Is anyone here from Canada?
I'm having lower back pain for 5 weeks (I know, it isn't long compared to many others on this thread, but I wanna fix it before it got worse and chronic) which progressed into my right leg and toe with tingling and numbness since the 3rd week. It's disabling me from usual daily life and work and pretty much anything even as simple as getting dressed. After MRI on my lower spine, radiologists found no herniated disc or other disc issues, but found at least one sacral Tarlov cyst, pronounced to the right, associated with bone remodelling.
My symptoms are getting worse since onset, as now I started experiencing mild bladder issues. My current treatment is only NSAID since originally suspected to be disc problems which were ruled out in MRI.
I'm residing in Toronto from Hong Kong, and have no US visa. I read up in the Foundation website and found there's a doctor in Canada, Dr. Kieran Murphy MD, for such issues. But I have no idea how to navigate through the Ontario public healthcare system to get referred specifically to Dr. Murphy.
But looks like Dr Murphy is now on the research side only instead of operative. If he no longer perform operations I don't know how I can find any other neurosurgeons who are experienced in fixing Tarlov cysts..
(I did find some good neurosurgeons from google but not sure do they do Tarlov cysts..and the referral process to find a relevant neurosurgeon even for just consultation is long and tiring..)
There is a Canada Tarlov Cysts support group on Facebook. This could be a good resource for you if you have a Facebook account.