Help MRI results??

[Loureeves1304]

I had the results from my MRI results and now waiting to be seen by a specialist!  However in the meantime I'm left worrying about what to expect and equally in a lot of pain! Any advice on what to expect with regards to my results
MRI as follows
Mild right convexity scoliosis at the thoracolumber junction
Mild asymmetry of posterior paraspinal in lumbar and sacral spine
T6-L2 small Schmorl nodes
T12-L1 right central cranially pointed disc protusion impinging upon thecal sac
L2/3 broad based central right disc protusion impinging upon thecal sac
L3/4 left central disc protusion impinging on thecal sac
L4/5 small central disc bulging touching thecal sac
L5/S1 loss of height and bulging disc and mildly uneven end plates

Any advice given greatly appreciated

[philnoir]

The Connemara breed is perfectly proportioned with beautiful head. She sounds like she's in her prime at nine years -- what a joy! Lou, I hope you get to ride again, but this is a pony that both children and adults can master.

Special horses need special care and are a special joy. I hope that you and your Connie enjoy a long and satisfying friendship.

[Loureeves1304]

She sounds wonderful must be a privilege to be with her from the start! Horses are very understanding and therapeutic once you have that bond with them. I have a grey Connemara mare she's 9 and she is wonderful with my son who is 9 also but has ADHD. It's lovely seeing them together.

[philnoir]

I am also a horse person.

I helped birth my bay and was given her as a filly 20 years ago. She has nicest black points I've ever seen and is a real Aguoti from old Spanish stock. She was beautiful as a youngster, but at her age she's getting as grey as I am.

With my spine disease we can't ride together anymore, either, but we walk daily, and she'll gently carry my grandchildren down a trail if I lead her. She's half human.

It's been a privilege growing old with this horse.

[Loureeves1304]

Your right I'm from the uk! Thank you so much for your advice it is greatly appreciated!
I will admire my horse from afar until told otherwise

[philnoir]

Seek many forms of treatment. PT is very good. So is interventional spine treatment.

Often LBP is caused by a complex set of "confounding" problems. For instance, a failed disc leads to degeneration and arthritis in a facet joint, which causes pain. Fixing the disc surgically does nothing to fix the facet joint, and you're still in pain. Surgeons don't know why.

I feel you're in another country, so my advice won't apply directly.

I suggest that you consult a board certified pain medicine specialist, credentialed with the initials MD, DABPM after their name.

These doctors are trained in advanced anesthesiology, chronic pain as a disease, the central and peripheral nervous system, the use of advanced pain medication, and in techniques that can deliver pain relief with injections and other non-invasive procedures to specific areas of the body. They are also experts at diagnosis of rare pain syndromes, like central pain, CRPS, and RDS. And, they treat a lot of back pain.

Now, DABPM means a diplomat from the American Board of Pain Management. If you're not in the US, you probably won't find a DABPM.

But there are these kind of physicians in other countries. Seek them out. The hint is to find them in departments of anesthesiology, especially in teaching hospitals with pain programs.

It is also important for you to seek medical pain management, and this means opioid analgesics. The whole world has gone crazy in its bias against these, but seek them. Untreated pain leads to an incurable disease of the nervous system -- the spinal cord, specifically. This is the disease called Chronic Pain Syndrome.

A DABPM knows about this syndrome. Most other docs have never heard of it. They believe pain is a symptom of an underlying condition, which is true in the acute setting.

When you experience untreated moderate to severe pain over an unknown period of time, your spinal cord begins to change, and can send pain signals to the brain without any stimulus. The pain down-regulating mechanisms in the cord stop working. You get referred pain in areas that are adjacent to the level of your disease.

Don't let this happen to you.

And leave them horses alone!

[Loureeves1304]

Thank you for your reply! My gp said nothing other than no horse riding (I'm a horse owner) no heavy lifting and no exercise and referred me to a specialist! I'm 32 and work as a cardiac physiologist so not a physically strenuous job but like I said earlier I do have a horse! I presented to my gp beginning of December following a period of time of back and leg pain which has progressively got worse! Despite strengthening my pain relief, physio and osteopathy! I find tens machine gives me some relief! Pain is worse if I stand for a period of time and walking. It gets so bad at times that I can't lift my leg!

[philnoir]

Oh no.... that would be cheating!

An MRI is just one finding in a collection of signs and symptoms in any case. There is some indication of spine disease in your MRI, but having no idea of your history, I have no way of knowing if this is old or new information.

Your doctor should present your MRI results because he/she has complete clinical information about your back syndrome, including your complaints, history, and a physical exam.

Ask your doctor to describe your MRI in detail, in the context of your pain experience and clinical status.