| When I had my neck fused, I developed a problem called dysphagia. I couldn't swallow anything that wasn't blended first and even then some things just wouldn't go down. I thought this was a major problem but the surgeon didn't blink an eye. Shouldn't they take this stuff more seriously than they do? | 3 years 48 weeks ago | 2456 |
| Oh boy -- I woke up this morning with intense back pain. It seems to be better as I move around. I can only sit long enough to type this out and get some advice. How long will I be laid up? What can I do to speed up getting better? | 3 years 22 weeks ago | 2438 |
| I had an ACIF neck fusion about two years ago. Everything is going well. I know I might need another fusion later if there's breakdown at the spine above or below the level of the original problem. If it hasn't happened by now, am I home free? | 8 years 17 weeks ago | 2413 |
| Can you tell me what a wedge fracture is? My 88-year-old mother has six wedge fractures of the spine. It's very painful, and she's getting all hunched over because of it. Can anything be done? | 5 years 6 weeks ago | 2308 |
| I'm going to have back surgery to remove two discs. I've heard different advice about restricting my activities after the operation. What's the latest on this? | 0 sec ago | 2298 |
| Even though we live in a very rural area, our local university is doing some research that may help with my husband's spine surgery. He has a very complex problem. The engineers have developed some kind of model that takes his CT scans and turns them into a 3-D model of his spine. Will the average person ever be able to benefit from something like this? | 5 years 21 weeks ago | 2096 |
| My mother has very bad arthritis in her spine. She now has a very hunched back and can't look up straight. She's embarrassed to go out. Is there anything she can do? | 4 years 23 weeks ago | 2035 |
| I am a foreman in a factory. We've had a couple of guys come back to work after back injuries. How likely are they to stick with their jobs? | 11 years 29 weeks ago | 2013 |
| My 80-year old mother has two vertebral compression fractures. She refuses to have a vertebroplasty to repair the problem despite the pain. The doctor has warned her this decision could lead to worse problems. What else could happen? | 7 years 48 weeks ago | 1997 |
| After a cervical spine (neck) fusion I had a serious problem with swallowing. It lasted for about a month and then went away. No one seemed to know anything about it. What can you tell me? | 7 years 30 weeks ago | 1946 |
| My elderly mother-in-law is Asian and just diagnosed with OLF. The doctor tells me this is fairly common among older adults from Japan or East Asia. What can you tell me about it? | 6 years 37 weeks ago | 1941 |
| I had a discectomy and fusion at C5 and C6 two years ago. I did well for about two years. Now I'm having more pain and problems with my neck. My doctor just did some tests, and apparently there is a bulge in the disc at C6 and C7. What should I do? | 11 years 20 weeks ago | 1934 |
| My grandmother had a compression in her neck that her doctor said was myelopathy. Why did it affect both her hands and her legs at the same time? | 4 years 16 weeks ago | 1918 |
| I'm being tested next week for a radicular versus pseudoradicular cause of my back and leg pain. What's the difference? | 5 years 6 weeks ago | 1875 |
| What's the difference between herniated disc and slipped disc? I want to use the internet to look up some information about the problem but I'm not sure which words to put into the search engine. | 8 years 5 days ago | 1723 |
| I'm having trouble finding someone who will take my back pain seriously and help me. The doctor says to exercise and it will get better. Well, I've tried exercise and the pain always comes back. Is it just me? Or do other people have this experience, too? | 3 years 33 weeks ago | 1722 |
| I was in a car accident (my fault) while out shopping with a friend. My friend tends to be a bit on the hysterical side normally. I felt terrible about the accident, but she hasn't quit complaining about the pain in her neck from the whiplash. I had a little stiffness and soreness for a day or two but that was all. Are these problems really just personality driven? | 4 years 25 weeks ago | 1700 |
| Mom had a sacral tumor removed that involved taking a lot of the soft tissues around the bone along with half of the sacral bone. She ended up with a bad infection. The home health nurse keeps talking to us about nutrition. I'm not sure why she focuses on that instead of getting rid of the infection. She's pretty skinny herself, so maybe she's got an eating disorder. How can I tell her to bug off in a nice way? | 4 years 21 weeks ago | 1688 |
| I've heard that smoking is the cause of low back pain in smokers. What's the link here? | 5 years 6 weeks ago | 1660 |
| What treatment options are available for a vertebral compression fracture? | 4 years 32 weeks ago | 1622 |
| My father had an X-ray and CT scan because of nagging low back pain. The doctor scheduled him for surgery to remove a bulging disc. Next thing we know he's got prostate cancer that's spread to his spine. They found it when they took the disc out. Why wasn't this found sooner? | 7 years 11 weeks ago | 1619 |
| An X-ray showed I have a lump in the front of my neck from a big calcium deposit. The doctor wants to do an MRI before treating me. Is that really necessary? They already know it's a calcium problem. | 6 years 16 weeks ago | 1615 |
| Our PopPop is 72-years old and started to limp last week. Before we knew it, he wasn't able to lift his foot anymore. Now he walks with a distinctive slap of the foot. Is it possible he had a stroke? He won't let us take him to the doctor, so we don't know what's going on for sure. | 4 years 9 weeks ago | 1604 |
| What's the difference between a disc prolapse and a disc herniation? I had an MRI and the results showed a bulge at L3/4 and a herniation at L4/5. | 7 years 48 weeks ago | 1603 |
| After my first child was born, I started having sacroiliac joint pain. My physical therapist says this can happen after childbirth. The pelvis separates and widens during childbirth. My doctor says it's not possible to have enough movement to cause pain. Who's right? | 7 years 30 weeks ago | 1593 |
| I had a lumbar laminectomy for back and leg pain. A week after the operation my symptoms
were much worse with the added problem of bladder problems. After more testing, it looks like the problem is really higher up in the thoracic spine. I've been told the first operation was necessary to show the problem more clearly. Is this just some specialist covering for a mistake? | 9 years 19 weeks ago | 1522 |
| About five years ago, I had a spinal fusion at L45. Now I'm having disc problems at the L34 level. I've heard there's a new heat treatment I could try instead of surgery. How do I find out more about this? | 5 years 10 weeks ago | 1515 |
| A spine specialist told me I have two herniated discs, and that a piece of disc broke off and is floating around in my spinal canal. Is it possible to avoid having surgery with a loose fragment like this? | 11 years 9 weeks ago | 1501 |
| After I had a disc replacement in my lumbar spine, I found out they are making replacements just for the inner portion of the disc. That's probably what I really needed. How far are we from having that technology ready? | 3 years 50 weeks ago | 1479 |
| I am a 33-year-old hairdresser with thoracic outlet syndrome. I've tried medications and exercise, but the pain just keeps getting worse. Is there else anything I can do, short of having surgery? | 12 years 11 weeks ago | 1465 |
