severe back pain

[always in pain]

first of all i am a 49 yr old male with right knee injury from the military. it gives out from time to time and i fall,last time about a yr ago it gave out and i fell down the stairs and on the way down i hit the family dog,and we both ended up in a pile at the bottom of the stairs. ever since my back hurts all the time,can't sit,stand or lay down without pain. Most nites my legs,back,and neck hurt so bad that i can't sleep or i get up in very severe pain.Sometimes when i drive my legs start shaking uncontrolablly, can u help with some diagnosis? for i am a disabled vet with very little money. 1st mri states as follows.

imaging obtainted in sagtittal and transasial projection.
T1 and T2 type weighed techniques utilized.
Osseseous marrow signal is normal. There is  anterior wedging with loss of vertebral body height involving the bodies of both T11 and T12. absence of paravertebral soft tissue swelling and absence of bone marrow edema suggests these are chronic rather than acute mild compression deformities.
The distal spinal cord appears normal. There is facet arthropathy bilaterally at L4-L5, but more substantial on the right side resulting in some  neural forminal encroachment. there is a minimal midline posterior bulging of the nucleus pulpous at both L4-L5 and L5-S1.
2nd mri is as follows

technical factors: short-and long-axis fat- and water-weighted images were obtained.
comparison: report  from 1st exam was available,previous images were not available.
findings:chronic compression fractures of T11 and T12 are noted as  described on prior exam.
L3-L4: mild facet arthropathic  changes.
L4-L5: Shallow  central HNP  measuring 3mm that minimal effaces
the ventral thecal sac.
more shallow disc displacement/bulge,short pedicles and facet arthropathic changes result in biforaminal stenosis that appears mild in severity.
as on prior exam bulging L4-L5 with mild foraminal encroachment on the right. Ligamentum flavum hypertrophy is also noted which contributes to mild  central canal stenosis on this exam.
L5-S1: Disc desiccation. Central/paracentral HNP measuring 5mm in AP dimension minimally effacing the ventral thecal sac.
mild facet arthropathic changes  and more shallow disc displacement result in mild narrowing of the left formen.
on previous exam midline posterior bulging disc was described.

[mike1105]

your MRI report does not seem that bad to me. I'd bet your problem is muscular in nature. It is possible the muscle balance in and around your lower back and pelvis is way out of whack, and your fall may have initiated this. Kind of like lower body whiplash. If this is tru, you can fix it. get a book by D'arrezzo on posture, and another book by Jolie Bookspan on fixing back pain w out drugs or surgery. You'll also need to learn some myofascial release techniques..... For this get a book by clair Davies on trigger point release. I lay on a baseball or a softball on the spasming muscles (quadratus) in my lower back, and I also stretch my hip flexors and hamstrings.. This takes a way alot of the pain. After a few weeks, you'll notice a major difference i think. I am not an MD. This is what I did for my pain and it worked.

[Chris_M]

You do have some herniations and mild stenosis, but nothing that appears overtly serious.  If possible, I would seek an opinion with an orthopedic spine specialist or a neurosurgeon to get their thoughts on what is going on.

I would be glad to point you in the right direction.

All the best,
    Chris