Diagnosis of back pain..

  • Thread starter Thread starter monkey5
  • Start date Start date
M

monkey5

Guest
Hi there, i have another question. Okay i dont really have a solid diagnosis yet! But i am having exrays done as i have never had plain films yet and i know they have to put something of reason why these are being done, but this dr is pretty honest and he put the writing of Evaluate Listhesis. I believe this means Spodylothesis?That means i do have something wrong right? I mean maybe noone has ever thought this would be causeing this much discomfort? I dont know. Or maybe this is just what hes going by with my last MRI results or what he thinks! Thanks for taking the time for me!
Monkey
 
Well, it's hard to say exactly what your doctor meant by "evaluate listhesis"...but if you do have spondylolisthesis, a regular x-ray will most definitely confirm it. I would even go one step further, and ask for a flexion/extension x-ray...where they will have you bend both forward & backward while x-raying, so that the doctor can clearly see what is happening with your vertebra in those 2 positions.
 
bug, thanks for trying.
The only thing i found was In children, spondylolisthesis usually occurs between the fifth bone in the lower back (lurabar vertebra) and the first bone in the sacrum area. It is often due to a birth defect in that area of the spine. In wich finding anything possible would maybe have something to do withtransitional vertabrae as what else would be between the last bone and the sacrum, it will be interesting to find out the results. wait...wait..wait. I am tired of sitting around but i know i have to for at least 12 hours better results possibly waiting the 24 after the injections!
Monkey
 
Yes, that's true about the spondy...mine is at L5-S1. I've had it nearly my whole life (not sure if I was born with it or not), but didn't actually become symptomatic until I reached my 30's. Although, I now think that years of heavy (well, heavy for a woman anyway) weight training, coupled with a spill on my motorcycle back in 2004, may have contributed to some (if not most) of my problems now.

I always sort of knew that there was something not quite "right" with my back, even before I became symptomatic and got diagnosed with my grade 2 spondy...because for as long as I can remeraber, I've had this weird boney protrusion on my lower back. I later found out, that this boney protrusion is the spiney process of my L5 vertebra. It literally sticks out, especially when I bend forward...almost looks like a "tail". It hurts to lay flat on anything, especially when I try to do abdominal crunches because it sticks out so far and I can feel the bone just digging into the flat surface...ouch!
 
bug, i would say ouch! It has always stuck out you said? I dont believe i have anything sticking out but like i have posted in the past and today, it feels almost like something sticking out of myback. It's something i have never been able to describe to anyone except that it feels like someone pushing on my back with thier fist or something. I just had a thought! I hope the injections work, i would be one easier step to indepency again! Thats alot like me, i for a long time had discomfort after age thirty and then i was in the car accident. Without the sever protrusion. What has helped you with this? Do you get injections as well?
Monkey
 
bug, yes i looked and it does say Lurabar flex and extend! I will let you know what the outcome is!
monkey
 
bug, the only thing i dont understand is where the Dr. gets listhesis from Transitional Vertabrea, do they go hand in hand, or is one possibly a results of another hmmm. I guess i will find that out next.
monkey
 
Hmmm...I had to look up "transtional vertabrae", because honestly...I had not heard of that term before. And after looking it up, I still don't have an answer to your question...sorry. I really don't know if your transitional vertebra could in any way, be related to a diagnosis of spondylolisthesis. I imagine anything is possible. I'd wait to see what the x-ray's show and what your doctor interprets from it.
 
No, I haven't done injections...yet. I'm too chicken to try it...although I may breakdown eventually, and have one. For right now, the only thing that helps me is too keep moving...so I get to the gym everyday for my workout. I also stretch...A LOT! My lower back tenRAB to stiffen and tighten up when I'm inactive (like I am right now, sitting at my desk at work). As long as I stay mobile, the pain is tolerable. The only other thing I use is my inversion table...but I started using it over a year ago for sciatica in my right leg. Lucky for me, it worked and my sciatica is now completely gone. But I still use the table daily as a preventive measure...plus the stretch feels so good on my back.
 
It's inversion table...not conversion. It's a device that you can buy for your home. You get onto the table and invert (hang partially upside down). The act of gravity decompresses (takes the pressure off) the spine. It's similar to "traction" that is done at a chiropractor's office. It's not for everyone. There are plenty of folks out there who feel the risk outweighs the benefit. But I was willing to chance it, and my outcome was great. It got rid of my sciatica...so I have no complaints about using it.
 
Back
Top