Overwhelming lumbar spine pain; most of the time I can't sit down.
In 2022, I fell hard onto a concrete floor. I slipped, went airborn, and slammed down onto a concrete floor; my lumbar spine was the point of initial contact, then thoracic spine hit, and then cervical.
MRI of pelvis and sacrum (June 2022) revealed bulging disks. No broken bones. No contrast was used. Would using contrast show/highlight anything that a standard MRI might miss? I currently use lidocaine patches daily for a little relief and Tizanidine, 4mg 3x/day for muscle spasms throughout my back.
What type of physician (what specialty) do I see that could possible help me? I have a neurologist who reviewed all of my films, reports etc. and she saw nothing in my films that would explain my pain.
Does anyone have any insight into what I am describing?
Thank you in advance.
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What was the test called?
As I recall it was just a cortisone injection to see if the pain was coming from my tailbone. The nurse just recently asked if I wanted that done again. This was about a year and a half ago after the first procedure was done. I didn’t realize it might be a treatment option since it wore off so quickly. I figured it was just the lidocaine deadening that area. I hope she was talking about the same injection I was referring to. It’s worth asking about (i.e. whether or not cortisone injections can work to reduce inflammation in the area of the tailbone).
I to fell on a concrete slab . Broke my tail bone. Was down for a year . Did physical therapy still having problems with my tailbone. I have a mass on my L5 and S1. But can't have any surgery because I'm on blood thinners. I've already had two Pulmonary Embolism in my lungs almost died on the first one. Just knowing that you have to live with the pain for the rest of your life doesn't make me happy. I'm 72 now have been struggling with all my body pain for 20 years . I just can't except it. How can anyone do that?
You are very welcome & hope you can find some relief soon, VERY soon!
Peace & Love!
@backincontrol I do like your name! That is actually the title of a book written by a spine surgeon (David Handsom) who became a spine surgery patient himself. I have that book and it is excellent. He also has a website by that name.
I am also a Mayo spine surgery patient. I know Dr. Bydon is excellent and doing important research at Mayo. I came to Mayo after 5 local spine surgeons missed the diagnosis because my cervical spinal cord compression was generating pain all over my body. I'm glad to know another Mayo spine patient. I had a C5/C6 fusion with no hardware and stayed in a neck brace until it began to fuse.
Good to meet you!
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
I just ordered Back in Control from Amazon. Thank you so much for the
recommendation!
Take care,
Jessie
@jessie64 Did you know you can edit your post up to 2 hours? You may want to remove your personal email and real name if want to remain private. You can use private messaging on Connect if you wish to share more personal information. If you click the 3 dots at the bottom right of the post, you can edit your post.
That is a good book and it is helpful in decisions about surgery. You may want to look at his web content too at https://backincontrol.com/
Jennifer
Thanks, @jenniferhunter.
@jessie64, as Jennifer mentioned, we recommend not sharing personal contact information on the public forum. I have removed your email address.
I'd be interested in hearing your takeaways from Back in Control when you read it. 🙂