Thoracic Patient-Please Help!

[Aaron]

I had great success with ESI in thoracic area, but not until discogram done and showed tear at level above herniation was also pain gen. Was it coincidence that the first couple I had only at herniation level did nothing and I got immediate relief from ESI done at herniation level and around tear, cant answer but my opinion is no, medicine got to tear which may have bee causing more pain than herniation.
I would suggest looking into non-fusion option also. Once fused thats it, but could try min. invasive then have fusion if that not success. Look into Dr. Richard Fessler ( TMED ) surgury. That is what I will be having if the thoracic issue ever gets that bad again. But all my time spent on new lumbar/cervical issues, one step forward two back. This was stolen from another site but just about describes what I think occured. I was waking with no pain and immediatly on movement started feeling a tearing, stabbing feeling. that progressed as day passed.

"Chemical radiculitis” is important in the generation of back pain. A primary focus of surgery is to remove mechanical compression on a nerve or the spinal cord. Back, neck, leg and arm pain, rather than being solely due to compression, may also be due to chemical inflammation. This may cause the nerve root to adhere to the canal, leading to nerve root traction with movement. The "hydraulic effect" of a fluid being placed directly within the adherent tissue causes the tissue to separate and allows the nerve to slide in it's channel more easily. For these reasons, epidural steroid injections often result in substantial pain relief, reduction of scar tissue, and return to functional activity. An advanced form of epidural, the transforaminal epidural or nerve root injection, provides the components of the "hydraulic effect" to separate the adherent tissue, proximity to the irritated nerve root and disk tear, and an anti-inflammatory delivered directly to the nerve, all helpful benefits resulting in pronounced and lasting effects in many patients.
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[jeff]

i also have a herniation at t5-6, i also am terrified at having surgery, i have seen 4 surgeons, 3 who want to operate, 1 said to try physical therapy, i'm doing a phsyical therapy called feldenkreist method, this is for people that can't do normal physical therapy, i've seen a pysiatrist (spelling?), this is a md, who isn't a surgeon and looks at all possible alternatives, injections, physical therapy, etc., i'm using dr. vlachos in beverly hills, she can tell you if you must have surgery, in her office, is a thoracic spine surgeon john regan, a vats pioneer, he should be one of the surgeons you talk to, heard some bad things about him, also dr patrick johnson at cedars in los angeles, he also does vats

[jsewell]

Jeff, I was a person who experienced bad things after having surgery with DrJohn Regan. A nerve was nicked or something when doing my vats surgery. I had severe breathing problems in surgery. He still gave up on the vats and turned me over and started removing my posterior fusion from a different surgeon. He never discussed this with me. I stopped breathing after surgery, was on a ventilator , never again saw DrRegan. I now have a permanent loss of lung function . I also had to endure lung surgery shortly after my surgery with Regan. He said nothing happened to me. That was only when i made an apt. to see what he had to say about what happened and why did he never show up. I could go on. You can send me a private message if you would like. I cannot recommend that man. I would say only to stay far away. Pioneer or not,. i also have become friends with a man who was paralized by Regan about the same time i had my surgery.

Sorry you find yourself with this horrible problem. Good luck finding a good , surgeon,.
judy

[karreymetris]

I am having a minimally invasive procedure done tomorrow, so no big scar from fusion and the risk is minimallized. I will write how it goes tomorrow!

[jeff]

do you have contact info for dr richard fessler
do you have contact info for extreme lateral interbody fusion

[jsewell]

Sorry i don't Jeff , but hopefully someone will be on soon to help you. I was just reading on xLIF and it is not possible to do it with L5-S1 and in some people not on L4 -L5. Good luck in your search
judy

[hamrs_62]

you have either a disc or a bone spur pinching a nerve or nerves in an area or areas, depending on where your burning pain or pains are, I get some burning pain between my shoulder blades, when I lift or carry something heavy, or even when I am sleeping, sometimes it will wake me up, and it feels like someone is stabbing me with a hot poker, I have to get up and bend side to side and walk around for a while, sometimes it lasts for hours, even with pain meds,