted my question and I read online- I found lots of sites that say they can cause pain and grow and then I read too that sometimes you'd never have known you had one unless you had an mri or some other scan.
I'm just confused because I'm in my late twenties and have always had back pain and so I thought herniated disks were more of a temporary thing? Do they really cause a lot of pain and can you have them for years or is it just an injury that spontaneously happens?

wish I could help you , but I know nothing about heniated or ruptured disc .
go to the top of the page where it says advanced search and type in herniated or ruptured disc , alot about that subject should be on here .

Good Luck

.. I thought herniated disks were more of a temporary thing? Do they really cause a lot of pain and can you have them for years or is it just an injury that spontaneously happens?

sometimes they can heal on their own and many people have them and never know it. usually its caused by an injury, and some can cause mucho pain whereas other times none at all.

Ok thanks for all your responses....shall wait and see what the doc says next Wed. :wave: