This is my MRI results from March of this year on my lower back. My back just gave out at work one day. Never have had an accident involving my back.The pain was so bad at the time they had to give me 2 shots of hydromorphone just so I could move to get into the machine.

Since then,lots of physical therapy, some vicodin, flexeril as needed.
Daily pain is about a 4, when it's bad I cant move for a week, a 10 on the pain scale.

I have stopped riding about a month ago because my back went out .again.

3 doctors I have seen so far. One wanted to do a fusion, One said change my lifestlye ( give up riding etc) put off surgery as long as possible, keep up with therapy.
I would love your expert opinion. From a patient point of view broken bones only hurt this bad for a few days and then they begin to heal, I have had a couple. And I do construction for a living.

Ok here goes
Findings:
Lumbar vertrebal alingnment is normal. Mild degenerative endplate irregularities are seen throughout the lumbosacral spine. Degenerative disc desicattion and disc space loss is also noted at L4-L5 and L5-S1.
Aside from degenerative discogenic changes, narrow signalintensity is unremarkable. The conus medullaras is positioned normally the T12-L1level, demonstrating appropriate contour and signal characteristics.

L1-L2 and L2-L3: Normal

L3 -L4: There is a moderate midline annular tear with disc protrusion, resulting in slight ventral effacement of the thecal sac.
There is no nerve root impingment,foraminal or central spinal stenosis

L4-L5 : There is a moderate left paramidline annular tear with small, broad based disc protrusion. There is no nerve root compression, significant foraminal or central spinal stenosis.

L5-S1 :a tiny midline annular tear and focal disc protrusion are also noted at this level, without lateralization, disc extrusion or nerve root impingement, again no spinal stenosis.

Well that about sums it up. I want to lead a normal pain free life. I am 37 very active, raced expert mx until about a 2 years ago. I feel like I am going to end up not being able to move If I keep this up. I am 6' 4" 200lbs
Your best advice please ?
I am at a loss because none of my doctors understand riding. They look at me like I am crazy or like what did you expect??:confused:
Thanks in advance

Yeah, I had a similar diagnosis but the pain wasn't as bad and the diagnosis was less severe.

The doctor told me the same thing too: No running, no biking, no jet-skiing (no life, basically).

I'm not sure what to do either.

Im by no means an expert, but my mom got a fusion of her c4/c5 I believe, and now they tell her she can never do anything like riding a wave runner, or speed boat, or roller coasters again. They even told her she cant lift more than 10lbs for the rest of her life...

Hey guys,
I have since sold my bike, no more riding for the time being.
Chiropracter 3x week
no more narcotic pain meds,hate the loopey feeling :applause: but still daily pain of about a 4-5

I am seeing a specialist ( one of the top Doctors in the US)for expirimental vitaman D3 therapy.

She says it may have an effect more powerful than prednisone on my back inflammation. We will know within 2 weeks.
It has been only day 1 so far.
I will keep you updated :excuseme:

Kyle Prior said:

That's odd. On a single level fusion, one should be able to resume normal activities with the knowledge that huge impacts or whiplash type events can cause disc issues at the next avaialable disc. Maybe on women that have complications with osteoporosis, the ultra conservative recommendation was given.

In my case, I'm going to see two of the best neurosurgeons in MN for my condition. My L5 has moved forward along with the L5-S1 disc. My spine is pretty crooked looking at my last xray and pain is only managed with narcotics and Neurontin. Good luck with your therapy and hope you can get rid of your nerve pain. BTW, if you look at the pain charts in the Dr. office, a 10 makes you pass out. I'm not a 10, but 4-8 is enough for me.

I have level III DDD with severe arthritus in the facet joints.
I have seen 6 docs and all agree that there is no good solution for my case, change my lifestyle and in 10 or so years the discs will self fuse. That was from the Cleveland Clinic Spine Center.

Lately, I have developed foot droop from the pinching on my sciatic nerve.
I see the last Ortho doc later this month in hopes of an answer (microdiscetomy)

I have found allot of answers as well as talking with others (in the forum) on spine health.
http://www.spine-health.com

I know this, I cannot ride off road at this time. I was riding a bike then switched to a quad (I race hare scrambles) now I can't ride the quad either.
I do still drag race..........but at times even doing that is not possible.
Only relief is lay flat on floor with heating pad.

I went to the ER this past week because pain level was 10+. Was admitted.
They gave me a pain med (don't remember the name started with D not demerol though. After about 10 mins my temp spiked at 102....sweats shaking...reaction...then I threw up for the next few hours.
THEN after me telling 3 seperate docs about my level III DDD the last one finally decided that a micro D was in order because my left leg was not responding to any tests.
sO I sat in the room for another 6 hours while they looked for someone to do this procedure........no one in the network could do it that day or even in the near future. My pain was still 10+ even with whatever they were giving me but my big worry was the loss of use of my left leg.

sO after all that time the last doc said sorry, we cannot do anything for you, understandable it is a special operation. So they gave me a perscription for another MRI so that my ortho could see the difference from the last one 8 months ago. I did some more throwing up in the room and they wheeled me out....still throwing up.

So I wait till the 29th to see my ortho doc as to what he suggests.
My left leg is still numb !! walking on it is sketchy as I have no power in it.
It tingles and the nerve from my butt burnes to my big toe.

NOT FUN !!!


Good luck.

It was probably Dilaudin, a morphine type pain drug. It will defintitly make you yak.
Sorry to hear about your back problems also.
I will keep you updated on my Vitamin D3 therapy, I take my second one tonight !!
Daily pain.....3-4. tolerable but very noticeable...way too tender to even think about hopping on my 1986 atc 250R for a quick ride

Guys, I can relate to the pain you are going through.......been there personally and it's certainly no fun. In fact, you start wondering about the rest of your life in this condition :eek: . I'm about to turn 56 this year and have been dealing with a less than perfect back for about 20 years. I've pretty much had to educate myself about my back and have also learned my limitations. Basically, eat right, sleep right, do streching, exercise, stay hydrated, and above all maintain good posture 24/7. Learn to recognized when your back is out of alignment and also learn to adjust your own back to maintain it's proper alignment before going to sleep....and sleep on your back with a pillow under your knees....again, sleep with good posture. Your body will heal itself, given a chance, however, it will never be as good as it was when you were 20!!! The bummer part is, it just takes time :cry: . There were times, when it was all I could do to just move without pain....I was taking 6 to 8 IBee a day just to function. Over time and strick adherance to what I mentioned above, and life is good again. Currently, I ride my MTN bikes 4 times a week and ride my red 450 in the desert about a couple times a month. As long as I don't try to push it too hard, my back lives happily. So, there is life after squashing those little disks....so stay mentally strong and begin that road to recovery. Hope this puts a little light at the end of the tunnel for you! Best of luck to you!

Tom

Twhit said:

Thanks Tom for the support !!!! :applause: I hate to complain about my back when you see all of the other injuries out there. I have tried everything for the past 2 yrs and it has become a daily struggle just to be able to work..BUT I am taking only 2 tylenol a day right now , PT. and my Vitamin D3 therapy which I will elaborate on after all my tests results from my Doc.
Pain level =3 , about a moderate charlie horse in my back, constant...I can actually live with that. My Doc thinks in about 1 month, if her theory on the Vd3 is correct, she will have me pain free 24/7 with no tylenol. Just a good healthy diet, exercise and my D3.
I will keep any interested parties updated

I guess you could say that I am an expert. I have had three back surgeries, 1983, 1988 and 1996. Last December my back went out for the final time. Every day I barely get out of bed but as I move around the pain goes down slightly. The only reason to get surgery or take meds is if you can not function at all. I was also told not to pickup more than 20 pounds but that is barely a bag of groceries, not really an option. I surf, ski and ride but I am careful because my last option, which I do not want to do is a fusion. The bottom line is to try and ignore the pain and be careful realizing that once you discs are shot there is nothing really that you can do.

I lived with a bad back, stenosis, herniated discs, etc. for 10 years, kept getting progressively worse. I faithfully did PT 4 times a week for the last 5 years of that 10 and kept my back strong enough to do the things I like to do. Finally, in mid-'03 I started getting debilitating pain in my right leg and hip. I took the corticosteroid injections, helped a lot, but the second round provided no relief. Got worse and I couldn't walk to bathroom without severe pain, sat/laid on the couch most of the time for a couple of months. In 10/03 had the surgery, surgeon said I was done riding dirt bikes. After the initial PT prescribed by the surgeon, I went to a private local therapist and got a program laid out. I worked hard for over a year before I got on the bike again, could ride a couple of hours before discomfort set in, kept riding twice a week for 1-2 hours. I'm getting windy :blah:. To shorten the story, I stayed with the PT, am now able to ride practically as long as I want as long as I don't get into too much tough stuff. Did the Colorado 500 last month, felt fine. Don't give up.

I to am having lower back pain with shooting pain down my right leg, I recently sold my 01 kx250 with everybody pressuring me about riding mx style and just do trail riding and so Ibought a pair of Honda 200x's ATC LOL ,going to see another doctor in November...something is not right .

i had busted up my back it was always going out i crushed the disks on l5 s1 and damaged the siatic nerve . a nero surgon went in and took out 40% of the disks told me i wouldnt ride again that was crap 90 days later and therapy i was back to work and riding again im 6'4" 220 lbs just get your suspension built for you and your stile of riding

Sorry to hear so many TT'ers have back issues.

If you don't mind my asking:

1) Do those of you with back problems have a family history?

2) Was there ever a severe injury that started the whole process?

3) Any of you overweight enough to put undue stress on the back?

4) Regarding bad posture? How does that cause a herniated disc, if it does? I would think posture may lead to muscle issued, but not disc related?

Good luck and heal fast.

Greg

creeky said:

Creeky you rule:worthy: