Degenerative Disc Disease
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Thu, 09/04/2008 - 19:04
Annular Disk tear info, please !!!
I have had a ongoing herniated disk issue at L5 (I think), second from the bottom, for 12 years and recently was injured at work which caused a re-herniation and a cervical disk injury.
I had to have surgery (plate and screws) in my neck and while recuperating, the lumbar disk tore from too much twisting while recuperating. It released loads of chemical into my lower back which pushed my spine away and made my back crooked, they call it ( Temporary Painful Scoliosis).
Anyways, After 5 months, most of the extreme pain is gone, I can't twist at all and have to be extremely careful not to pull or push my body or lift over 20 LBS.
Has anyone been through the annular tear issue? How long can I expect it to take to be somewhere normal where I can do moderate activities again. My spine specialist advised it could be another year and I already know it won't heal. He also said it will dry up and is working on a sealant for annualr tears for FDA approval later on.
Thanks for any feedback......
_____________
Location - Omaha, Nebraska
1996 - Moderate herniated L4-L5 lumbar disk, treated with med's and PT. ** Numerous occasions of back pain since.
Aug. 2007 - re-herniated disk and injured cervical neck disk from work injury. Had severe pain in lumbar region and left arm numbness. Had back PT twice before neck surgery.
Feb. 2008 - Had neck surgery w/plate and screw implant after injection failed to correct situation.
March 2008 - Anular tear in disk with fluid on nerves while recuperating from neck surgery, also mild stenosis. back to PT in June 2008 with med's.
*** Surgeon advised disk is still a good thickness so no surgery planned for the near future.
October 21, 2008 - 1st Lumbar epidural, attempting to lessen disk pain so tear can heal somewhat.
November 5, 2008 - 2nd Lumbar epidural,first one improved pain about 60%.
Update: 1/8/09, 2nd epidural shot resulted in same pain reduction, no more, no less, no more epidural's scheduled for now, continue to do home PT everyday and still working full time with low level pain.
Feb. 2009 - PC doctor concerned with limited movement capability, ordered PT consisting of 22 therapy sessions at a PT place using the DRX9000 decompression machine and hands-on physical spine manipulation exercises.
May 2009 - Therapy complete with range of motion improvement from 63% to 76%. Decompression stopped after 3X due to severe pain, Therapy continued with exercises.
June 2009 - PC appt., doctor recommended Chiropractor to attempt to loosen mid back muscles and stiffness causing pain with no contact to neck or lower back due to injuries.
*** Still on 1)200MG Celebrex a day and Tramadal as needed.
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I had an endoscopic microdiscectomy that removed most of the disc at L3/L4 and removed the tare. Good luck and please keep us posted.
BTW- Have you thought about getting fitted for sacral lumbar back brace? It will help you not to twist or turn in ways that might aggravate it.
I am in no way associated with the medical field. Anything that I post comes from personal experience only.
DDD, Facet Arthropathy, DJD,Collapsed Disc, Sleep Apnea
PT, Epidurals, Facet Blocks,Medial Branch Block, Rhizotomy,Discogram,Annular Tare L3/L4 Endoscopic MicroD and PLDD,
Methadone, Percocet, Baclofen, Welbutrin
I am extremely careful not to twist since the original tear and now mainly get little flare-ups if I move the wrong way, such as pushing or pulling, or bending too far forward in a chair.
Did they have to fuse your spine with a one level when they took most of the disk out? what do they replace it with for stability?
Location - Omaha, Nebraska
1996 - Moderate herniated L4-L5 lumbar disk, treated with med's and PT. ** Numerous occasions of back pain since.
Aug. 2007 - re-herniated disk and injured cervical neck disk from work injury. Had severe pain in lumbar region and left arm numbness. Had back PT twice before neck surgery.
Feb. 2008 - Had neck surgery w/plate and screw implant after injection failed to correct situation.
March 2008 - Anular tear in disk with fluid on nerves while recuperating from neck surgery, also mild stenosis. back to PT in June 2008 with med's.
*** Surgeon advised disk is still a good thickness so no surgery planned for the near future.
October 21, 2008 - 1st Lumbar epidural, attempting to lessen disk pain so tear can heal somewhat.
November 5, 2008 - 2nd Lumbar epidural,first one improved pain about 60%.
Update: 1/8/09, 2nd epidural shot resulted in same pain reduction, no more, no less, no more epidural's scheduled for now, continue to do home PT everyday and still working full time with low level pain.
Feb. 2009 - PC doctor concerned with limited movement capability, ordered PT consisting of 22 therapy sessions at a PT place using the DRX9000 decompression machine and hands-on physical spine manipulation exercises.
May 2009 - Therapy complete with range of motion improvement from 63% to 76%. Decompression stopped after 3X due to severe pain, Therapy continued with exercises.
June 2009 - PC appt., doctor recommended Chiropractor to attempt to loosen mid back muscles and stiffness causing pain with no contact to neck or lower back due to injuries.
*** Still on 1)200MG Celebrex a day and Tramadal as needed.
It was not fused and there is nothing there to stabilize me. I am hoping and praying that I can bide my time until something with much better odds than fusion comes along. The back brace will remind you not to move the wrong way. They are really not all that uncomfortable to wear especially with a tight fitting tshirt on underneath. It may be just what you need to let it heal.
I am in no way associated with the medical field. Anything that I post comes from personal experience only.
DDD, Facet Arthropathy, DJD,Collapsed Disc, Sleep Apnea
PT, Epidurals, Facet Blocks,Medial Branch Block, Rhizotomy,Discogram,Annular Tare L3/L4 Endoscopic MicroD and PLDD,
Methadone, Percocet, Baclofen, Welbutrin
Thanks for the imput, Since your disk work, do you still have pain from the disk or is pretty much gone? Also, is the reason for the portion of the disk removal a result of the tear not healing? My Spine Surgeon advised it would heal in time but it gets confusing since I've heard from research that disks can't heal themselves.
He is also the type of surgeon who does not like messing with surgery unless absolutely neccessary. I like and trust him and he previously did surgery on a disk in my neck in Feb. 2008.
Location - Omaha, Nebraska
1996 - Moderate herniated L4-L5 lumbar disk, treated with med's and PT. ** Numerous occasions of back pain since.
Aug. 2007 - re-herniated disk and injured cervical neck disk from work injury. Had severe pain in lumbar region and left arm numbness. Had back PT twice before neck surgery.
Feb. 2008 - Had neck surgery w/plate and screw implant after injection failed to correct situation.
March 2008 - Anular tear in disk with fluid on nerves while recuperating from neck surgery, also mild stenosis. back to PT in June 2008 with med's.
*** Surgeon advised disk is still a good thickness so no surgery planned for the near future.
October 21, 2008 - 1st Lumbar epidural, attempting to lessen disk pain so tear can heal somewhat.
November 5, 2008 - 2nd Lumbar epidural,first one improved pain about 60%.
Update: 1/8/09, 2nd epidural shot resulted in same pain reduction, no more, no less, no more epidural's scheduled for now, continue to do home PT everyday and still working full time with low level pain.
Feb. 2009 - PC doctor concerned with limited movement capability, ordered PT consisting of 22 therapy sessions at a PT place using the DRX9000 decompression machine and hands-on physical spine manipulation exercises.
May 2009 - Therapy complete with range of motion improvement from 63% to 76%. Decompression stopped after 3X due to severe pain, Therapy continued with exercises.
June 2009 - PC appt., doctor recommended Chiropractor to attempt to loosen mid back muscles and stiffness causing pain with no contact to neck or lower back due to injuries.
*** Still on 1)200MG Celebrex a day and Tramadal as needed.
I had a discography that showed the annular tare and that it was causing some of my pain. I still have pain from facet arthropathy.
I am in no way associated with the medical field. Anything that I post comes from personal experience only.
DDD, Facet Arthropathy, DJD,Collapsed Disc, Sleep Apnea
PT, Epidurals, Facet Blocks,Medial Branch Block, Rhizotomy,Discogram,Annular Tare L3/L4 Endoscopic MicroD and PLDD,
Methadone, Percocet, Baclofen, Welbutrin
I have annular tears at three levels in my back. I suppose I have six tears, as the three discs are torn through from side to side. I don't have a reactive scoliosis problem, just severe pain. I've had two surgeons tell me there was nothing at all they could do for me -- I just have to learn to live with the pain or get a spinal cord stimulator. Since I seem to be getting worse and worse, despite every effort to find something that will help (ESIs, lots of physical therapy), I am considering a three level fusion with another surgeon who tells me he thinks he can help. Good grief, I surely hope he's right and I'm doing the right thing. I hope your pain gets better on its own. If not, they can do some IDET or something similar that will mend the tear in the annulus. Wish I could do that, but my discs are too far gone.
Linda
Ruptured discs L3/4, L4/5, L5/S1 May 2007
One ESI in 2007 with lots of PT
Microdiscectomy and foraminotomy L5/S1 December 2007
Worsening of symptoms (back pain, sciatica, right leg weakness) June 2008
New MRI and Discogram show all three discs torn through the annulus, left to right, all three levels
2 ESIs unsuccessful in managing pain
PT, Duragesic pain patch and percocet for break-through
Was told nothing could be done for me because I had three levels and DDD
Given option of three-level fusion after being told nothing could be done
Surgery was November 19, 2008 fusing L3/4 to S1
Attempted PLIF (from both sides) on November 19th.
Rods and pins were placed, but scar tissues prohibited removal of the old discs.
On November 24th, I had ALIF (opened from top of pubic bone to the bottom of my left ribcage) and removed the torn discs, placed dowels with cadaver bone, and some of my own bone marrow mixed with BMP. I left the hospital on the 26th of November.
Currently suffering temporary (hopefully) nerve damage of both legs and total numbness of right foot. Strange tingling in both feet at 4.5 months out of surgery. Numbness still exists in right foot at almost 9 months out.
Weaned off Fentanyl patches and only take occasional percocet for pain.