disc extrusion

[Digglybones]

hiya,im new here & hoping to learn some things about disc extrusion.yes thats about all my Dr told me after the C.T scan.the report says large left paracentral/left foraminal disc extrusion 11mm diameter x 16mm width &likely to impinge on left S1 root in lateral recess (likely?thumping pain down my leg says it sure is)there is more about disc bulge,hypertrophy,etc that will bore u enough to quit reading & miss my questions & possible whinging.i googled disc extrusion after minimal sleep& 2 Mersyndol Forte only to be left asking "is it a herniated disc,ruptured disc?"i dont know if they mean the same thing but it sounds more dramatic than extrusion & i must be ready for when someone i dislike makes the mistake of asking how i am.ok thats the end of my flippant introductory ramblings with delusions that im sorta funny& u think im weird.is a disc extrusion a ruptured disc? i read 1 item that said that the body reabsorbs the extrusion in time & life returns to as before.any truth to that?After 2&half weeks of constant strong pain without painkilers&anti-inflamatories i hope its true.

[Maria]

Someone here will answer your question more directly however I'll just refer you to ChiroGeek's Home Page for some really good explanations of load referring to the spine including what you asked.

re how're you doing? If it's a doctor that wants to know I'd state what my report says I have and then tell them what I actually feel in relationship to that diagnosis.

If it's a person asking and since I've had back problems since the early '80's I just slap a smile on my face and say "fine" as I've long outgrown telling people how I really feel unless I'm absolutely unable to move hardly and if that doesn't speak for itself I'm probably too tired and in pain to bother.

Good luck with all re your spine and welcome to this forum.

[mmglobal]

welcome to the forum.. Sorry I have not answered sooner. (I feel lower than a dead dingo's donger.)

The advice I've received about 'resorbing' disc herniations is that if you get to be 2-3 months post injury and you are not getting better, the liklihood of being one of the lucky ones who just get better is relatively low.

All the best,

Mark

[Digglybones]

so i guess i should have asked how to manage to get around a few previously normal movements & social niceties such as sitting during a meeting,when sitting seems to press the extrusion right on the sciatic nerve.10 min of sitting tends to really make me suffer for hours after.simple tasks like putting on my shoes or driving have become a pain i cant avoid.i have a 1 yr wait for an initial consultation with a specialist & nearly as long or an app at the pain clinic.i guess unless i re-teach myself the self hypnosis sorta technique i used during childbirth that i am probably doomed to end up with a lovely codeine addiction.a few days ago i watched a doco about the children of Chernobyl,while laying on my belly since thats my new comfort zone.at that point i realized that anything i suffer is nothing compared to the horrors of what they have to live with.so i tell myself "you better harden the f up princess"i can at least relax on my belly watching Judge Judy tell people that they are idiots while i work out how not to sit on my ass

[jsewell]

I am sorry you have to wait so long for an appointment. You did make me laugh with your description of your day watching Judge Judy!!! I am always trying to remind myself that the pain i am dealing with is nothing compared to a lot of people. Thanks for letting me hear it again, now i want to look up the poor children , or maybe not get more depressed.
judy

[mmglobal]

digglybones, if you capitalize and punctuate your posts, they'll be easier for us old folks to read. (somebody smack me... I never use smileys! oh crap... there goes another!)

Sitting during a meeting: That is what you do for brief periods in between sessions of rudely standing and pacing around the back of the room.

I'm 10 years post-op from a very successful 2-level lumbar ADR. While I got 90 - 95% reduction of my leg/foot pain with the surgery, I still have pain when wearing some shoes. It doesn't seem to bother me when walking or doing anything that has me moving around keeping my mind off of it. However, when I sit still for a long time like when working at desk or driving, I frequently MUST take my L shoe off.

Waiting a year for pain management. I don't think pain management means what they think it means. If you can wait a year, why not 2 or 5??? Either you are suffering enough to need pain management or you are not. Seeing a PM doctor a year from now doesn't seem reasonable to me.

[dano87]

Thanks for all the replies, I'm in a similar situation.
__________________
Extruder Discs

[Maria]

No.. not acceptable! Actually that's freaking ridiculous!
I couldn't sit for more than 10 minutes for years.. years and years.. I had 10 years of ESIs after having 2 discectomies with first one working for a while and 2nd one failing badly..messing everything up again ... anyway, the ESIs helped me tho my disc bulges were small (they felt incredibly huge tho)!

If it hadn't been for PM tho back in early 2000s I probably would have had a 3 level global fusion which I'm so glad I didn't have~ or maybe would have been able to wait 3 more years till I was offered ADRs tho waiting is insane when we can't do anything but be horizontal and not even having fun!

Is it because you live in Australia that you have to wait that long? Even tho I can't stand the insurance game here in the US at least even without insurance it seems people can be seen sooner than a year.. maybe won't get anything authorized tho generally can get in somewhere even if a county hospital (where you literally have to hang out and wait all day to be seen).

Good luck.. hope you get seen way sooner than a year!

[karreymetris]

Hope you are feeling better. Ten years sounds like a long time to wait (to poster above me^)

[Maria]

To poster above me..

Actually I injured my spine in the early 80's. I waited 9 years before having my first spine surgery because I worked in Neurosurgery and didn't really see anything too promising. Finally I couldn't wait. First surgery in '89.. good outcome. 2nd in 92.. horrific outcome...

You couldn't have dragged me half dead to another spine surgery because of the outcome of my 2nd surgery~ I mean HORRIFIC pain for years..

Sometimes waiting is OK. I did and I'm doing far better for it as far as I'm concerned.

** I tried to edit this last night to reflect my reasons for waiting..

After many years of terribly chronic pain post 2nd spine surgery and while I was still considering surgical options I started PM in 2001 with low dose opioid pain med, ESIs and had been on Neurontin since '98 for neuropathies that devloped post 2nd spine surgery in '92 (severe burning pain bilat both legs,buttocks).

2001 offered 3 level global fusion.. had a few friends that had this surgery and did much worse afterwards.
2003-2006 offered ADR 2 levels then ADR with fusion at L5S1. Just wasn't ready for surgery in 2003 for various reasons.. then by 2006 started to feel so much better didn't want to take a chance on more surgery and having any significant setback.

I think about 2009 my OSS told me L5S1 had autofused and that's why I probably had so much relief. Still have L4 flareups tho not so bad as in the past and usually an injection of 60mg IM of Toradol helps with my cervical or lumbar spasms. I still don't sit alot, don't work, and still take a low dose pain med daily tho only the pain med, no longer the Neuronting (painful neuropathies gone).

I'm glad I waited tho again I'm heading on to 59y.o. and started this spine journey back when I was 28... I wasn't really planning on waiting ~ tho am glad I did. Still if I should need a future surgery and am a viable candidate for something or "have to have" because of neurodeficits, loss of tone, strength, funciton or loss of bowel/bladder control (incontinence) then I won't hestitate to have surgery. Meanwhile like the old saying goes "if ain't broke don't fix it." Well~ at least broke and a big honking painful mess!

good luck.. we all do what we do and see how it goes~ wishing anyone who has any spine surgery best possible outcome.

[karreymetris]

Wow, I feel like after reading this my pain and struggle is nothing compared to your guys!