Question lumbar Spines ?

[Gil Denis]

Hi All

This is for lumbar patients, I have a very sore lumbar spine,most days i manage very well.Stiff in the A.M. as the day moves on so do I. Most task are o.k. walking,some woodworking,some easy skiing, P.T. three times a week with stretching and exercises etc.

Here is the question I get crooked, out of sorts, when I look into a mirror it looks like a leaning tree? It is very painful. It gets better with in a few days, but recently it has become more severe and takes longer to get back to my old self. Has anyone ever had these symptoms and what is the cause?

I thing this is major spinal instability and surgery is kicking me in the **s to get it now

This is a workers comp case and will only cover some, other insurance will not cover anything because of W.C.

I have been searching for a surgeon here in the states from coast to coast and being a possible four level spinie no one has a procedure for lasting results, I can go out of country, but no money due to real estate, recession, cannot work etc,

I think it would be nice if we had a foundation to help finance, work with spine patients is seeking the correct procedure and surgeon.Like cancer foundations etc

All For Now

Thanks for listening

Gil

[jsewell]

First i love your profile picture, it makes me smile every time i see it. I should put one of me in here with this neck brace that also has a thoracic component as i feel i may never get it off. As you can see i am mostly fused except for a few upper cervical (that is good) and L3-5. I should say fusing.
I have been having lumbar pain that forces me to rest, i can do some things like take a long walk but usually rely on pain meds. I just has some ESI but feel i must be in a position to be looking at something further. It sucks.

Anyway just a little moaning. I have a wonderful spine surgeon here in so. california that i love. I don't know if you would get the same info as from other doctors you have seen and i understand the financial crunch. I have not worked in almost 3 years now.
I agree with the money foundation for us poor spineys although with my surgeon , who i am extremely comfortable with , the cost to me is minimal in his end. When he thought something was beyond him , he sent me to DrRegan. so he is a great guy.(my doc is the great guy i had a huge lung complication with Regan , which he is not helping with at all) Facing surgery for that soon .
Just wanted to commiserate, sorry i have no good answers as to what is happening with you, i don't know myself except pain!!!!! Again!!!!!

[dshobbies]

Gil,

Please take this as from someone who has absolutely no medical expertise, just some personal experience.

Your lumbar spine is stiff in the mornings and loosens up as the day progresses. You look in the mirror and you're not standing straight. This sounds like muscle spasms, what my doctor calls 'protective mode'. As your actual spine worsens, so do the spasms or tightness.

Muscle relaxers can help as does the stretching and pt but the only way to fix this is to fix your back, which you're trying to do. Bureaucracy stands between you and that fix for which I have a few expletives but not much more. Yes, I agree, a foundation would be beyond great but...- ISpine was intended to be such an endowment but alas, Mark has a little too much on his plate.

Good luck and if you discover exactly what this is, keep us in the loop.

Dale

[Maria]

Scoliosis of the lumbar spine? Is one leg shorter than the other (is in most people)? Are you having muscle spasms?

In the a.m. when I first get up I'm bent over usually for a bit. Then I straighten out as I "warm" up. Sometimes I sort of lean to one side if one side is bothering me and in spasms however I do have lumbar scoliosis and I do have one leg shorter than the other. One hip is sort of rotated forward a bit.

I have had PT and exercises to do to help me out with this in the past though I usually just work thru it and a good hot shower in the a.m. helps and getting out and walking a bit.

No doubt my posture, stance. alignment has changed over the years esp. since my 2 right knee surgeries and 2 lumbar spine surgeries. Still all in all I feel pretty good and sort of just deal with the tightness and spasms best I'm able.. some days I'm markedly slower and less able to do things and I try to listen to my body and rest as needed and function well as much as I'm able.

Back in '06 I think I had films done to see if I had lumbar instability and I didn't so I'm guessing I don't now. See your doctor re updated films if you think that's necessary or your symtoms warrent it.

[Gil Denis]

Hi

Thanks for the replies.

I think it is called Oh S&^# or Osteoarthritis in the lumbar spine.

I think it is coming from my L5-S1 facet joints

So now what

Life is great

Gil

[Maria]

Hey Gil,
It's been awhile now though I cannot recall if you were recommended to have a fusion or there's that possibility as you mentioned instability so wondered if you had flexion/extension films that showed that?

Not sure what could be bothering you though you have enough spine history that it could be "something." I see you rebulged the same level you had surgery on previously (as did I at both levels of discectomy I had).

Most of the time my back is pretty good with my medication. Some flare ups. Some predictable, some out of the blue. I usually ride them out now vs. the panic it used to send me into 20 or 10 years ago. Still I never think that something "new" couldn't pop up esp. as I age (deteriorate spinally?)!

Hope you're feeling better. Have you tried a Toradol injection 60mg IM for spasms? I can't believe how helpful that is for me/my flare ups. Then there's whatever else works given each of our clinical findings. Good luck!

[jsewell]

I have a question about re herniation. If you have a discectomy , don't they remove the whole disc?