Joined: 19 Dec 2005 Posts: 27 Location: Mississippi
Please Help With Mri Results Posted: 12-19-05 02:56am
Hi, i'm new here and very desperate for
some real answers about my mri readings.
No one will elaborate on any of it for me
and I am in severe pain everyday of my
life. I'm stuck at home most of the time
now due to the wretched pain and I have a
two year old little boy I would like to
enjoy. If anyone is curious, i'm a 29
year old woman. "too young to have all
these problems" is what I get from the
"doctors" around here.
Mri lumbar spine
findings
the signal within the lumbar vertebrae
themselves appear unremarkable. The last
lumbar vertebra is assumed to be l5 for
the purpose of this exam. There is disc
dessication at the l4-5 and also at the
l5-s1 level. A small focus of high
signal involving the posterior aspect of
the annulus fibroiss at the l4-5 level is
suggested on sagittal images.
A slight impression upon the thecal sac at
the l4-5 level is suggested as well. At
the l4-5 level, there is a moderate facet
hypertrophy demonstrated bilaterally.
There is also ligamentum flavum
hypertrophy suggested at this level as
well. Mild encroachment upon the spinal
canal is suggested at the l4-5 level
secondary to this combination of findings.
The l5-s1 level is unremarkable.
Impression: disc dessication and a
focal annular tear involving the posterior
aspect of the annulus fibrosis at the l4-5
level noted as described above. This is
superimposed upon the facet and ligamentum
flavum hypertrophy at the l4-5 level and
associated with mild encroachment upon the
spinal canal at this level.
I also had another mri on my cervical
region and to keep it short, here's what
it said;
there is a 7 mm focus of high signal
identified involving the anterior aspect
of c4. This demonstrates high signal on
t1 and t2 weighted images. Signal within
the vertebrae is unremarkable. There is
loss of cervical lordosis suggested on
sagittal images. No evidence of
paravertebral mass is noted.
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disabledcoastie
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Dec 2005 Posts: 68 Location: West Virginia
i"m not an expert but your lower back is
degenerating, I would find a good
neurologist and have him/her go over the
findings.
Good luck
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BigJoe
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 7 Location: New England
Posted: 12-23-05 15:41pm
Heather,
i have problems with my l4-l5 and s1 also.
For the life of me, I can't decipher what
those findings mean, but then again, i'm
no doctor. I had an epidural steroid
injection a couple of weeks ago to reduce
inflamation, and for various reasons i'm
going to have another in the next week or
so. If it gets suggested to you to have
one, I can tell you that I did it under
mild sedation and it was absolutely no big
deal.
You must find a doctor who can explain
your problem to you in laymen's terms,
using spine models or pictures, or at
least easier analogies. Demand an
explanation - it's your right. Good
luck, I know what the pain feels like!
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PainPhysician
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 6 Location: Ohio
Posted: 01-02-06 14:39pm
Your findings say you have a tear of the
outer ring of your disc at l4. The
annulus (outer ring) has many nerve fibers
that live within it. This can be the
cause of your pain. If the pain is in
your low back, epidural injections or
facet injections may help. However,
there if these dont, they may want to
perform a discogram which is diagnostic
test in which they put a small needle into
the suspect disc and inject some contrast
agent. They measure whether or not the
injection reproduces your pain. If it
does, then they can make the diagnosis of
discogenic pain. The treatment of
discogenic pain varies, but there is
something called an idet (intradiscal
electrothermal therapy) that they may
offer.
If the pain is radiating into the legs
past the knee, epidural injections would
be the first line therapy.
Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 7 Location: New England
Posted: 01-02-06 14:52pm
Along those lines, painphysician, I keep
hearing about how epidural steroid
injections are good for a while, and then
"wear off". Is there any consensus on how
long one can expect relief from these
injections? I understand how they are
supposed to reduce inflammation at the
disc, but i'm wondering if they can last
long enough for any meaningful healing
process to take place. I'm sure that poor
body mechanics, etc. Can make it worse.
I'm wondering if an epidural gives a
meaningful chance at recovery, or is
surgery an inevitable event.
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PainPhysician
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 6 Location: Ohio
Posted: 01-02-06 15:36pm
Big joe,
you are correct in that epidural
injections have only shown to give
temporary relief. The pharmacologic life
of the medication injected is quite short.
However, for some reason that we dont
know of, in some cases, the relief from
such injections far outlives the
pharmcologic life of the medication. Is
it because of the body healing itself?
Is there some other effect that the
steroid has that we dont understand? I
wish I had an answer. If someone gets 3
months relief with an injection, I
consider this a very successful injection.
Anything longer is just luck. As a
caveat, I do also have patients who swear
that i've cured their pain ( I know this
is isnt true)... But if they want to
believe it, then go ahead! So joe, to
answer your question, well I dont have an
answer. However, if the choice is to be
in pain or try something that might
work... Than I say go for it. Epidurals
in the lumbar area are considered benign
procedures. However, if you are getting
injections in the thoracic or cervical
areas, be careful. There are some
potentially disastrous complications from
those.
Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 7 Location: New England
Posted: 01-02-06 19:54pm
Thank you for your reply. I've been
trying very hard since my epidural(l4-l5,
s1) to move correctly, perform the
stretching excersises prescribed, avoid
lifting heavy objects, avoid twisting
motions, etc. I feel about 85% back to
normal, and I surely don't want to
experience the leg pain I had previously.
I'm hoping that by behaving myself (my
term), I can give my back a fighting
chance to heal and avoid surgery.
I'm sorry this got off the original topic,
but I appreciate the input. Hopefully
someone else can learn something from my
experience.
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heather029
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 19 Dec 2005 Posts: 27 Location: Mississippi
Posted: 01-05-06 02:27am
Thank you for responding to my post.
Just yesterday I had the facet block done
and it did nothing for me. The gave me a
total of six shots and I feel the same as
I did. I've done pt, had an extremely
painful esi, facet blocks, tens unit,
lidocaine injections. Nothing is helping
this pain of mine.
A discogram is scheduled for the 12th.
I'm so anxious about this particular test
i'm sure i'll make myself sick over it.
I can obviously handle pain, but not where
i'm practically incapable of moving for
the potential of the risk, and yet again
being at the mercy of someone else who is
doing this to me, although they are trying
to help me.
I'm just so tired of hurting. And I
suppose hypersensitive to it.
Heather
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disabledcoastie
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Dec 2005 Posts: 68 Location: West Virginia
Posted: 01-05-06 12:23pm
Heather,
i have had a discogram and they are no
where as painful as people report. I had
little discomfort, (this may however be
due to the amount of pain I was already
int), and the study showed two bad discs.
Good luck on your tests.
