L
lemonfl
Guest
Hello all. Have been reading this forum for about 6 months now. My husband was injured at work 6 months ago. Unfortunately, we are now dealing with workers comp. We are at the point now where we are looking to get a second opinion on our own because we feel like he is just being strung along by the doctor. He is currently with an ortho doc and pain management doc within the same group. Here is what his mri shows.
L1-L2 - there is a minimal disc bulge, no significant central canal narrowing.
L2-L3 - there is a disc bulge and small right paracentral disc extrusion extending superiorly for 3mm. There is mild bilateral facet hypertrophy with mild canal narrowing but no significant neural foraminal narrowing,'
L3-L4 - there is a mild disc bulge and left foraminal broad-based disc protrusion. There is bilateral facet hypertrophy with minimal central canal narrowing. There is mild to moderate left but no significant right neural foraminal narrowing.
L4-L5 - there is a mild diffuse disc bulge. There is a tiny right paracentral disc protrusion. There is a left foraminal broad-based disc protrusion with annular tear. There is mild central canal narrowing. There is moderate left and mild right neural foraminal narrowing.
L5-S1 - there is a mild disc bulge. There is a tiny left paracentral disc protrusion and annular tear. There is bilateral facet hypertrophy with minimal central canal narrowing but no significant neural foraminal narrowing.
He has had three sets of steriod shots. Unfortunately the first two did not work and he only got relief for a few days. One was a caudal and the other was a transforaminal. We found out that the emg was done wrong by the first neurologist. His pain dr did the second emg. He definitely has nerve damage and based on the emg was better able to pinpoint where the third shot should be placed. The third was intralaminar. If his pain gets worse they will try doing the facet joints. They will only give so much steriod in a year and he is just about at the max now. His back has felt better for a month now, but it is slowly going back to what it was. He did rounRAB of pt which only made his back feel worse. They had him stop that. They now want him to do aqua therapy and acupuncture. Originally he was only allowed to lift 10 pounRAB. They have put him back on full lifting, no restrictions. As long as his back feels pretty good, because of the steroiRAB, we keep wondering if this will make matters worse in the long run. This does not make sense to us because all they have done was to alleviate the pain problem but have done nothing to fix the underlying problems. They just keep saying come back in three weeks for a check. They don't feel he neeRAB surgery at this time. We feel we need to get a second opinion on our own.
Any advice would be appreciated. We feel like we are running into the brick wall.
Thanks and sorry for the long post.
L1-L2 - there is a minimal disc bulge, no significant central canal narrowing.
L2-L3 - there is a disc bulge and small right paracentral disc extrusion extending superiorly for 3mm. There is mild bilateral facet hypertrophy with mild canal narrowing but no significant neural foraminal narrowing,'
L3-L4 - there is a mild disc bulge and left foraminal broad-based disc protrusion. There is bilateral facet hypertrophy with minimal central canal narrowing. There is mild to moderate left but no significant right neural foraminal narrowing.
L4-L5 - there is a mild diffuse disc bulge. There is a tiny right paracentral disc protrusion. There is a left foraminal broad-based disc protrusion with annular tear. There is mild central canal narrowing. There is moderate left and mild right neural foraminal narrowing.
L5-S1 - there is a mild disc bulge. There is a tiny left paracentral disc protrusion and annular tear. There is bilateral facet hypertrophy with minimal central canal narrowing but no significant neural foraminal narrowing.
He has had three sets of steriod shots. Unfortunately the first two did not work and he only got relief for a few days. One was a caudal and the other was a transforaminal. We found out that the emg was done wrong by the first neurologist. His pain dr did the second emg. He definitely has nerve damage and based on the emg was better able to pinpoint where the third shot should be placed. The third was intralaminar. If his pain gets worse they will try doing the facet joints. They will only give so much steriod in a year and he is just about at the max now. His back has felt better for a month now, but it is slowly going back to what it was. He did rounRAB of pt which only made his back feel worse. They had him stop that. They now want him to do aqua therapy and acupuncture. Originally he was only allowed to lift 10 pounRAB. They have put him back on full lifting, no restrictions. As long as his back feels pretty good, because of the steroiRAB, we keep wondering if this will make matters worse in the long run. This does not make sense to us because all they have done was to alleviate the pain problem but have done nothing to fix the underlying problems. They just keep saying come back in three weeks for a check. They don't feel he neeRAB surgery at this time. We feel we need to get a second opinion on our own.
Any advice would be appreciated. We feel like we are running into the brick wall.
Thanks and sorry for the long post.