annular tears - plz help me

[ganugapati]

I am an extremely healthy and well built 6ft, 210 lb ,26 year old male. I had a fall while I was skeeing in Jan 2007. I had an MRI of my back 6 months ago which showed the following

1) Annular tear at L4-L5
2) Annular tear at C5-C6.


I had pain, numbness, burning and weakness in both hands and both legs at that time.

I had an MRI again recently which showed the annular tears have healed leaving mild bulges in their place. My current problem is weakness in both my legs and both my hands. I had an EMG test which showed nerve irritation in both neck and lower back. How much time does it take for these irritated nerves to settle down. The pain, burning and numbness had disappeared. The only thing that is bothering me right now is weakness which is really annoying. The neurologist said to wait for 2 months, manage my pain with painkillers and if I am still not ok then he told me to come back. I dont know if he is assuring me that I would be fine in 2 months.

[Caliber2005]

Hi Gangupati,
How are you feeling now?
Nerve Root Pain - nerve root pinching / irritation / compression / trapping is always associated with signs of nerve dysfunction (not working properly) such as pain, tingling, numbness, and weakness. The causes of the irritation are:- within the spine Annular Tear (small disc tear), Disc Prolapse (herniation), Spinal Stenosis (narrowing of the internal diameter of the spinal canal) among others. Spinal Nerve Root Pain (Radiculopathy) can arise when nerves become pinched or trapped within the bony spinal canal or vertebral column:-
C4 to T1 nerves in the neck cause Brachialgia in the shoulder and arm and L1 to S1 nerves in the low back cause Sciatica in the buttock and leg.
You can try a Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator, which is an electronic device that produces electrical signals used to stimulate nerves through unbroken skin. The unit is usually connected to the skin using two or more electrodes. TENS works to decrease pain perception and may be used to control acute and chronic pain. It helps in regenerating nerve.
Nerves regenerate, or heal, at a rate 1 millimeter/day. The only nerves that can regenerate are the nerves outside of the spinal cord, or peripheral nerves. The nerves in the spinal cord, once damaged, cannot regenerate.
However, if the peripheral nerve is severely damaged or stretched it may never heal.
Bye
Hope this helps you.

[Caliber2005]

Hi,
How are you doing?
As I have mentioned, you can take help of physiotherapy and TENS. Physiotherapy is to avoid any disuse atrophy of muscles and TENS is nerve stimulator, which will help in regaining the growth of nerve. Nerves outside spinal cord usually grow at the rate of 1 millimeter/day. Hence it will take approximately 12-24 weeks to gain whole strength back.
Hope this helps.
Bye.