MRI pics of my Cervical Spine

[Guest TeamNissan]

Its funny how we physicly abuse ourselves and dont give it a 2nd thought, I tore the cartilige in my knee pretty bad when I was 14. That and a hurnia at 17. Woke me up real fast to do things the smart way for the rest of my life.

 

"I am NOT picking that up, get a dolly or something" lol

[mjfawke]

Yep - I should never have picked up that compressor

 

Four years, and still have to be damned careful.

[Ledphoot]

I'm sitting here right now awaiting my first round of Epidural Injections because of lower lumbar damage lifting at work. I've been out of work injured since July trying to get MRI and Xray info and coordinate DRs with my Comp Insurer... I have the added issue of being very overweight so it makes it all worse. It is a shame to have all of this free time and not be able to do much. I "tinker" as much as I can but crawling under a car and lifting stuff is impossible so I am falling way behind on my car I hoped to have ready for the Z shootout in March and the Grassroots race in October 2007. I'm hoping they don't talk surgery as i have never heard of a "good" Lower back fix. Then when I am released I have the pleasure of trying to find a new job that won't require lifting or standing for long periods since I have severe degeneration as well the DRs say. Gonne be a long haul for a 40yr old with only a HS education.... But Granny always said :For every door that closes a window opens", so we will see.

I hope all of you do well with your injuries.

[Nismo280zEd]

Yeah I'm 21 and waited tables since I was 16. Being one of the guys you were always expected to lift the heavy loaded down trays. The ones from the bar were really fun. One day I lifted too much... went to the doc the next day, he told me I couldn't lift anything over 10lbs for the next 2 months. After that I started bartending and eventually quit. I agree... lift the proper way and take care of your back, it's pretty much your life line.

[SHO-Z]

Gonne be a long haul for a 40yr old with only a HS education.... But Granny always said :For every door that closes a window opens", so we will see.

I hope all of you do well with your injuries.

 

I had a major change of occupations due to my back injury. Went back to school and got an engineering degree and I was in my 40s. So you can do it. Look at getting some AutoCAD classes or something like that. Designers are now making decent money. Look at it this way, you are now looking at a brand new adventure.

[Guest TeamNissan]

I had a major change of occupations due to my back injury. Went back to school and got an engineering degree and I was in my 40s. So you can do it. Look at getting some AutoCAD classes or something like that. Designers are now making decent money. Look at it this way, you are now looking at a brand new adventure.

 

Ya, I have a engineering degree myself and I dont use it at all lol. My friend is a manager at a ferrari dealer so I'm thinking of getting certified to be a mechanic.

 

Point is life isnt over until your dead lol.

[wheelman]

OK, I haven't read the whole thread yet but I wanted to post before going out to New Years-Eve dinner with my wife.

 

I'm 42 and have had several car and motorcycle accidents over the years as well as a weight lifting accident. The lifting accident messed up my lower back for a short time right after I got out of HS but it healed enough for me to join the military and not suffer any ill effects.

The car and cycle accidents are another story. The pain reported by Jersey has been a part of my life for years now but it feels to me like a sword has been run through me. I feel pain between my shoulder blades and at the co-responding spot on my chest. Yeah it's very disconcerting but "only" a pinched never and I've gotten used to it. I finally went to see a chiropractor about 6 months ago and it helped alot but the pain has not disappeared and probably never will. The vertebra in my neck are misaligned pinching one or more of the nerves there, they are slowly moving back into place but it takes time.

 

My advice to everyone is when you are in any type of car or cycle accident go see a doctor as soon as possible I'm convinced that had I done that I would have been able to avoid the pain I have now. Also as others have said stay in shape, eat right and don't be a couch potato.

 

Wheelman

[Dragonfly]

I am going to start this out by saying that I repair and maintain chiropractic tables and equipment on a daily basis. With that being said I am going to suggest that you seek out a chiropractor but not just any chiropractor, you need to find one who uses the DRX9000 disc decrompresion system. Here is a link for you http://www.healthworksimc.com/DRX9000.htm# this system does not work for everyone but it does work for most people and it should certainly be tried prior to surgery. One of the doctors that I do work for is also an MD (as well as a chiropractor) and he will not do a back surgery if the patient has not at least tried using one of the DRX9000 tables that are located here in town (San Diego, CA). I realize you are on the other coast and many others who read this are anywhere but San Diego, but if you do some searching and asking some questions you should be able to find a chiropractor with a DRX9000 within a reasonable distance.

 

And one last comment: you can not put back what a knife has removed.

