C-Spine MRI report questions.

Hi everyone. Can anyone look at this report and tell if the problems I'm having could be this c-spine issue? I've posted before that I get nerve pain down my left arm, muscle twitches (random), sensory problems in my legs and arms, I've had twitches in my neck too. I'm exhausted by this. The EMG was clear but we're closing in three months of this. I'm wondering if I should go back to the osteo and ask that he do an MRI of my entire back. I know my midback hurts but I've done a lot of specialist visits to find out what's going on. The first doctor I went to see said my problems were most likely from the C-Spine but I've had a hard time accepting that I went to bed Ok and then this develops so quickly. Plus, I had some arm tingling and calf cramps six months before this. The precursor to all these problems was me falling asleep with my hands over my head and feet hanging nearly to the floor (wearing heavy boots) back on Nov. 4. I woke up with a migraine, took an Imitrex and Vicodin, next day all these nerve issues flared. I'm wondering if I should just back to the osteo. The EMG didn't show any pinched nerves so I'm not sure what to think:

Here's the MRI findings:
C3: Minimal bulging and uncinate spurring without significant stenosis. CSF maintained around cord.
C4-5 shallow protrusion and bony ridge contact cord without flattening.
C5-6 protrusion and bony ridge with cervical stenosis and minimal cord impression.
C6-7 right paracentral protrusion with uncinate spur with core impression and compromise right C7 nerve root.

I asked my left side was so messed up when the herination is on the right. They said it could be referred pain.

Does that sound right?

He did say the arm problems, numbness and tingling, could for sure be caused by the cspine problems. I didn't buy it because my leg was bothering me too. I questioned him. On the report, it says findings and then it says impression, below that are the major findings. I didn't see anything that said incidental findings. I might ask for an MRI of the back, thoraic and lumbar and see if he finds anything there. I know I have midback pain, and have for years, but all these strange symptoms, I just couldn't conceive how my current problems would be related, then I read that my herination with cord impresion and right C7 nerve root compromise would impact my arms. But, if it's on the right, why then am I suffering on the left. Referred pain, he said. This all seems so weird. Yeah, whack-a-mole is a great way to put that, I'm playing that game now. All this time my right leg was just fine, yesterday I started having nerve pain there too. But, I'm painting a 2000 square foot house right now and I'm suffering. I actually feel better when I work but that left arm just can't keep up. I don't have any strength loss, just muscle soreness galore. I'm right-handed so I'm guessing that the nerve pain there is more intense because it's the arm I don't use as much. This is all very fustrating. I just really need an answer that makes sense to me. I'm all about logic in this area, it has to make sense to me or I don't trust the comment. I'm driving myself nuts here.

I showed the neuro the report, he ran the EMG, he didn't find anything, that's why I'm so confused. The pain is clear and real, I wish to God it wasn't, I just want to wake up and have this gone. I don't know what to do next.

What's the MRI really saying? Does anyone understand how it impacts the arms and legs? I'm just wondering if I should go back to the osteo or some other doctor.

My sister keeps telling me to see the chiro, at this point it can't hurt to try one. My brother has a great accupuncture guy too, I'll give both a try and see what happens. I'm getting tired of seeing doctors. I said in another post that at this point, I'm looking like a nut when I see a new doc and go over all the stuff that I've been through. They don't like complicated cases, as I'm learning.

Thanks Straydog. I'm not sure if that's I don't trust him or just the fear that this is something worse. It didn't make sense to me that all this would happen as it did, just so suddenly like that. When I looked up the dermatone patterns (didnt' even know what that was until last night) I started thinking that all this fear might be silly, he's probably right. I think I'll ask him to check the mid and lower back too, maybe the shoulder as well. If he finds problems there, I'll accept that this the problem. The guy is a seasoned doc and since the neurologist didn't see anything at all, I'm guessing this back problem has to be the case. My bloodwork is all normal, I don't feel sick, I'm in pain. The sensory stuff is the worst, that part I just wish would go away, I can deal with pain but the numbness, tingling, weird electric feeling, I friggin hate that. I'm on neurotin now but it's giving me a constant sore throat

Yeah, it has been driving me nuts ! I think Neurotin's side effects, one of them, is a sore throat, it's not bad, I can live with it. I went to accpuncture today and oh man did that help. That lady is great, she worked on my neck and arm and it feels a hell of a lot better, there's an area she called brother support that has been throbing since she took the needle out of it, first time that has ever happened to me. My muscle twitches are a bit more obvious today, I'm guessing it's like a dam that just broke. I'm going to keep seeing her. When this pain started, it was in the right arm, she fixed that and then it moved to the left arm, down the left leg and now is bothering the right leg (not too bad compared to the other side of me). I wouldn't let her touch my neck the last time I was there and she said that's why the pain moved to the other side. Whatever she's doing, it's working, but the problems are still there. Yeah, that nerve pain can be off the charts, nothing works on it but Xanax for me. I think the Neurotin helps but the Xanax just calms it all down to a tolerable level. I have to say, this really sucks and I'm getting mighty tired of it. I think I'll go ahead and ask the doc for a closer examination of the spine all the way down. Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all so I'd be happy to have an answer as to the cause of all this. I hope I get one soon. I will just keep plugging away until I find someone who can find the issue. You don't really know what to work on if you don't know the reason.

