C Spine help reading mri
 

Hi Everyone,

I am a 29 year old female who has been struggling with constant pain in the cervical and thoracic region for 7+ years. It has been slowly, but steadily, getting worse. I can't sleep a full night sleep without waking up in pain, and I am in pain when sitting.

I've been to two chiropractors in the past who showed me that I have a small S curve and said they can correct it, one orthopedic doctor in the past who basically said lots of females have pain in the neck and back and that he doubts my pain is really an 8 out of 20, and am currently seeing a pain md.

Pain doc ordered MRI of c spine and thoracic. Had them done on Monday. Doc said he doubts he will see anything on there, but will order me one for piece of mind. Went earlier this week for follow up appt and he said I have a small bulge at c4 and c5. He advised me to go to physical therapy and wrote me scripts for lidoderm patches, tramadol, skelexin, and piroxicam. Seemed very rushed.

The thing is, none of these things are bringing down my pain much. Today I was looking at the CD with my mri and it looks like there is less space between two of the spinous processes and it's also causing a bulge. Obviously, I'm not a Dr. so it might be perfectly normal. Doc didn't bring it up, but the pic he showed me when telling me I had 2 bulging discs was not this specific one and this area was blurry. Could this be causing my severe pain? Thanks!

Hard to tell just from that image as it is showing a side view of the spinal cloumn from the RH perspective. There is a left hand perspective as well.....that being said the most telling are the bird's eye view type images. You can see the bulge, and if it is entrapping any nerve roots or compressing the cord, and if so how much. Pain is subjective an 8 on your scale could be a 2 on someone elses and a 20 on yet another's.

Not sure what the different views are called, but here are a few more.

Here is another view

Here is another image of my c spine.

Another image - is that dark line anything? Looks weird like a tapeworm :confused:

Did you get a copy of the written MRI report?
That might be helpful since the images can't be enlarged very much in this format.

Can you describe your pain ?
stabbing, aching, burning etc and a specific location of it?
like the C/T junction or above/below tha, or to the side of the spine like in a muscle.

Any arm or hand pain/symptoms?
Do you do a lot of deskwork or repetitive activities?

Have you had a qualified PT evaluation to check for trigger points & muscle imbalances?
They can also do some hands on traction/compression testing to check c spine and such.

[he doubts my pain is really an 8 out of 20]


Does your dr use a 0 - 20 pain scale?:confused:
I thought most used 0 - 10 pain scale.

Hi Little Moo-- it is best to get hand written copy of mri and always seek 2 consults. Symtoms are very important esp if you have nerve problems--numbing in fingers or going down arm ?? Sorry your in pain if you want to share written report it may shed more light for people to help give you some guidance. :hug:

c spine
 

it seems to be hard to get anything done for back pain,doctors seem to think that you are in pain they sent me to pain management, and finaly ended up getting injections,it help a little they told me that I have a slite scoliosis,but with all the thing that you hear about everyone getting spinal meningitis form the injections,I will not be doing that again anytime soon,I wish you luck with your doctors and hope you get to feeling better soon:hug::hug:

Thanks everyone! Neck pain is no fun.
I received the mri report and it looks like most of my spine is a-ok and nothing serious

Mri report:

C4c-c5there is a small central and right lateral did /spur abutting the cord foraminal stenosis and probable impingement on the exiting right c5 nerve root

C5-C5 there is a small central disc/spur which abuts the cord. There is no significant appeared

I will be to a PT later this week. Since I have my spine issue for 7+ will it take a longer time to Heall?