Herniated Bulging Disks MRI results

Hello vanilla dragonfly,

I'm by no means a doctor, so I will not attempt to totally interpret your MRI for you. I'm just another spiney like yourself, recovering from a spinal surgery.

But questions for you I do have.

Where is your spinal surgeon in all of this going on with you
Do you have a spinal surgeon?
If not, you sure need one ASAP
Why is a physical therapist interpreting your spinal issues for you and telling you that your MRI may not have shown everything because you where in one position and not another when it was done?
Why is your physical therapist taking the place of a spinal surgeon for you?

You need to have your MRI explained to you by a spinal surgeon, not the physical therapist.

The reading you have posted is the interpretation and reading by a radiologist that is trained in reading MRI scan pictures.
It also needs to be read by a well qualified spinal surgeon who may or may not agree with what the radiologist says.

4 months continued work, doing what you do for employment, most certainly continued to make your spinal situation worse.
I would agree, also, that continuing to work as you do and what you do will no doubt continue to create further problems for you and prevent you from healing from this problem as well.

Bad backs, disc problems and lifting heaving things never go together.

Most of us can't recall a specific incident that started the ball rolling and spine problems and symptoms began.

I can tell you some basics of your MRI reading though.
You have degenerative changes in your spine and some flattening of discs between your vertebrae. This is not always a problem to have though. Most people will have those changes. It only is a problem if they create symptoms, ie what you have now.

The key is to determine what and where the problem is coming from and to do something about that specific area that is a problem.

Your symptoms sound like they are coming from the low lumbar area of your spine, and the MRI report mentions an annular tear as well.

Usually those do seal over and heal with PT and time. When they don't, there is a surgical procedure to repair the disc tear that can be done.
and it does mention moderate neural foraminal narrowing as well.

Some of those 2 things that I mentioned could and probably are causing the pain for you and need to be addressed by Spinal Surgeon and need to be done ASAP to help you obtain relief from your pain.

Probably the reason your physical therapist is saying that "this is as good as it gets" is because there is nothing more that physical therapy can do to heal what is going on with your spine and you may or may not need surgical intervention and/ or a pain management doctor for help.

Please seek the advise and care of a spinal surgeon ASAP to fully understand what is going on with your spine, what your MRI means and what can be done to help you with your pain.
Then seek out further opinions from other spine surgeons, until you are comfortable with a spinal surgeon and then make your decisions on what to do.

And yes, you do need to find another line of work. You and your spine will no longer be able to tolerate the work you are doing. It will only continue to create havoc with your spine and create more and more situations that will further complicate an already problematic spine.

Fran

Thanks for taking the time to read all that.

Right now I'm fighting with my employer. You see.. workers compensation is paying me when I'm off and my employer is Appealing that decision and bring me to court over it.. their reason is they say I didn't get hurt at work because i didn't go to the doctor right after the incident, bla bla bla...and so
Now I have to go see workman'c comp's orthopedic surgeon. I asked them if I should still see a specialist and they said no.. but i have another idea..
I'm going to my doctors this week and asking to see a specialist for my back. This will help with both the work issue and my cluelessness about my MRI results.
Thank you again for all your help and advice.

Ps: Do you know anything about dealing with Workmans Compensation? I live in Canada and it's called WSIB here.

It sounds like what you're describing is soft tissue injures in your lower back region, which can become worse over time. Given the severity of your pain and the functional limitations it's now placing on you, it probably is time to consult with a reputable physician or medical acupuncturist who can help you determine your next step as intensive acupuncture can be helpful..

To answer your original question...yes, you might want to consider another vocation that DOES NOT put strain on your spine. And I DO think that there's room for alternative medicine modalities as complements to Allopathic therapy.

What were the results of your appointment?

Thanks everyone for the responses, it's good to know that others agree that I need a new profession. And thanks with the help understanding the MRI results. I see an orthopedic surgeon on July 30th.. I'll see what he has to say then.

Glad you have any appt with an orthopedic surgeon. Just be sure that he/she is an orthopedic sugeon that specializes in spines not just a general orthopedic surgeon. I would also suggest that you consider getting a second opinion if this surgeon suggests surgery for you.

Fran

Sorry to hear about your back, and the pain that we all know to well that comes along with it. I do know a thing or two about work comp, in august of 07 i sustained injury, march of 08 is the first time i received treatment...i am in the US and know that the laws must be very different.....always ask for a copy of your test results...x-rays, mri, bonescan, anything. My occupational doc. ordered an mri for me, and when the tests results came in, he said they showed nothing, no cause for pain and no evidence of any injury,..i knew there had to be something, some reason for my pain..i asked for a copy of the mri results, and it very clearly stated that i had a bulge at the T2....as Fran said, ask for a second opinion...your spine needs to be in the best hands, and work comp dosent always provide you with that...do your best to see a neurosuergon....ask as many questions as you can, and demand answers untill you feel comfortable...

Carrie, thanks for agreeing with me. Seems like many people don't realize that an orthopedic surgeon can be a general one, which there aren't that many of now, or one that specializes in various areas of the body that deal with bones and joints.