I would think for sure there could be a connection. When I started reading about what c-spine issues can do to your body, I was amazed (and shocked). It can impact numerous areas, breathing included, we know that from accident victims, yes, but it was really surreal to read just how far reaching this can be for anyone with disc issues or cervical stenosis. Ask you doctor about this because i'm interested to know if that's contributing to your breathing problems. I haven't been to the chiro for the reasons you mentioned, that's why I've held out so long. I went to one about two weeks before all this happened, he did the neck crack, it hurt, and I've wondered all these months if that kicked off my problems. I asked the osteo if I could see one again, he said it didn't matter how many times I was twisted, turned and cracked, the problem wouldn't go away. Now, I love accpuncture; however, I'm wicked sore where she put the needles. I've seen her a lot and never had that happen. When I get up and leave, I'm never sore. That area on the left side of my neck, what we'd think of as where the structural support is for our head, hurts so bad today that I can't touch it. There's another area over the shoulder, same side, that is also very sore. I trust this lady and I think she did good work, she tapped into a major source of nerve pain for me. I'm going to give her a try for awhile to see if she can work this out. She does not use electricity in her session, just the needles. I moved around a lot on the table yesterday and might have caused this too, kept turning my head to change the music on my ipod, she got very excited and said: "no, no, no, you can not move, very dangerous." I moved anyway. I think I know why she said that now. I'll let you know how it goes with her. And I am going back to the osteo to have him take a closer peak at my entire spine, just to know.
What type of breathing problems are you having?

mentalcompass

One thing you must remember that the nerve dermotones often overlap, and they are not necessarily precise. Since the the nerves meet and form nerve bundle plex's the impingement of one nerve root can often affect the others that is why the pain might not exactly co-inside with where the damage is really located. I know when I had my first Diskectomy and fusion at C-6/7 my pain was like when you hit your crazy bone really hard in your elbow! You know how that goes down into your hand and makes you hand burn and hurt really bad? Well I had that in both my forearms and hands! and it was 24/7!!! I just could not stand that pain, and I also had trouble swallowing. I was in the military at that time stationed up in Alaska near Fairbanks. I spent close to two or three months like that before they finally found out what was wrong with me, and then they had to take me to a civilian hospital in Anchorage and I had to have emergency surgery! My one PCP was a Osteopath and he manipulated my back and neck while this was going on, he had me laying flat on my back on a table, and then he took my head in his hands and quickly jerked or twisted to one side! When he did this it felt like a bolt of lighting had went through my body! I honestly heard like thunder and my whole body lifted off the table, it was like a was like a gigantic shock that went from my head to my feet, it hurt so bad. Anyway the doctor actually jumped back, and then he said he would never do that to me again. I guess I really scared him! Anyway it wasn't till 3 or 4 weeks after that, that I finally had a mylogram done done at the Air Force base in Anchorage that they finally found what the problem was, I had a massive herniated disk at C-6/7 that was actually broken up and I had free floating fragments of the disk floating around in my spinal canal! The surgeon said that he did not know why I wasn't a quadriplegic the damage was so bad! Anyway since that time I will not let anyone manipulate my spine! In 2009 I again started having similar pain in primarily my left arm and hand, I went to my pain doctor who sent me for test MRI, and EMG studies, and he did Epidural injections, and also made me an appointment with the surgeon. Well my neurologist did not see any reason for me to see a surgeon nor have the epidural injections and he told me that nothing could be done. I got in a big argument with him, and I told him I thought he was blowing me off. Well he called my pain doctor, and of course my pain doctor did not agree with him at all! he also gave me the epidurals, and it gave me about 4 weeks worth of relief, but that was all. I seen the surgeon, and he took on look at the MRI and he said he could help me. That I needed to have a diskectomy and fusion at C-5/6. I had the surgery and as soon as I woke up in my room at the hospital, the pain in my left arm and hand was gone! The surgery worked! And here my neurologist said surgery would not help me! Not everyone gets the results I did, my first ACDF in 1985 left me with permanent paralysis of my right vocal cords. I found that out with my second surgery in 2009!
You are right mental compass the cervical area can affect allot of different things in your body, and it is nothing to be taken lightly! So from my experiences I tend to maybe, be a little over cautious, but as they say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! And I do encourage you to be very, very, careful with your neck, as even the professionals can screw your up!
I do wish you luck..........White Beard

I have to agree with WhiteBeard about the chiro treatment. I am not against them, but they seem to do better if this was a muscle type problem which it isn't. If you had a pulled muscle one may help you or he could hurt you further. Its a real crap shoot with those guys. But considering you do seem to have nerve involvment I would steer clear of them at this time.

