Hello all-
i'm new to the boards and have some
questions. Any advice will be greatly
appreciated. I'll try and keep this short:
2 years ago, my hubby fell off a 2 story
roof. We live in a beach community, so he
actually feel the equivilant of 3 stories.
He landed on his face & shoulders in the
sand. He was air lifted to the trauma
center in the next state. We were so
fortunate that he walked out of the trauma
center that night with no broken bones.
The only diagnostic tests performed at the
trauma center that night were x-rays. I
asked them to do mri, cat scan, something,
but was told they were just too busy. This
is a long story, so i'll just leave it at
that.
Anyway, my husband had never had any kind
of back trouble before the fall. Since the
fall, he has bouts of back problems. These
problems have started happening more
often, are longer in duration and are more
and more painful with each flare up.
He has been through intensive physical
therapy several times and has finally
allowed our primary doctor to refer him
for an mri. We got the unofficial "verbal"
results by phone the other day. Diagnosis
is as follows:
"central protrusion l-4 & l-5 with a
smaller central protrusion at l-5"
if I am correct, this basically means
herniated disc? I just don't know. I've
done some research on the internet and
have found some information, but really
feel that I might get more information
from someone who has dealt with this.
My husband will be going to an
occupational therapist again. I also have
him use my tens unit, but I really am
desperate to find out as much information
as possible. We need to know what we are
dealing with and what we might expect as
far as long term. I know different people
experience pain and recovery differently,
but any information will be much
appreciated.
Thank you in advance for any help you can
give. :)
lezlee
|
DoctorAnswer
Doctor Answer
Joined: 19 Dec 2005 Posts: 16777211
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Back Pain Answer A1287 Posted: 08-02-06 04:27am
A "disc protrusion" and "discus hernia"
are synonyms and mean the same thing.
Discus hernia is a degenerative disease of
the intervertabral discs. The disc
consists of 2 parts: the central soft
nucleus and the peripheral fibrous ring.
Degeneration causes a break in the
fibrous ring through which a part of the
soft nucleus comes out. That part of the
nucleus is called "hernia". The symptoms
of discus hernia depend upon the location
of the verterbal discu and the direction
of the hernia. Hernias can create
pressure, for example, on the spinal cord
or the spine nerve roots. In this case,
various neurological symptoms are
possible: pain, parestesions, lack of
sensitivity, muscle weakness or even
paralyses etc. I recommend you consult a
neurosurgeon for further diagnosis and
treatment.
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