After 4 back surgeries I find myself facing more surgery in the future.
Im unable to fully understand my MRI, hoping someone could help. Please be patient with me as I'm new to this forum.

My present physical state is numbness to my right arm and hand. Pain to the shoulder and neck, fevers with chills, numbness to my two legs and radiating pain (severe) to my lower back. Sexual disfunction as well as some minor bladder problems.

at C3-C4, broad based posterior disc herniation with compression of the spinal cord resulting in moderate spinal stenosis with an AP dimension of 0.7 cm.
There is a disc bulge, osteophytes, and facet hypertrophy. Moderate to severe right and mild moderate left foramina stenosis.

at C4-C5, broad based posterior disc herniation with anterior compression of the spinal cord resulting in moderate spinal stenosis with AP dimension of 0.7 cm. There is a disc bulge, osteophytes, and facet hypertrophy. There is a moderate to severe bilateral neural foramina stenosis.

There is a hemangioma at the level T2

L4-L5, There is a disc bulge, desiccation,osteophytes,and facet hypertrophy.

L5-S1, left paramedian disc herniation which abuts the left S1 nerve root. There is a disc bulge, disiccation,osteophytes, and facet hypertrophy. There is a moderate to severe left neural foramina stenosis. There is a mild to moderate right neural foramina stenosis.


Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to offer me. Sometimes we are truly alone with our pain.

What were your previous surgeries for, specifically?
Did any of them help the issue at the time?

What parts of the report do you need help with, all of it, or just a few of the terms?

I'll bold some of the main things I notice, but I'm not an expert at these..

Welcome to Neuro Talk. I am curious as to what surgeries were done on you too. I can research, but now, I have a general impression. I am not a professional in any way, but after years of reading posts, and my own fusions, several words pop up in your MRI report, that I have learned signal a problem. Anytime a post states, "moderate" to "Severe" nerve compression, that is cause for concern. At this point, I sure would go for several opinions before opting for surgery. The Domino effect, is what I worry about, considering you have had other surgery. The spine has to be strong enough to hold the hardware, or the ones above and below fail. This is something to discuss seriously with you physician. Please let me know what surgery you have had so far, and when the last MRI report was. Degenerative changes can occur even within a six month time frame. I will be here for support and to help you in any way I can. I am so sorry you are going through this. I have had two fusions, no fun at all..... ginnie

You have multiple complaints which could signal more than multiple problems contributing to your symptom complex. Imaging-wise, you have two levels in your neck that by definition present as absolute stenosis (AP diameter of 8 mm or less - look it up) with multiple levels of lateral canal stenosis. Your lumbar MRI is not quite as messed up (a medical term) but anytime you see the term "stenosis" you should investigate (patient complaints balanced against clinical exam findings) to realize its significance. Be that as it may, you should see a neurologist to find out if electrodiagnostics would benefit you as well as a PM doc in consideration of ESI. The 8 mm may prove very problematic....