Some people like neurologists and some don't. I never had any luck with one. A good PCP can order the very same tests that a neurologist can order. Something else I wanted to throw out too, is I have seen specialists review an MRI and say nothing significant showed up on the test and in fact the person had several bugling disc!! But, because there was no nerve encroachment going on in that drs eyes that person was not a surgical candidate he said the MRI was insignificant. I have seen this happen more times than I can count. So, when a person has any type of scans done they should always get a copy of the written report along with a copy of the film. This can be done at the facility where the scan was done at. I have also seen films be read incorrectly too.
Anyway, my 2 cents, lol.

great advice everyone. i thought they were one in same. i would gladly call the neurosurgeon. What do you think about me going back to the osteo and asking that he order an MRI of my entire back. Or, should I just see the neurosurgeon and ask him? I don't know if the neurologist actually reviewed my MRI himself but I recall he said he did. I know the osteo reads his own reports, I think he did. I'll find a good neurosurgeon, sounds like they know a hell of a lot more. I don't even have a copy of the MRI or the EMG, all I know is that he said he didn't find anything wrong. Clearly there's something wrong and I was shocked that it didn't at least show my herinated and bulging dics, the c-spine MRI showed it. You now, the osteo recommend that I could have some nerve blocking shots if this was bothering me still. Has anyone had those done? Just wondering if they actually work. At any rate, I'd feel better seeing the neurosurgeon. I also get this weird heartbeat thing, curious if anyone else had that. I sometimes get what feels like a surge discharge from the head (could be the neck) that fires through my body. When this first happened, I was lying down and thought someone kicked the back of the sofa. I jumped up and looked around, no one was there, it was actually my body. Sometimes I get twitches that actually move the joint, my left index finger and thumb, it's werid to see. I don't have any loss of strength, I'm working to rennovate a house, but darn does that nerve pain kick in the left elbow and throws the function of my entire hand off. I work around it but it's crazy painful. All this has upped my fear, mainly because I don't know what the hell is actually wrong. My muscles are very stiff and sore. Of all this, I hate the twitches the most, they seem to freak me out beyond reason. I guess it's because I can control pain but I can't control those twitches. I think I'll steer clear of the chiro on everyone's good advice. Something inside me told me to avoid that, otherwise I would have tried it months ago. I'm so anxious to find some answers.....it'd be great to know the source and then I can live with whatever needs to be done to fix it. I wonder why the Xanax works so darn well. I know this pain isn't anxiety, I know the difference between anxiety and real pain. I wonder if it's the impact on the brain or the muscle relaxing quality. Anyone else have good luck with that drug?

I know this is a frustrating and trying time for you, not to mention a painful one. But as trite as this might sound, hang in there mentalcompass, and keep fighting to find out exactly what is going on. If your not satisfied with a doctor go to another. And come here and vent your frustration, and know that you are not alone, we are all here for you.

Mental now is a good time to start getting copies of all of your records so you don't forget someone you may have seen. If you are ever asked why you want copies just say that you keep a personal file of your own at home. You can call where you went for the MRI and alert them you need a copy of the report and the film and they will get those ready for you and tell you when they can be picked up.

You mentioned injections, yes a lot of us have done the injection thing and there are many different kinds of those too. You will get a mixed bag in results from various members if they help or not. Its a crap shoot sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. There is no guarantee they will work. Its kind of like the medication thing, what may work for me may not do a thing for you. I have done trigger points which work great for me on severe muscle spasms. I also had the radio frequency nerve ablation done for both my neck and my back. It worked great for my neck but did little for my back. But, before going there you need to know what is wrong with you first. You mentioned seeing an osteo is that correct? Wasn't he the one that mentioned injections?

You do appear to have a lot spurring on your MRI and yes it will cause a lot of pain. Some neurosurgeons will not do surgery on a patient with spurring going on unless there is nerve related problems. I saw at one level stenosis which is narrowing. I have seen people with stenosis have a herniation not picked up by the scan because of the stenosis. I would not worry about the EMG not showing anything, that happens a lot, in fact I have seen more normal EMG reports than I ever saw that were positive for findings, they are not a 100 percent accurate test either.

I think I would find myself another neurosurgeon for another opinion. Don't stop looking a WhiteBeard says. He would probably be dead by now if he had not been persistent in getting medical help. He too was told there was nothing wrong with him when they were so far from the truth. I would do my homework on picking out a new one. A lot of times hospitals will have a referral line that you can call and they will give out names and numbers of specialists.

Keep us posted on how you are doing.

I think I found a better doc to see. He has 4.5 star rating from 30 patients and he's been recognized as one of Orlando's best doc's. Calling him today. :)

Max B Medary, MD named one of Orlando's Best Doctors
Congratulations to Max B Medary, MD on being recognized by Orlando Magazine as one of the Orlando's best doctors in their December 2008 issue. Dr Medary has also been named as the "only recognized Neurological Surgeon" in the Best Doctors database.