QuestionI am a 61 year olf female who fell on a concrete sidewalk and my chin took the brunt of the fall. I was experiencing some pain and tingling in my arm and intermittent pain on the opposite neck and shoulder. My MRI sounds terrible - please help me interpret and understand what this will mean to future activity - ie golf, kyaking etc.
There is grade I retrolisthesis of C5 on C6 and C6 on C7. There is a small amount of abnormal STIR signal seen anterior to C4-5.
At C3-C4, there is left-sided, uncovertebral hypertrophy, with left-sided, mild neural foraminal stenosis.
At C4-C5, there is a disc osteophyte complex with moderate canal stenosis and moderate bilateral neural foraminal stenosis. There is mild flattening of the cord.
At C5-C6, there is a posterior disc osteophyte complex with moderate canal stenosis and moderate bilateral neural foraminal stenosis and flattening of the cord. Grade I retrolisthesis is also identified.
At C6-C7, there is a posterior disc osteophyte complex with moderate canal stenosis and moderate bilateral neural foraminal stenosis. There is grade I retrolisthesis.
AnswerElaine;
I've been answering so many disc questions in the neck here I've started a cervical disc page on my website... I hope my HTML skills pay off and the following looks like a link. If not just cut and paste the www. part and it should take you there. <a href="http://www.dynamicclinic.com/cervical_disc.php">Cervical Disc</a>
As you can read on my website, you have some rather significant findings. Flattening of the cord isn't good... you can figure out what's going on with the definitions on my page. That said, great, you have a diagnosis. That doesn't do any good when it comes to life and treatment.
Your disc injuries are worse than most, but it's never to late to try and take care of the problems. Anything you can do to spare yourself the surgery is a step in the right direction, in my opinion. Looking down for long periods won't help. Getting a cervical pillow, (I recommend the Therapeutica pillow) will help. Traction of the neck will help, too. I also like a tool called the Posture Pump. A good chiropractor can really help out with a lot of these recommendations, as well.
It's important to know that these conditions took decades to get, and I think the fall just exacerbated the problems you already had. Treatment of your discs is more important than dental care... it's your nervous system that's being pushed around here! Activity should be non-impacting things (no more running) so golf and kayaking should be fine. Read my article, know how the disc works. If you understand the nature of your injury, you'll be much better off for not damaging it in the future.
If you are in Seattle, come see it's best chiropractor (me). If not, I'll find one near you, I have a huge database and can get you started in the right direction.
Hope this answer helps,
Dr. Peter Carr
Seattle, Washington
www.dynamicclinic.com
