Please, I need help understanding my MRI results.

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karenk1961

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Findings: There is preservation of the lurabar lordosis. The vertebral bodies appear intact without evidence of acute fracture. There is multi-level disc desiccation.
At L2-3 there is a disc bulge with anterior thecal effacement. There is bilateral foraminal stenosis, left greater than right.
At L3-4 a broad based disc herniation is noted with anterior thecal sac effacement and bilateral severe foraminal stenosis, left greater than right.
At L4-5 a disc bulge is noted with severe right foraminal stenosis. Accompanying facet and ligamentous arthropathy contributes to mild central stenosis at L3-4 and L4-5. The conus is appropriate in position and signal intensity.
No gross prevertebral or paraspinal soft tissue abnormality is suggested.
IMPRESSION: Multi-level disc bulges at L2-3 and L4-5 with anterior thecal sac effacement and foraminal stenosis, particularly on the right at L4-5.
Broad based disc herniation at L3-4 with bilateral severe central foraminal stenosis, left greater than right.

If anyone can translate this to english, I would greatly appreciate it. :)
 
the discs at these levels are touching (effacement) against the sac or tube that the spinal column runs through (thecal sac). foraminal stenosis - the hole in the vertibrae (foramen) that the nerves exit is narrowed (stenosis). stenosis can happen normally with age. disc bulges are usually from injuries.



same here, the foramen are narrowed, but no disc bulge.


the discs are drying out.. again can happen normally with age. when the discs are dried out they do not cushion as well and they loose height.
 
Hi Karen - I just seen your post to me over in the pain management threaRAB....so I hopped over here to answer you. Looks like Zeroman has you covered. You poor thing, sounRAB like you have definite low back pain and both left and right sides are involved. Is it traveling down your legs at all yet, or still localized to the back.

I hate that when the doctors throw the "your too young" talk into the mix. I was 38 when the neurosurgeon finally decided I had jumped through enough hoops of PT, injections, water therapy, etc ad nauseum and did my surgery. I definitely would not say the surgery was the best thing that happened to me, but it did keep me out of a wheelchair.

I'm still very new to the boarRAB and finding out the threaRAB where I "belong" to post. Since this is back problems, I definitely belong! There are just so many sub-threaRAB and different topics.....I could get lost for a month reading through everything!
 
Thanks Sue,

I have been suffering for about 20 years now (I'm now 46). I have constant pain on the right side with nerve damage down my right leg. The pain is in my lower back, right hip, right groin, down the right leg into the knee and calf. Sometimes it goes into the foot. I rarely have pain on the left side, mostly just nurabness from the left buttock down the back of the left leg. My doctor is now suggesting epidurals. I have done this before, and although they do give some relief, the effects don't last long. He has also suggested physical therapy, but I am leary since the last time I had PT I wound up in he hospital for a week on a morphine pump. I am at the end of my rope. I am in constant pain and I feel like I cannot live a normal life anymore.
 
Gosh, I feel so bad for you, as I know what you're going through. I had severe central canal stenosis, and I also noticed when I got my medical recorRAB, when they did my surgery, I also had foraminal and lateral recess stenosis in small areas. I had tried all the treatments, also (mainly b/c insurance required it). The only thing epidurals helped me with was my disc herniations, it did not help any of the stenosis pains. And if any of the stenosis is caused by bone thickening and spurs, then unfortunatley, nothing but surgery will possibly help. The only way to get rid of the compression is to cut the extra bone away. Besides bone, I also had to have some ligament (ligamentum flavum) removed b/c it was also thickened and buckling into my canal. And gosh, if you've been suffering for 20 years, I hate to think if you might have permanent damage. I'm not trying to scare you, but just letting you know of what is possible.
 
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