I'm old enough to remember when orthopedic docs where just that. Orthopedic docs and they dealth with everything to do with bones. The end results for patients where not that good. IE, my 3 crooked fingers, broken when I was a kid and not properly set. Eventually in my 30's, I'd had enough of them a difficulty using my left hand and saw an orthodpedic surgeon who specialized in hands, wrists and fingers.
Yup, surgically all 3 where rebroken, reset and when healed, they where straight and no further problems using my hand.

My personal preference for a spine surgeon is a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon. I like the way they relate to patients, are far more up to date on new but conventional spine surgeries, expain everything is mass detail but simple to understand, and the idea of cutting into muscle is not one that they take lightly. They always start with the smallest incision possible to do the surgery, usually a 1 inch incision and if that is found to not be large enough, they increase the incision but 1/2 inch at a time, till the have the incision size they need.

They are fully aware of the difficulty recovering from cut muscles and their goal is to do as little cutting as possible, and do the surgery safely.

On the other hand, I've had second, third, 4th and fifth, (yup, the idea of spinal surgery the first time was not something I wanted and tried to avoid at all costs) and I saw neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons and another sports medicine orthopedic surgeon, all who specialize in spines. And all where at leading hospitals in the Boston area.

What I found was the most eager to cut and with the largest incision where the neurosurgeons, both wanted to do my decompression surgery on the L4/L5/S1 using a 3 1/2 to 5 inch incision. Mind you my original spine surgeon who is a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon who specializse in spines had told me he couldn't imagine needing an incision any larger than 1 inch.
The regular orthopedic surgeon that specializes in spines wanted 3 inch incision,
but the other sports medicine doc, agreed with the 1 inch incision.

A lot of people prefer neurosurgeons because they believe they are better with dealing with nerve issues.

The truth is that all spinal surgeons, neurosurgeons as well as orthopedic ones have had years and years of extra training in nerve issues, spinal nerve issues and it is the same extra training that a neurosurgeon would be getting to be a spine surgeon.
The neurosurgeon gets additional training to be able to operate on the brain, something and orthopedic spine surgeon would never get.

As for where Rich T is. I think he was having computer problems as was going to be off line for about a week.

Fran

After reading Jada3's post, I realized that there are a few things that I do know about WC and it wouldn't be any different from country to country.

WC is insurance that protects the employer and it's purpose is to save the business/company as much money as possible. They are not there for you or for your best interests.
You will no doubt have to fight them to get the care that you should get, that's the usual way, and they will only relent when,
1. they have no choice because the situation just smacked them in the face and they can't get around not doing something
2. you keep after them, don't give up and don't go away. That's what they really want you to do, be good, do as they say and follow and believe everything they say and tell you.

Remember it is your body, your life, your health.

Without question, get copies of everything and don't let them tell you that you can't have them.

In the states, most WC patients have a WC attorney that they've hired and work for them only to protect them from WC.
I don't know if you have that ability in Canada. If you do, I would suggest you get a good one right away.

You will no doubt have to follow the procedures that are set up for WC, but don't settle for thing like.
there is nothing wrong with you.
you didnt' get hurt on the job. that's what they always say.
you can't see another doctor etc.

Good luck and let us know how you are doing and what the doc says.

Fran

Hi Gang.
Yes I was very lucky to have one of the best neuro surgeions. But, I had to go to Tampa to have my surgery. Well worth it,. I had kipherplasty and was on the OR table for 1 1/2 hours. I came out without my 55% break at t-12 into L-1. Had no more pain untill I fell coming in the front door about two weeks ago. Now I am having some pain in my toracic area besides my two buldging disc's at at L-3&4. So doc is puting me back on Morphine ER and again I am having an XRray first and if that show andything I will then have another MRI of T-spine. Doc is afraid I may have franctured another verabre. The pain is just a little above the sergical sit. And we really don't know how much trama the cement insertion is able to take at this point. The fall could have very well chipped of a piece. If so, back to the OR I go. Spinies are a never ending battle. I am now and have been for allmost a year, taking Vicodin for my buldging disc's. I also have a wonderful neurologist. Very caring and compassionate man. I think the world of him. He himself calls his patients back.
I will keep you up to date.

Hugs,
Carrie

Thanks again everyone. I think I will go see my family doctor and ask her to refer me to a neurosurgeon because the orthopedic surgeon I'm seeing works for workers comp. I think I may need a second opinion if this guy turns out to be a jerk. I found a local support group for injured workers. We spoke through email and will be setting up a date to meet someday soon. They are all volunteers that have been through the system and know what I'm going through and what lays ahead.

The group you found sounds like a wonderful support network for you and will provide you with tons of info on dealing with the dreaded WC.

I don't know how it works in Canada, but here in the states, once you have injured yourself at work, you are required to use WC. No private insurance that you have, either through your employer or personally obtained will allow you to use the ins for any kind of coverage.

Be sure you don't have a similar type of situation as well. you wouldn't want to be stuck with huge medical bills because you saw a doc that was not part of WC

Fran