Re: tarlov cysts

Posted By NM on April 17, 1999 at 12:51:10
Topic Area: Neurosurgery - General
I am a 41 year old female with with pain in my right side of my lower back, buttock, hip and down my right leg to my foot.  This started 2 years ago and have been to physical therapy, orthopedic doctor who didn't think my pain was from my scoliosis in my lower back so he sent me to a pain clinic from which I received two cortisone shots in the L5 2 weeks apart which did nothing.  I got fed up with the doctors in my area because could't see me what was causing the pain.  I made appointment at the Mayo Clinic in Minn. I was diagnosed with a tarlov cyst in my lower back.  They would not remove it they suggested to go back to the pain clinic or live with this.  My doctor in town doesn't know where to send me I have been taking Ultram which didn't seem to take away the pain and I am now taking Celebrex it has been about a week but I see no difference.  I don't want to keep taking pain medication for this.  If there there is any information you can give me on a doctor or clinic with a good track record on taking care of cysts please let me know.




Hi, I've been searching for info on Tarlov cysts for the last few months
also, since I was diagnosed with one pressing on my S3 nerve root.
They're quite rare, and don't always cause symptoms, so very few doctors
know much about them.  Check out this link
http://www.infotrieve.com/freemedline/cgi-bin/std_format.cgi?med93-94+270671+(Tarlov)+AND+(cyst)+AND+('Eng'):LA+AND+(ENG:LA)++AND+(Human:MH)
for some doctors who did research on a treatment method of draining the
cyst.  It looks promising, but when I called that location to find out more,
one of the people involved in the research said that the drainage method
didn't work out for long-term for most people after all; the cysts would
come back.  He suggested I contact a surgeon he knew in my area
(South Florida.) You might try calling there (location on the above link)to
see if they know anyone in your area.
   I have not gone to the doctor they named yet, since for some reason
after I was sick with the flu for a few weeks, and stayed in bed a lot,
the pain and strange symptoms went away. Prior to that I had been nearly
desperate for help. I don't know if just plain rest without the physical
therapy and exercise I was doing had anything to do with it or not.  But
I have a feeling that body chemistry may be involved also in possibly
aggravating the cyst, since I have been going through great changes in
hormones with different HRT regimens and different prescription drugs and
nutritional supplements, as well as developing a thyroid cyst at the same
time!  As the migraines I was having have subsided, so
has the pain that was ostensibly from the cyst.  If I return to more
rigorous exercise and it comes back, then I'll know it was the mechanical
irritation.  
   I think these cysts are sometimes inoperable, depending on how wrapped
up in the nerve roots they are.  But even if yours is, you might be able
to find a doctor who could drain the cyst temporarily in order to diagnose
if it is in fact the cyst that is causing your pain and not some other
spinal or nerve problem.  Be careful to not let just any doctor deal with
this, though, since I have read of some awful repercussions if someone
untrained in this area starts messing around.  I.e., in a few cases the
cyst ruptured forming more complications!
  If for some reason the above link doesn't work for you, try going to
http://www.infotrieve.com/freemedline/ and typing in Tarlov in the first
line and cyst in the 2nd line, choose "all fields" for both, and select
the databases back to 1990.  The above link is from 1994.  You can read
other abstracts about Tarlov (perineurial) cysts; some are quite technical,
but you can get the general idea and possible contact info.
  Here's another link in which a doctor explains Tarlov cysts and gives a
phone number--http://hypernews.cyberserv.com:80/HyperNews/get/nuclearmed/technology/113/1/1/1/1.html
Good luck.









Tarlov cyst info



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tarlov cysts CCF MD... 4/28/1999
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