Lower Back Pain Into Left Leg Posted: 11-01-07 13:09pm
I hurt my back at work while lifting a
heavy door. I have lower back pain and
more intense pain in the left buttock.
The pain also radiates down into my left
calf. I had lumbar surgery in 2001 at the
L3-4 and L4-5 level. The doctor ordered a
MRI and started me on pain killers and
physical therapy, also appointment for
steroid injections. I have done 2 weeks
of physical therapy with no relief. The
physical therapist says he has done all he
can do and wants to see me again after the
steroid injection. My MRI results are as
follows:
Report
LUMBAR SPINE MRI
HISTORY: Low back pain with pain radiating
down the left leg; past medical history of
lumbar surgery.
LUMBAR SPINE MRI (WITH AND WITHOUT
GADOLINIUM): Multiplanar, multisequence
MR imaging of the lumbar spine performed
with and without gadolinium enhancement.
Comparison with radiographic study dated
9/20/2006
For purposes of description, there are
assumed to be 5 lumbar type vertebral
bodies, L5 is transitional in nature.
Lumbar alignment is anatomic. There is
multilevel degenerative disk disease,
principally involving the L3-4 and L4-5
levels, as outlined below.
L1-2: Unremarkable.
L2-3: Unremarkable.
L3-4: Degenerative disk disease,
including mild, broad-based annular disk
bulging with mild narrowing of the left
lateral recess, but no apparent
significant spinal stenosis. Mild,
bilateral neural foraminal narrowing is
also evident.
L4-5 Degenerative disk disease, including
mild focal left paracentral disk
protrusion with associated left lateral
recess stenosis. The protruding disk may
potentially encroach upon the descending
left L5 nerve root. Mild right-sided
neural foraminal narrowing is also present
secondary to facet hypertrophy.
L5-S1: Transitional lumbosacral disk
level; no evidence of focal disk
pathology.
Left hemilaminectomy changes noted at L3-4
and L4-5. No pathologic enhancement
appreciated.
IMPRESSION
1. Mild L3-4 annular disk bulge; no
evidence of significant spinal stenosis at
this level.
2. Mild, focal L4-5 left paracentral disk
protrusion with left lateral recess
stenosis and potential left L5 nerve root
encroachment.
3. Postsurgical changes.
4. Clinical correlation in regards to
current radiculopathy recommended.
Can you explain this to me. I don't
understand why the pain isn't getting any
better when the word mild is used
repeatedly in the MRI report.
Thanks
James
|
expatient
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 126 Location: Finland
Posted: 11-02-07 02:09am
Because the reason for your pain might not
be in your spine. Even up to 80% of the
cases the reason for pain is not in spine
but in somewhere else. Go somewhere where
they check your pelvis asymmetry and
functions of your sacroiliac joints.
Even
people who have no pain ever have similar
findings in their spine. So those mild
changes do not cause pain.
MRI scans have documented that
approximately 30% of 30 year olds have
signs of disc degeneration even though
they have no back pain symptoms.
In one well-known study, researchers sent
98 healthy people through an MRI machine:
two thirds had abnormal discs even though
none complained of pain. In other
research, experts compared a group of
patients who reported back pain with a
control group who didn't. Close to two
thirds of the pain patients had cracks in
their discs, so-called high-intensity
zones, or HIZs. But so did 24 percent of
the noncomplainers. "The real issue," says
Dr. Eugene Carragee, the study's lead
author and director of Stanford's
Orthopaedic Spine Center, "is, why do some
people have a mild backache and some have
really crippling pain?"
|
jamesaroo
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 2
Posted: 11-02-07 11:43am
Thanks for your reply. The physical
therapist had been trying to manipulate
the sacroiliac joints the first week until
I recieved the MRI. He originally thought
that is where my pain was coming from.
After the MRI they said I have a herniated
disc and set appointments for SI and he
started me on the traction table. There
was very little relief in the lower calf
and more intense pain in the back when I
would lay on the table. After I would get
up the pain would be worse until I'd lay
down for awhile.
|
expatient
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 126 Location: Finland
Posted: 11-05-07 02:06am
jamesaroo
wrote:
The physical therapist had
been trying to manipulate the sacroiliac
joints
Try an other one. Trying to manipulate is
totally different that correcting the
problem. And ask them to explain which one
they manipulate and why!
