spinal cord herniation...have you had one?
 

Hi everyone:)

I had a spinal cord herniation operation several years ago at my t6 (bra level) repaired. The operation took over 6 hours and the neurosurgeons were unsure whether it would work but luckily it did. However, i didn't really have a choice about having surgery because it took me over 3 years to get a diagnosis and when i finally did my neurosurgeon told me i was 2 weeks away from being paralysed because my cord was so trapped and compromised:eek:

I went on to have the surgery and everything was going fine until a year later my scar tissue form a cyst within my spinal cavity. The surgeons tried everything to drain the cyst but it would not go away and then i developed a csf leak. To help the spinal cavity balance it's pressure i had a LP shunt fitted and this worked brilliantly. 3 months later I was back to work as a nurse and busy being a mum.

Everything continued to improve and i had a baby 4 years after my big first op which i never thought possible and through out my pregnancy i never had 1 day of back ache. The only complication was i had to have a c section under GA but this worked out really well and i was discharge home 36 hrs after my C-section.

However, about 6 months ago i started getting back pain and those strange neuro sympotoms that i'm sure we have all experienced...like cold drips running down your leg, tingling feet, less sensation. I have returned to see my Neurosurgeon and he has MRI'd me and found my spinal cord scar tissue ahs settled down and my cord looks healthier than ever BUT a proportion of my spinal cord has adhered onto my spine. Hence causing me pain, burning and discomfort in my back and legs.

Now i wonder if this is from me over doing it or whether it due to nerves coming back to life...ie: this pain has always been there but the numbness around my scarring has deaded the pain...does that make sense??

Anyway would love to hear from anyone who's had a spinal cord herniation to compare stories :grouphug: (not disc herniation)

Look forward to hearing from you, K.xxx:)

hi K
 

you have been fighting and beating this back stuff for a long time. now more fighting but i wish i could understand how this could be and i must say even after 48 years of back pain and trying to learn about how to fix it i never ever heard of anyone having your trouble.
here you have the spinal cord stuck to the vertebrae. now there is supposed to be movement down there. the covering of the spinal cord, dura, moves and stretches. in fact if i stretch my neck a certain way i get pain down in my legs where the dura is being pressed by scar tissue as i too have lots of scar tissue. in fact could you try stretching your dura by bringing chin down to chest. does it hurt? mine hurts when i first get up in the morning. some days when its bad i bend my neck several times just to loosen it up and i find that helps.
it just occurred to me that maybe the patch you got has something to do with it. i would want to know what is really going on and i'd want the scans in front of me as i discussed this with the neurosurgeon. if it is stuck can the somehow fix it or do you just have to live with it....i dont know.....pete

Hi Mum ~ I'm just curious. Has your doctor ever MENTIONED anything about adhesive arachnoiditis? I'm NOT saying this is what you have, but I'm just wondering if he said anything about it.

How bad is the pain and burning? Are you on medication? Does it help?

Yes, I've had several herniations, and I have scar tissue both in the thoracic region (upper back) and in the lumbar region (lower back) but I've never had it adhere to my spinal cord. I DO have scar tissue wrapped around the L5 nerve root, and that really HURTS. :eek: Trouble is, if they remove it, more scar tissue will just form so there's no point in removing it. :rolleyes:

So let me know the above, okay? Thanks. Hugs, Lee