MRI Results - advice please?

[Bobbyboo]

I have recently had to have an ACDF at C6/C7 in my neck due to significant spinal cord compromise due to bulging disc and would normally frequent the spinal issues board.

I have had pain and nurabness in legs running into my little toes (mostly left) for a long time now and this has continued post ACDF. I also get hip and pelvis pain and stiffness which comes and goes.

Because of my neck problems I thought it prudent to get an X-Ray done which showed moderate degenerative changes in the lower spine and a condition called Osteoitis Condensans Ilii which I understand is an inflammatory condition, not serious and normally non-symptomatic. An MRI done of my lower spine was done and I list the results below.

On reading it, it all seems to be good news and reassuring. However, my question is - would this be normal wear and tear for a 44 year old female and is there anything I can do to slow down the degeneration process in the future?

MRI

There is degeneration of the lower two luraber discs with type 2 endplate change. There is also degeneration of the upper two luraber discs. There is a little loss of lurabar lordosis.

There is no evidence of significant foraminal pathology.

At the L2/3 level there is no significant disc pathology or nerve root compromise.

At the L3/4 level there is no significant disc pathology or nerve root compromise.

At the L4/5 level there is broadbased bulging of disc effacing the anterior epidural at and barely abutting against the right L5 nerve root.

At the L5/S1 level there is focal central bulging of disc but without compromise of the S1 nerve roots.

There is mild interfacetal degenerative change maximal on the right side at L4/5.

The spinal canal is of normal dimensions and the conus is appropriately positioned.

Many thanks

Bobbyboo

 

[Hulitoons]

I'm not a doctor so you'd really need to ask yours for a real understanding, however, from what I am able to understand these seem fairly 'normal' depending on what your lifestyle has been and what your genetic inheritance is as well.

If you are entering peri menopause or even getting near it you may need a lot more calcium and Vit. D. Taking fish oil, flax seed oil or krill oil (smaller capsult but equal in effect as three fish oil) assists with inflammation too. For anything like these though, you should talk to your doctor first. Your gynecologist would be the one I'd talk to about all this.

 

[feelbad]

just one thing here i would ask your surgeon for at this point? an MRI done on that surgical area while it is still in the early stages of healing. depending upon just how truely compressed the areas were up there peop up there would be some indications earlier on that wont be there later as to how much possible cord tissue was lost/damaged.

the one thing i did find out about cord damage? when i had my spinal cord surgery done back in 03, when we did the one month post op MRI, you could still kind of see still just where my 2x4x6 mm glob of blood vessels was and the area where they cut into my cord about one third of the way in to dig it out? amazingly,at my one year MRI, you could see absolutley nothing as far as where the cavernoma was or where they cut into my cord either. just blew me away since i KNEW without a doubt i had/have definitive cord damage which loves to show itself in some very insane ways. the key here is to look for whats called 'myelomalacia' going on in that cord area? this just gets triggered, or kicks in inside the cord area when tissue is scared or damaged in some way. it can happen from too much compression for too long, which does prevent CSF and in some cases the smaller vessels to stop flowing blood to the area. it all depenRAB upon how bad that compression is, and also what could have been injured during your surgery too. relieving any true compression upon our corRAB is just kind of risky at times depending. do you know if they actually did what is called 'intraoperative monitoring' on you during this surgery sincve it did involve a good level of actual cord compromise?

intra monitoring is the safest way for any NS to do any surgery where they have to either enter that cord canal or where they are relieving significant amounts of compression. its kind of a warning device that helps to guide the NS during the procedure. some use it some don't. but it is always in the best interst of the patient to just use this when doing anything with that cord area.

what ypou really need to look for in any MRI that would be done right now,i think this still would be going on if it was present,is the myelomalacia. this is how the cord gets rid of scarring and dead neural tissue. as far i am aware ,even th brain does not rid itself of this crap at all,only within our cord areas. when you simply HAVE cord damage at all,it will show itself in whatever was actually damaged. either upper motor neuron or while or gray matter or spinal tracts that run thru our corRAB to and from the brain. everything within that cord area simply 'does' something or governs something for us. unlike the brain,where people can and have sustained some pretty high levels of damage from things like gun shot wounRAB or accidental misfirings from nail guns too that lodge themselves into the skull and brain, and everything turnns out just fine with no true affectations or deficits/damage. this happens only because the particular area of the braint hat took inthe damage was not a vital area that was directly responsible for somewthing to occur in our brain or bodies. its just pure luck there and nothihg else.

the cord.like i mewntioned is just very very different and not always fogiving since everthing there simply has a 'job".

but the very best way to actually 'see' if there is/was any real damage to your cord is to see if the myelo has been triggered and is in the middle of doing a basic 'cleanup" act inside or on the surface of your cord right now. that in and of itself really shows alot. it definitely did in my case. you just cannot tell at all after that year that anything even occured inside of it. still freaks me out.

what myelomalacia actually is is a granualization or softening of a cord tissue area that is being readied for removal by what are called macrophages. its just the corRAB way of kind of removing scar tissue. this process like i said,just gets triggered by what is actually not viable tissue anymore. its presence is only there for a short period of time, then once it does its job, it dissappears completely.

how significant was your compression before the surgery? myelo could have also been present before that surgery too. it would depend upon how compressed that cord was at the time. once myelo goes away,all you can really rely on are your symptoms that would indicate areas of possible damage. certain things will show themselves in any basic neuro exam if you did have some level of true damage done. that nurabness? it was actually there pre op and is still there now? do you have any hyper reflexes like when they tap that knee with the little hammer?

they can also tell whether or not you have myelopathy which would also indicate cord involvment post op too. have they ever run an EMG/NCV on that area that just innervates where your nurabness is in order to just track it back to where things are being compromised? ist could help narrow down specific areas of compromise.

the thing here is your lumar area really does not appear to be bad enough to be causing you the effects/symptoms you are having and have had even before that surgery was done. you know what i mean? do you now or even before that surgery actually have any arm/finger symptoms, mostly in the middle to pinkie finger areas? this are where you had the surgery would in most cases, effect the c 7 and the possible c 8 nerve as well. there is some level of crossover there for most people when that c 7 is just involved since the c 8 nerve sits very very close to it too. not everyones actual anatomy is always dead on target according to dermatomes or whats in a book either. i really do need to pop into te spine boarRAB and read thru the posts you made there.i know it would help seeing what exactly you had going on pre op. i will be back soon. but DO speak with your surgeon or even your primary just to see about obtaining that new MRI on that surgical area up there. it just could be showing things now that wont later. marcia