03-23-2016, 05:49 PM
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#1 | Newbie (female)
Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: USA
Posts: 2
| Back mri
Hello I have had back problems since I was 16. My parents did not believe me so now I am in a lot of pain. My lower back is the worst, I got 2 injections yesterday, a combination of steroids and a numbing agent. I feel a lot better and I can move again. But now I feel all the pain in my middle back and its like I cant win.
I saw my Spinal Dr today and he said from my MRI I am not that bad and almost all of my pain is from the Fibromyalgia. He pressed on the 5 points and for me this was excruciating. He said Lyrica will be the best thing and Cymbalta, but I know this wont be enough for me to even be alightly comfortable. I want to know what you all think on what my report states and what you think I should do. I am scared because my father has a lot of problems that I am developing and he was in Vietnam during the war and was exposed to Agent Orange and with what I have read I could have developed problems from that since I am his child. Thank you all so much!
Clinical information: Pain and numbness bilaterally in legs, lumbar
reticulata feet. Pain posteriorly to knee for 10 years, worsening
pain over last few weeks. History of herniated discs and stenosis in
lumbar region.
Unenhanced MR images of the lumbar spine were obtained.
Comparison is made with 5/21/2013 MR.
5 lumbar-type vertebrae are present. There is congenital narrowing of
the spinal canal from L1 through L4 similar to prior study.
The lateral aspect of the right kidney has a partially visualized
fluid intensity lesion suggestive of cyst. The paraspinous soft
tissues are otherwise unremarkable the tip of the spinal cord ends
normally at L1. No spondylolysis or spondylolisthesis is noted.
L5-S1: The facet joints are moderately arthritic worse on the right
where less than 5-mm facet joint cyst is present along the posterior
aspect of the joint. There is a conjoined origin of the right L5 and
S1 nerve root sleeves from the thecal sac. No disc protrusion or
significant stenosis of the spinal canal, lateral recesses or neural
foramina is noted. There is relatively increased amount of epidural
fat in this region narrowing the thecal sac as it passes into the
sacrum.
L4-5: The lateral recesses are moderately stenosed by broad disc
bulge, facet hypertrophy and ligament thickening. The facet joints
have small amounts of fluid within them. The disc has focal annular
tear posteriorly in the midline and loss of overall disc intensity.
L3-4: The lateral recesses and spinal canal are narrowed by broad disc
bulge. Facet and ligament hypertrophy contribute to the narrowing as
does an increased amount of epidural fat posterior to the thecal sac.
The disc is decreased in height mildly as well as an intensity.
L2-3: The lateral recesses and spinal canal are stenosed by
combination of disc bulge with central disc protrusion and increased
amount of epidural fat as well as facet and ligament hypertrophy. The
disc signal intensity is decreased on a degenerative basis. The
fragment of disc noted inferior to this level on the prior exam is no
longer identified.
L1-2: The facet joints are mildly arthritic.
T12-L1: Small right-sided disc protrusion indents the right ventral
aspect of the thecal sac but does not reach the spinal cord.
Schmorl's nodes are noted along the endplates abutting the L2-3-4,
L2-3 and L1-2 discs.
IMPRESSION:
1. The extruded disc fragment noted extending inferiorly from L2-3 on
the left is no longer identified.
2. Lumbar spine canal is narrow on a congenital basis with multilevel
degenerative disc disease as described. The greatest degree of spinal
canal and lateral recess stenoses are at L2-3 and L3-4. The L3-4
stenosis is similar to the prior study. The L2-3 stenosis is slightly
improved as the disc fragment is no longer identified.
Last edited by Administrator; 03-23-2016 at 05:52 PM.
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03-26-2016, 03:36 PM
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#2 | Senior Veteran (female)
Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: USA
Posts: 9,235
| Re: Back mri
Welcome to the board. I can't speak for the fibromyalgia but I see several reasons why you might be in pain. Let me start by saying I do not have any knowledge of the inherited defects from Agent Orange so I hope my information is not inaccurate. I am just going to comment as though that is not a factor.
What the report reveals are degenerative changes at several levels. This happens to us all sooner or later, brought on by the effects of living. These changes result in some arthritic type changes affecting th discs and facet joints.
You will see the word "narrowed" or "stenosed" multiple times. This is referring to spinal stenosis which can occur in the central canal or in the neuroforamen, the little openings lofted at each pair of vertebrae that allow the spinal nerves to exit the spine and go out to innervate a particular body part or area. If either of these areas is narrowed or blocked, it causes pressure on the spinal nerve...which results in pain right at that spot or anywhere along the path the nerve takes...example: stenosis of the L4 might be felt as a numb big toe.
Usually the central canal is wide enough to accommodate the spinal nerves with some room left over. But some people have a smaller diameter canal which can cause issues if anything else pushes into the canal ...like a protruding disc, a cyst, an osteophyte, etc. I had the same issue. By the time I finally got around to having surgery, my central canal was very small and the surgeon was surprised I was able to walk at all.
May I ask how old you are now? What specifically are your symptoms? Are you seeing an orthopedic spine or neurosurgeon?
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03-26-2016, 05:32 PM
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#3 | Newbie (female)
Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: USA
Posts: 2
| Re: Back mri
Well I am going to be 30 in July. I have numb toes, my legs go to sleep my arms do too. I have to move every 10 or so mins to get them to wake up, my 2nd and 3rd toe on my right foot never wake up tho. I have bad headaches, then there is the pain in my back it starts at the top and goes all the way down, I cant let anything touch my lower back because it is soooo painful, if someone goes to touch by back I get freaked and cant let them. I have been stuck now to where I cant sit straight, I have shooting pain down my left leg and it stops at the knee. I have to hold onto things to walk around. I was using a cane for the last month because my lower back was so bad that without it walking was impossible. I got a shot on either side of my lower back into the joints it was a mixture of a numbing agent and steroids. I feel better but the pain is still there it is just bareable now. The drs call my really bad pain flare ups. About a month ago I was walking into my kitchen and it was like someone came up and stabbed me, my legs gave out and I fell to the floor. I don't get good sleep because I am always having to move because of the pain. If I lay on my stomach, when I go to get up I shake so bad because of how bad it hurts in the middle lower area. I went and saw the ortho surgeon and he said I'm not that bad and that it is the fibro. But my pain mgmt. dr wants me to see a neuro. So I am calling my ins on Monday to find one. It sucks because I have 2 kids ages 2 and 3 and I cant do anything more than 5 mins because I start to hurt soo bad, then my knees are horrible they even sometimes swell up and they ache. I just want to figure out what to do to get better. I have been taking narcotics since 2006 for all of this and now I am on a nerve med and an nsaid. My pain dr said that I have had stenosis over 10 yrs now.
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03-30-2016, 08:29 PM
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#4 | Senior Veteran (female)
Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Long Island, NY
Posts: 719
| Re: Back mri
I also sorry you are going through this. Def f/u w/ a neurosurgeon because your pain is real!!! Don't stop till u find a Dr that listens !! I also have back issues with 2 small kids so I know how overwhelming it is to do things when you are healthy and 10x harder when sick with kids. Praying for you and Good luck.
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03-31-2016, 06:39 AM
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#5 | Senior Veteran (female)
Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: USA
Posts: 9,235
| Re: Back mri
The middle toes being affected probably come from compression of the L5 spinal nerve root. Just for your information, you can look online for a "dermatome map" to see what part of the body is innervated by which spinal nerve. Obviously there can be some overlay but it gives the medical professional an idea where the pain may be coming from....
You might want to see a fellowship-trained orthopedic spine surgeon as well as a neurosurgeon for an accurate diagnosis and plan of treatment.
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