Hernited disc? Mixed symptoms...

About 2 weeks ago (Friday), at work (carpentry at construction site) I had to move several large&heavy pieces of timber from one end of the site to the other. In one of those goes, I took a turn and felt something also turning inside my spine. Since then, I have had a weird sensation in my upper back and neck. The afternoon of that day was terrible, I felt like something piercing my back between the shoulder blades, and a continuous tingling sensation at the base of the skull. I even felt tingling on my right arm for a few hours (never happened before). The next day (Sat) in the morning I went to a physiotherapist, he did some acupuncture and ultrasound. He stated that just by seeing my back, it was very unlikely to be a herniated disc, that they are fairly rare on the upper back, etc.  He recommended rest for a few days as well. I felt much better and resumed work the next Monday. That week the pain came back, not as bad as initially but still on the same spots. I went to another physiotherapist the following Monday (this week's). He also stated that it's unlikely I have a herniation, and recommended specialised exercises. He also put straps on my lower back which eliminated the neck tingling right away. Today (Sat, 2 weeks and 1 day after the incident) I again have tingling at the base of the neck and in the middle of the back. The pain didn't go for good, it just subsided, but it's still constant. Could this be a slightly herniated disc? any other possibility? How to know for sure? Please help, I don't want to carry chronic back pain (I have a friend who does and he's miserable a great deal of the time) for the rest of my life, until now I was proud not to have any injury there whatsoever, please help!

[femmy29]

Hi Don,

The only way to know what is going on with your back for certainty is to get an MRI scan.  Since you are having pain in all regions of your spine, I would request a cervical, thoracic, and lumbar MRI.  Each MRI takes 45 mins and the machine is very loud and has a tunnel like entrance.  They will give you ear plugs to muffle the noise some but it will still be loud.  It isn't comfortable being in that machine but it is well worth it to see and hear the results.  CT scans do not have the 3D resolution of an MRI.  My PCP ordered my MRI scans and referred me to neurosurgery to hear more detailed results than from the radiology report and also to have the neurosurgeon discuss treatment options with me.

femmy