Question
Dear Dr. Arnone:

First want to thank you for offering your professional advice and time.  Will try and keep this as short as possible - I really need to find answers and have a great hunch my problems are mechanical/nerve compression related?

I'm a 39 year old male, very healthy vital signs and overall health from comprehensive bloodwork over the last 2 years (no diabetes, infectious disease, don't drink/smoke etc) - what sent me to the doctor/chiropractors/acupunturist at that time was burning soles, burning outer calves and to a lesser degree burning and stinging hands and forearms.  

The hands/arm burning developed within weeks in late 2006.  The foot sensation could be traced back VERY intermittently to about 2001, but only in the heel of the left foot.  Also by late 2006, both feet had this sensation.  I would best describe the sensation as a bad sunburn or occasionally as stinging.  

I do NOT have the sensations all of the time and I get INSTANT and almost complete (though very temporary) relief by applying affected areas to cool (but not cold) water or air.  IMPORTANT:  I also get great relief my movement or position.  While sitting, my lateral/posterior calves and soles will feel like they're on fire, but as soon as I stand and start moving, calves are painfree and soles improve greatly.  However, If I just stand stationary, soles will start to burn within a few minutes.  Hands/forearms tend to burn horribly while in a lying position...With that said, I have very little respite from escaping the upper/lower body symptoms at the same time!

Have seen two neurologists and they seemed confused, just passed it off as 'idiopathic' neuropathy which I find hard to believe in an otherwise healthy young person.  I do take gabapentin which helps just a little...would rather not take it and find the cause if possible?

I DO have a 15 year history of neck and lower back/sacroilliac injuries that were always corrected by my trusted chiropractor.  I have had a brain MRI (July 2008) which was essentially normal (and offered NO explanation for the quadrilateral burning).

Also had cervical MRI (April 2007) which stated disk bulges contacting the spinal cord at C5/6/7.  A cervical x-ray showed minor bone spurs at C3 level as well.  Only imaging of lower area was an X-ray (May 2007) from which a chiropractor stated I had a severe posterior collapse of the disk between L5/S1.

Relating to lumbar area, I was injured so severely in 1996 (12 years ago) that I had intense frontal quadricep burning and could only take baby steps.  The said chiro 'corrected' this over a 3 month perioid back then, but I now wonder if this injury doesn't explain all of my lower body symptoms today, including the left heal that would burn since 2001?

Without dragging this on further, I am simply asking if the levels that I show 'problems' at likely correspond to my symptoms?  I have NO motor problems, near normal strength, just sensory problems (hypersthesia/burning).  I do have a MD (internal medicine MD) that would be willing to write a rx for Lumbar MRI, does this seem warranted?

Would a 'seated' MRI be more benificial in my case since I have pronounced symptoms in that position or will a lying MRI be adequate?  How essential is contrast?  I would have a lying MRI done on a very sensitive 3 Tesla machine, so trust it will show ANY abnormalities?

I send my heartfelt thanks for any insight into solving this long 2 years...

Kindest Regards, JB  

Answer
JB,
MRI's are great because they can give us a lot of information and are very safe to undergo.
Here is the situation for you to understand if you are ever to get well:
It appears that the cause of your symptoms has to do with the disc trouble in the C-Spine relating to the hands and arms and in the L-Spine relating to the calves and soles.
The greatest thing for you to understand however is how this may have occurred in the first place and what you can do about it now.
First off, I am sure that your Chiropractor is a great doctor and has helped you very much, but it is quite apparent to me that he or she did not get the job done correctly or you would not even be writing to me right now.
Whenever the spine gets misaligned or becomes unstable it is almost exclusively due to the Upper Cervical Spine Subluxation as the underlying cause.  Once the Upper Cervical Spine gets locked into mis-alignment and becomes a somewhat permanent fixture, then the remainder of the spine follows that lead.
When the Upper Cervical Spine has been subluxated over time and the rest has followed over time, then your spine is also unstable and susceptible to frequent injury in basically any area of the spine.
The only way to correct this problem is to have the Upper Cervical Spine Subluxation corrected properly by an Upper Cervical Specific Doctor.  There is a HUGE difference between going to an Upper Cervical Specific Clinic as compared to going to a general chiropractors office.
The sooner that you can grasp onto that idea, the sooner you will be afforded the opportunity to get well.  I know this because we have a few patients right now who are getting well as I write this answer, and who were otherwise destined for surgery which they will now not need to undergo.
Besides the fact that all patients that we have seen after surgery have become much worse after-the-fact, and then come to us to save them.  I will tell you right away that if you have surgery first and then come to us for help, you will be at a huge disadvantage as compared to if you had only come to us first without going for surgery.
In your situation it is very likely that you had an unstable spine and then suffered from an injury or injuries that sent you further into abnormal function and pain.
Here are just a few things that set us apart from the typical chiropractic clinic:

Pattern Analysis of The Central Nervous System

Specific X-Rays for Subluxation Measurement

Specific Upper Cervical Adjustment on a Knee-Posture Table which is designed solely for the correction of the Upper Cervical Subluxation, without any forceful twisting or popping of the head or neck

Extremely conservative care including much nervous system monitoring with various tests and very seldom adjusting.  A typical patient of ours may have 20 - 25 visits in the first 6 months and receive anywhere from 1-4 Upper Cervical Adjustments.  An Upper Cervical Adjustment is only given when there is undeniable proof that the Subluxation has indeed returned.
Ex.  If I Adjust you Specifically and then have you back for a checkup the following week, should I just adjust you because you are there or should I do extensive testing of your nervous system and if you show that you are doing well, not perform the upper cervical adjustment on that visit?
Feel free to hit me with any further questions that you may have regarding this matter.  I want to make sure that we understand each other, by no means am I knocking Chiropractic, it is my beloved profession, and I know of many Chiropractors who have helped many people especially when nothing else including medicine or surgery was of any benefit.
I am just letting you know that there is a more specific form that is practiced and many times can help the worst of the worst cases or the ones that other doctors including various chiropractors cannot help.
Yours in Best Health,
Dr Rob Arnone
St Louis, MO