Hi all, this is my first post here and I have a question about this MRI report. I think the Doc must have had somewhere to be as it is the shortest report I have ever seen. Or maybe my cervical spine is just that beautiful.
Anyway, I have had burning, numbness, tingling, shooting pain in my neck/upper back for three months since a skull fracture from an accidental hit in the forehead from a baseball bat (yes, my 10 year-old is quite the slugger!)
Here's the impression report: Focal central disk protrusion T2-3 with mild cord derformity.
That's it. Of course it's taking me a while to get in to my Doc, so I'm wondering if any of you smart people out there know it this is the cause of my symtoms. This report just seems pretty underwhelming for the level of pain I am in. Any help would be appreciated.
Lori
You can pull up a "dermatome map" online and check to see what areas of the body are innervated by the T2 and T3 spinal nerves. There is mild cord deformity which could conceivably affect more nerves than just those two levels where the bulging disc is...but "mild" indicates that the cord is only slightly impacted by the disc pushing into it. (categories run from minimal, to mild, moderate and severe...so you can see that mild is on the low end of how severe it is).
The Following User Says Thank You to teteri66 For This Useful Post: schmoo64 (06-20-2012)
Teteri is right. You would be surprised how much pain can come from a bulging disc. You probably have extra inflammation from the (ahem) swing. As the swelling goes down the pressure on the nerves should abate. If you have an anti inflammatory I would take it...OTC Aleve would help along with ice on for 15 minutes and then off.
The pain you are describing sure sounds like nerve pain. There are meds that can help with the pain. As you know, it takes time for fractures to heal and for the swelling to leave. As the swelling goes down some of the pain should dissipate.
I do have a couple of suggestions...Ask your doctor for something to help with the pain. Ask if your doctor things that PT might help. Wear a helmet when your son is around you with a bat...
Thank you all. I do have a PM doc, a physiatrist, who is a little epidural happy and throws out pain meds like they were candy, but I do have an appointment with him next week and will ask about PT and tell him to keep the needle away for a while! Sounds like from your responses that this may just take some babying for a while. I have some lumbar issues that I have had injections for. I'm just a little sqeemish to get shot in this area.
I do, however, have something to hold over my son for the rest of his life YES!!! Poor little guy, he was inconsolable when it happened. I developed a CSF leak after the fracture and was in ICU for a few days for a lumbar drain. The most common question from the nurses? "Was it aluminum or wood?" it was aluminum.
This should not be a tricky area to inject (using fluoroscopy of course) and it might be just enough to get the swelling to go down and allow the disc tissue to back off the spinal cord. Or maybe a course of prednisone or a Medrol pack would be enough....