 

Dragonfly

[Guest TeamNissan]

OK, I haven't read the whole thread yet but I wanted to post before going out to New Years-Eve dinner with my wife.

 

I'm 42 and have had several car and motorcycle accidents over the years as well as a weight lifting accident. The lifting accident messed up my lower back for a short time right after I got out of HS but it healed enough for me to join the military and not suffer any ill effects.

The car and cycle accidents are another story. The pain reported by Jersey has been a part of my life for years now but it feels to me like a sword has been run through me. I feel pain between my shoulder blades and at the co-responding spot on my chest. Yeah it's very disconcerting but "only" a pinched never and I've gotten used to it. I finally went to see a chiropractor about 6 months ago and it helped alot but the pain has not disappeared and probably never will. The vertebra in my neck are misaligned pinching one or more of the nerves there, they are slowly moving back into place but it takes time.

 

My advice to everyone is when you are in any type of car or cycle accident go see a doctor as soon as possible I'm convinced that had I done that I would have been able to avoid the pain I have now. Also as others have said stay in shape, eat right and don't be a couch potato.

 

Wheelman

 

 

Well they say you dont get stronger unless you work your body, its a yen thing

[ZD44TT]

I think this thread will have saved my back from further damage later on.

 

I've had this on and off knots between my shoulder blades after I took up jogging on the treadmill at the gym with crappy shoes. I'd jog for over 1hr 30mins....which is a LONG time thinking I'm getting fitter. Back hasn't been quite right since I stopped.

 

Thanks for the thread and heads up.

 

me 29yr old.

[Jersey]

First off, thanks for all the support guys. It would be great if this thread helped one person just not be in the position i am in right now. Actually, in the past 2 weeks, it's been feeling a bit better. The Neurologist just wants me to check in with him this week to see how i'm feeling.

 

There's a chance that the fragmented piece of disk will shrivel up and dissipate and the herniated part could actually recover with therapy. I am deathly afraid of surgery, especially that high up on the spine and toying with the spinal cord. It could leave me paralyzed from the neck down if there was any type of a "woops". I'm pretty sure my wife and 3 little ones wouldn't appreciate that so much.

 

Staying in shape, using your head instead of your back and listening to your body, in my opinion, will definitely help the longevity of your back. Honestly, I've been in shape all my life, wrestled for 10 years, football for 8, always active doing either something with the kids or in the back yard working... but in my case, i think this has to do with all the years of using the back instead of the head part. But who really knows. I am a thick-headed Italian and nothing was ever too heavy for me too handle. Yeah, right. What i do know now is that i will much more conscience of the way i lift and handle things after i'm through this mess. I've had many injuries over the years but this back thing is crippling. I would never wish this on anyone... well, maybe that one guy that tried to scam me on Ebay

 

Dragonfly - My buddy out in Pittsburg is a DC and has been helping me through this since day one. He has been suggesting that traction (decompression) therapy could possibly help and i hope to find a DC in my insurance plan that uses this machine and to be starting sessions this week. The DRX9000c/DTS machine will be what i'm looking for along with glucosamine/condroitin supplements and possible light therapy, which could increase the disk recovery process of up to 400%. If i can avoid surgery in any way right now, i'm going to do just that. Surgery is non-reversible so i may as well try everything i can first. If it comes down to it and i need to be cut, i guess i'll deal with that then. Thanks much for the info.

 

Thanks for all the information and support from everyone. I'm really glad to see a bunch of you younger guys have read this and are really paying attention to your backs. It does take it's toll in the long run... and i'm "only" 39!

 

Forgot... Wheelman - That nerve that's being pinched which runs to your chest could get much worse over time and cause possible nerve damage. My DC here that i was seeing the first week i had this pain adjusted me until we decided to get an x-ray to see how far i was out of alignment, and i was, right at the spot of the herniated disk. Only problem was, was that the x-ray was never going to show the herniation and after a few more adjustments without much relief, he suggested i get an MRI. Sure enough, the MRI clearly shows the disk was blown out. There was no reason to get adjusted anymore for the time being and, it could actually cause more damage/pain if the vertibre are shifted, possibly putting more pressure on the herniated disk/nerves. I just wanted to give you a heads up. It might be worth seeing if your insurance plan will cover an MRi to truely see what's going on back there. Good luck and thanks for the post.

[SHO-Z]

One thing I forgot to mention is to do those exercises that they give you in Physical Therapy. I have found that if I follow them every day my back feels a lot better. You will find that there is a line between doing to much and too little. If I sit around too much my back will flare up, if I am overly active my back will act up.

