L5-S1 Foramina Narrowing

[Caker44]

Hi, new here so please bear with me. I suffered a back injury at work in early January. 3 months of PT and now 5 months of chiropractic. I had an MRI done earlier this months..results follow:

The scout view demostrates 5 lumbar type vertabrae. The conus and eqina appear normal. Ther eis a mildly diffusely bulging annulus at L3-L4 which does not appear to be significant.

At L4-L5, there is a mildly diffusely bulging annulus.

At L5-S1, the neural foramina show significant narrowing. No herniation or spinal stenosis is evident. Mild facetal OA is noted bilaterally at L5-S1.

Cinclusion:No disc herniation or spinal stenosis is evident.

My problem is, i still have pain and numbness down my left leg and the doctor has prescribed percocet for pain. This is a claim with WC, so i'm worried that they'll send me back to my physically demanding job based on these results. How can these problems be rectified? Should i ask for a referral to a specialist?

[winstonsam]

Get a good Lawyer, DONT PUT IT OFF, WC will deny and deny and deny!!!
Get a GOOD LAWYER and he or she WILL set up referals that CAN NOT be denied!!!!!!!  You are getting the SHAFT!!!!!!!   They will send you back to work and then you will be fired.  Dont speak to adjuster, and espically the Case Worker/WC Nurse I already know that they have assigned to you!!!!!!!
And dont allow the WC Nurse to speak with your Dr. unless you are aalways present!!!!!!!    Please get a Lawyer!!!!!!!  I feel for you.  My Father sold Insurance for 47 years, Trust me---Get a Lawyer who specializes in Work Comp and study him/her or the outfit before hiring them.  Make sure that they are good at what they do by reference.     GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!  

[Caker44]

Both family Doctor and WC case worker referred me to PT and chiro. Chiro helps for very short periods, i'm continuing to go 3/week. I just received the results and showed them to my chiropractor today and she is in disbelief that my doctor has done nothing about this. Now WC wants to  send me one of THEIR assesment offices to see where we go from here. I'll be calling them tomorrow to ask for a referral to an unbiased specialist. The pain is quite severe at times, limiting standing to possibly 15 minutes maximum. Also, i work as a baker and that would be impossible under these conditions.

I appreciate you help Kalvin in answering my questions...i'll be on the phone for much of tomorrow it seems.

[Kalvin]

So is it your family Doctor or WC Doctor that referred you to P.T. and to the Chiropractor? Has any of this helped?

OK, you have 2 bulging discs one at L3-4 and the other at L4-5, these might be generating some pain, but its not likely. Your problems is at L5-S1 with the significant foraminal narrowing.

What this means is that you have a nerve root that's being compressed, probably by a bone spur (arthritis) because there's no mention of a disc bulge at this level. The foramen is where the nerve roots come through from the spinal canal, sometimes a disc bulge or bone spurs can compress the nerves in this area, resulting in severe radicular pain. And your symptoms correlate exactly with significant foraminal narrowing at L5-S1. It causes pain down the leg. Do a search on the net for S1 Radiculopathy and see if your symptoms match.

Hasn't any of your Doctors explained any of this to you, Chiropractors have a lot of knowledge about the spine, didn't he/she explain what significant foraminal narrowing meant? How bad is your pain, has there been any improvement? Yes, you need to see a specialist.