[Optimistic1982]

Hello,

I am a 32-year old female who has been suffering from what started out as just lower back pain that has now progressed to chronic neck pain and chronic lower back pain. I was misdiagnosed for many years and it was not until September of 2011 that a MRI of my Cervical and Lumbar spine was done. The MRI showed that I had Chiari 1 Malformation and mild degenerative disc change at my C5-C6 with desiccation and some reversal of my normal lordoctic curvature. I had surgery for the Chiari 1 Malformation in October of 2013, which has left me with no relief and has actually increased some my pre-existing symptoms and caused new ones. Currently the pain in my lower back varies from an aching, sharp, stiff, throbbing, twisting or dull feeling and often is a combination of two or more types of pain and my back will go into spasms. The pain in my neck usually feels like an ache, tension or stiffness and at times I get a burning sensations that radiates between the shoulder blade area of my back that decreases my range of motion that leaves me unable to fully turn my neck to either side or in a up and down motion. A new symptom that I have been experiencing for the past 5 months is numbness, weakness and tingling in my right and left hand, which leaves me unable to firmly grasp, grip, squeeze, hold, carry or pick- up many objects; especially anything over 5lbs. I just had a new MRI done on my Lumbar spine 2 weeks ago, since the area has not been evaluated since my MRI in 2011.

The results of my current MRI are as follow:

MRI Lumbar: Exam was performed with sagittal T1W and T2W and T1W and T2W axial images. The conus is normal at Ll. There is a mild straightened lordosis. Normal marrow. There is no dependent edema.

Ll-2 Normal signal and normal height. No herniation or bulge. Intact posterior longitudinal ligament (PLL). No stenosis. Trans dimension 1.8cm. Mild bilateral facet fluid. Small anterior spurs.

L2-3 Mild reduced signal and normal height. No bulge or foraminal bulge. Intact PLL. No stenosis. Bilateral mild facet fluid. Trans dimension 2 cm.

L3-4 Marked reduced signal and normal height. No herniation or bulge. Intact PLL. No stenosis.
Bilateral mild to moderate facet fluid. Trans dimension 1.7 cm.

L4-5 Marked reduced signal and mild reduced height. No bulge or herniation. No annular tear. Intact PLL. No stenosis. Bilateral facet fluid. Trans dimension 2 cm.

L5-S1 Reduced signal and height. Central annular tear with edema and central small protrusion. Intact PLL. No stenosis. Left facet fluid. Trans dimension 2.3 cm

Impression: L5-S1 protrusion. No herniations are noted. Mild to moderate facet inflammation.


I'm just searching for a better understanding of my results; what does it all mean??

Kind Regards,
Optimistic1982

[ginnie]

Hello and welcome to Neuro talk. Usually if you have pain in the arms and hands that has to do with the cervical spine. Your last one in 2011 may need to be repeated to address the arm and hand pain. The lumbar one that you had done recently, isn't really bad. If there where words that jumped out and said "severe" then there may be cause for some concern. You will get more responses. Keep a journal of where the pain is. That may help the doctors in narrowing down the area that is giving you the worst pain. I hope you can find a good resolution. ginnie

[Jomar]

Originally Posted by Optimistic1982

Hello,

I am a 32-year old female who has been suffering from what started out as just lower back pain that has now progressed to chronic neck pain and chronic lower back pain. I was misdiagnosed for many years and it was not until September of 2011 that a MRI of my Cervical and Lumbar spine was done. The MRI showed that I had Chiari 1 Malformation and mild degenerative disc change at my C5-C6 with desiccation and some reversal of my normal lordoctic curvature. I had surgery for the Chiari 1 Malformation in October of 2013, which has left me with no relief and has actually increased some my pre-existing symptoms and caused new ones. Currently the pain in my lower back varies from an aching, sharp, stiff, throbbing, twisting or dull feeling and often is a combination of two or more types of pain and my back will go into spasms.

The pain in my neck usually feels like an ache, tension or stiffness and at times I get a burning sensations that radiates between the shoulder blade area of my back that decreases my range of motion that leaves me unable to fully turn my neck to either side or in a up and down motion. A new symptom that I have been experiencing for the past 5 months is numbness, weakness and tingling in my right and left hand, which leaves me unable to firmly grasp, grip, squeeze, hold, carry or pick- up many objects; especially anything over 5lbs. If you do a repetitive or desk job this could be related to posture/position (forward head/neck/shoulders) or possibly thoracic outlet syndrome, if a new MRI does not show any c spine causes

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome/Brachial Plexopathy.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum24.html

I just had a new MRI done on my Lumbar spine 2 weeks ago, since the area has not been evaluated since my MRI in 2011.

The results of my current MRI are as follow:

MRI Lumbar: Exam was performed with sagittal T1W and T2W and T1W and T2W axial images. The conus is normal at Ll. There is a mild straightened lordosis. Normal marrow. There is no dependent edema.

Ll-2 Normal signal and normal height. No herniation or bulge. Intact posterior longitudinal ligament (PLL). No stenosis. Trans dimension 1.8cm. Mild bilateral facet fluid. Small anterior spurs.

L2-3 Mild reduced signal and normal height. No bulge or foraminal bulge. Intact PLL. No stenosis. Bilateral mild facet fluid. Trans dimension 2 cm.

L3-4 Marked reduced signal and normal height. No herniation or bulge. Intact PLL. No stenosis.
Bilateral mild to moderate facet fluid. Trans dimension 1.7 cm.

L4-5 Marked reduced signal and mild reduced height. No bulge or herniation. No annular tear. Intact PLL. No stenosis. Bilateral facet fluid. Trans dimension 2 cm.

L5-S1 Reduced signal and height. Central annular tear with edema and central small protrusion. Intact PLL. No stenosis. Left facet fluid. Trans dimension 2.3 cm

Impression: L5-S1 protrusion. No herniations are noted. Mild to moderate facet inflammation.


I'm just searching for a better understanding of my results; what does it all mean??

Kind Regards,
Optimistic1982

I'm surprised they didn't redo C spine MRI when in for the Lumbar... due to the arm/hand sx..

I'll bold some things that might need to be asked of dr.