Hello,

Just wondering if a Tarlov cyst can be caused by trauma?

Had a car accident, rear ended extremely hard last year, have lower back pain, leg/foot and big toe pain/numbness/pin and needles.

A lumbar MRI shows a Tarlov cyst within the canal at the S2 level which measures 2.1 cm, along with some DDD, mild disc bulge, narrowing of the spinal canal at L3-L4 and at L5 there is an enlarged right transverse process that is fused with the right sacral wing (?)

Dr. sending me to a chiropractor and massage therapy but not sure where the pain is actually coming from.

Just curious about the Tarlov cyst, he didn't know much about them.

Thank you.

It is believed that trauma can cause a Tarlov cyst to become symptomatic. The reality is that everyone does not have a full spine enhanced MRI prior to having a traumatic event. Therefore, it is not known if the Tarlov cyst existed prior to the trauma. I had no back issues prior to my traumatic impact injury in 2006, and despite an "abnormality" shown on the first CT scan, x-ray and MRI at the area of T-5, all radiologists referred to the Tarlov cyst at that location as "incidental". When it was addressed surgically in 2010, the pain and spasms immediately abated and I was able to quit all medications and return to work.

From my research, that is the common thing that wakes the sleeping giant. The Tarlov Cyst Foundation is a great educational tool. I rec. you read all the material there. Don't let doctors tell you it isn't a possible cause!! Mine were found when I had a very large sequestered disc at L5 S1. As usual, they were an "incidental finding". A year and three months later of slowly getting worse, a new MRI revealed they were larger and a doctor actually acknowledged they could be a problem. I am going to see Dr. Feigenbaum in Dallas next week. I am not a person with unlimited resources to go there from Ohio, I am a person who wants to leave no stone unturned so I don't have to feel like I'm sitting on one the rest of my life! The neurosurgeon who did the microdiscectomy said there wasn't anything more he could do for me, with his smug look on his face. I told him I refused to accept that this is as good as it gets and I will keep searching and doing whatever I can do. I do my best to stay positive, laugh, enjoy what I can and not give up. Sometimes it makes you tired but what choice do you have? Keep researching. Hm. That means you search and search again! We are blessed to have so much information available to us via the internet. Imagine what we would know with out it? not much if left up to the vast majority of the medical community. Also thanks to the the Tarlov Cyst Foundation, there is a voice crying out in the wilderness for us!! Now GO! Don't Give Up!



Thank you.[/QUOTE]

Hello, New to Tarlov's, and am wondering if there is any evidence of a pre-existing Tarlov Cyst, becoming symptomatic - instantly, following a major trauma?

Hey Sitke,

That fusion you refer to is called sacralization. I have the same thing. You were born with it. All it means is that L/5 is fused to S/1, so your sacrum essentially starts at L5 since there's no movement there. It's not an uncommon condition and a lot of people who have it never experience pain. The main issue is that with L/5 fused like that you're not getting any movement in that vertebrae, so L/4 and above tend to compensate by working a little harder.