 

Hang in there, I hope all of us back suffers will have a less painful New Year and our club gets no new members.

[Ledphoot]

[OlderThanMe]

I agree with SHO-Z...

physical therapy helped decently well...the best thing they had me do was situate yourself like you are doing a pushup but be on your elbows and just hold it for a while(2-3 min at a time)...that helps strengthen your back.

I did a bunch of different stuff to work out...runing stairs was good but it got easy fast...then I was skipping stairs but I quit that before I hurt myself...

I then added weight while I ran stairs...I eventually got to 33 pounds (about 4.5-ish gallons of water bottles in a US military-spec backpack) and did 2500 stairs in 50 minutes...I did 3200 stairs in 35ish minutes with 20 pounds a few days later. I sure got a bunch of looks from the other students at school running the 5 stories in the dorm building.

I became "The Backpack Man" lol

 

I could really feel the muscles in my back that support my spine getting stronger. I also lost some gut I had goten lazy on (freshman 15 not good for a back either)

Then I broke my jaw so I have been sitting around quite a bit for the last two months...

I'll be back to running stairs and stuff in a few weeks.

[wheelman]

Jersey,

Thanks for the advice, I have several x-rays that show the misalignment and thought it would be possible to see a herniated disk. Looking at the x-rays I thought I could see the outline of the disks but I'm not a trained radiologist so I'm not sure.

Anyway, it would probably be a good idea for me to get an MRI as you suggest and I will find out how much of the cost my insurance will cover.

 

Wheelman

[Dragonfly]

I then added weight while I ran stairs...I eventually got to 33 pounds (about 4.5-ish gallons of water bottles in a US military-spec backpack) and did 2500 stairs in 50 minutes...I did 3200 stairs in 35ish minutes with 20 pounds a few days later. I sure got a bunch of looks from the other students at school running the 5 stories in the dorm building.

I became "The Backpack Man" lol

 

I could really feel the muscles in my back that support my spine getting stronger. I also lost some gut I had goten lazy on (freshman 15 not good for a back either)

Then I broke my jaw so I have been sitting around quite a bit for the last two months...

I'll be back to running stairs and stuff in a few weeks.

 

My presonal recomendation is that you put the weight around your waist when running the stairs rather than on your back, that way you will only blow out your knees and not your back and knees. The best thing for you to do in reality is to go to a gym and find a machine that simulates the stairs without the impact on the knees then put the weight on your hips and go for it. As for strengthining your back follow the tried and true excercises that are known to build strength and/or mass without causing strain such as behind the head pulldowns, behind the head pull ups (like a chin up but you touch the back of your neck to the bar), seated rows and any of the other back excercises where your body is supported and your back "muscles" do the work. And as you pointed out already any physical therapy excercises do great.

 

For anyone who has never thought about this here is something to keep in mind: The formula for torque is force X lengh = torque where force is the weight applied i.e. pounds, and length is the distance from the weight to the point of rotation. Now with that in mind have someone help you measure from your lower back to your shoulders (length in inches) then weigh yourself, subtract 1/3rd of your weight and the amount left over is weight in pounds, now multiply the length by the weight and you have inch/pounds, take that number and divide it by 12 and you now have foot pounds. Here is an example: My height from my lower back to my shoulders is 26" and 2/3rds of my weight is 113 lbs that gives me 2938 in/lbs divide that by 12 and it gives me 244.8 ft/lbs. That is the amount of torque applied to my lower back if I bend straight over and touch my toes without bending my knees, I am sure most of the poeple here have used a torque wrench and know how much umph you have to put on that thing to apply even 200 ft/lbs to a bolt... now if you add a silly little 10lb bag of flour to this (bend over and pick it up without using your legs) for me the torque applied to my lower back would be 266.5 ft/lbs. So... think about that the next time you try to lift that transmission that only weighs 100 and something pounds. BTW all the numbers are aproxamate because it is just to tough to get the true measurements.

 

Good luck and be 'back safe"

 

Dragonfly

[Jersey]

Never knew all that Dragonfly. Thanks.

 

Wheelman - Believe me, i'm far from being any kind of expert on this type of thing, just passing along the info as i find it out myself. Here's the x-rays at the end of the first week it happened that my DC took. He could see (i couldn't) that the vertebra were a bit out of alignment but, as we all can see, there's know way to tell what those MRI's showed about the disk i posted up top in this thread. And this may not be anything you have and i don't want you thinking that you might because of the info about my situation, i just want you to know the info that i've learned. Anyway, here's a couple of the x-rays...