QuestionQUESTION: Respected sir, my name is mohit and i'm 17. I have pain in my lower back since 2 years. When consulted to a doctor, he asked me to get the x-ray done.The report says that i have spina bifida, sacralisation of L5. Is there any kind of surgery for it? I am facing lot of problems due to it. Unbearable pain, cant attend my college regularly. Please do let me know some solution for it and even let me know will it affect other body parts?
ANSWER: Mohit,
I am sorry to hear that you are having so much pain. Unfortunately, even though you have told me of the spina bifida and sacralization, there is such a huge amount of variance between patients. Some spina bifida does not require any surgery at all, while more severe cases, where the spinal cord is completely exposed, surgery is absolutely necessary to reconstruct the faulty spinal canal. Sacralization rarely if ever is treated with surgery.
The good news is this... even though you have sacralization and, I am assuming, spina bifida oculta (since you didn't know about it until later in life#, these conditions aren't necessarily the cause of your back pain. Yes... they could be the cause, but not for sure. You only had an x-ray, right? You could also be suffering from other painful spinal conditions that you simply cannot see on x-ray, such as disc herniation, disc desiccation/degeneration, facet inflammation, SI joint inflammation, spinal cord tumor, etc, etc.
If you are having pain that radiates from the lower back region down into one or both legs, you for sure need to have an MRI. If you have lost muscle strength in either leg, or if you have lost your ability to control your bladder or your bowel, you need to have an MRI.
If none of the above things are happening, what you really need to do is to first try stretching and strengthening exercises. You can find exercises for the lower back all over the Internet. Stop doing any of them that hurt you, but continue to do those that do not cause you any additional pain. Give yourself 1-3 months of doing daily exercises before you determine whether or not the exercises help you. An important thing to remember is that exercises for back pain are NOT designed to ease your pain when you are having it... they are designed to increase lower back strength, stability, and flexibility over the long term.
I am confused somewhat about the wording of your question... you state that you "have pain in my lower back since 2 years." Are you telling me that you have had pain in your lower back since you were two years old, or for the past two years only #since you were 15 years old). If you have only had pain for 2 years, I find it more likely that your pain is generated by something other than the spina bifida or the sacralization, since you had those problems since birth. If you are telling me that you have had pain since you were two years old... then it is possible that the abnormalities found in your back could be causing you pain. I am betting that the first description, of having pain for the past two years, is the accurate one.
I know that you are in India. I am unfamiliar with medical care there, but perhaps if there is a type of physician that does spinal manipulation therapy, like a chiropractor, this would be a good choice for you.
Good luck Mohit. I hope that this makes some since for you.
Keith Biggs, DC
http://www.eastmesachiropractor.com
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QUESTION: Thank you for your suggestion! I have pain since last 2 years! since i was 15. MRI was done around a year ago and the reports were normal.
Answer"normal" MRI just means that they could not see any nerve tissue being compromised by disc or other spinal materials, which is a good sign. It does not, however, rule out all possible causes of pain. Please remember, the MRI only lets you see anatomy. It does not allow you to evaluate function, inflammation, etc.
Dr. Biggs
http://www.eastmesachiropractor.com
