My MRI scan report

Just got the official report from my MRI Scan. Although it's pretty much what the chiropractor said last week it is all a bit gobbledy gook. Anyone here care to make a rough translation. I know I have to take it to the docs next week but not a lot I can do today with it.


So basically are my jumping off wardrobes and swinging on the chandelier days over

Welcome to the club. I went to the doctor today and told him exactly what was wrong with me: A sick headache for the last week due to a tense group of muscles in my right shoulder and up the neck on the right side. Hm, he said, we'll see, and after prodding and poking around he said, Lady, you're right. Have five shots very close to your spinal cord (to numb and loosen the muscles) and do these exercises.
What he forgot to mention is how tired and nauseous the local anaesthesia he spiked me with was going to make me. I wanna go home and sleep!!!
@ andrea: At least you'll get compensation for your aches if you ever get the letter delivered. Your sister in misery, sb

An old housemate of mine had spondylitis, which is where the vertebrae fuse together over time (his was severe, but it can be mild), so I assume that "There is spondylotic change at C6/7" means that your C6 and C7 vertebrae are starting to fuse together. Of course, that's just my uneducated interpretation.

Means your falling apart

Maybe you're coming out in sympathy for me. Wish I had got some shots - have to do with tequila ones tonite Got the letter sorted thank god! Big hug for you from me.


That was my interpretation - as if I didn't know that already

Well, In true Medical style, consider it your 2nd Opinion

found a web page that helps some
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20000901/1064.html

the C6/7 are the discs cervcial vertrebrea 6 + 7, in the upper part of the back, (my problem is my lumbar 4+6 are causing the 5 to degenerate).

I'm vaguely familiar with some of this terminology from having had a slipped disc in the lower back 3 years ago.

Spondylotic change - I think that means the vertebrae are misaligned.
at C6/7 - Each of the vertebrae in your spine has a number. The neck vertebrae are numbered C1, C2, etc. This is saying your problem is located at C6 and C7, which I think are the two lowest neck vertebrae.
osteophytes - not sure, but I think these may be a kind of bony protrusion that grows from the vertebrae when they are subjected to unusual stress.
very large posterior disc protrusion. - I guess that means the disc between two of your vertebrae is bulging out...
The cord is slightly flattened - ...and pressing against your spinal cord.
indicating early myelopathy - It's started to do a bit of damage.
The disc also narrows the left C6 neural foramen - Not sure, but I think that's the channel where a nerve comes out of the spine.

Anyway, these medical diagnoses often sound far more frightening than they really are. You should have seen what they wrote about me after my slipped disc, but I feel fine now (though it took a couple of years of pain and suffering). Still, not something to be taken lightly.

Oh, and please bear in mind that I have no medical training whatsoever, and haven't bothered to look up any of the terms, so don't take my amateur babbling as gospel.

Hope you get better soon.

I think it means get to a beer garden asap and indulge yourself fully before going home and doing some horizontal exercises.

Well, that's what i think all medical advice means anyway.

Ah yes. The German medical profession's answer to everything - take some shots and it will all go away eventually, AKA - don't really have time to do a proper diagnosis so will give you the standard "treatment"...

Why not ask the doc if an anti gravity swing would help?

Seriously, I hope the disc gets put back in the right place soon.

The shots numbed the nerves which helped the muscles relax which unpinched the nerve endings. My spinal cord was going snap, crackle and pop all weekend as the vertebrae clicked back into place. He also showed me various exercises to keep things loose and told me to take Advil. Huh? Oh, ibuprofen. And I am due back tomorrow when I hope to squeeze mud-packs and massages out of him. But this is about andrea swinging from chandeliers, I can just see her in her pink bunny slippers ...

Just be SURE TO DO YOUR EXERCISES -- I got a slipped disc and did exercises until I felt better, then stopped. Big mistake.

If you keep your back and stomach muscles strong, it will take the pressure off your spine and prevent things from getting worse.

Also lie flat on your back with your knees elevated sometimes to give your back a break.

I just got a big cylindrical pillow at Ikea (it was either 5 or ten euros) which I put under my knees when I sleep on my back, or between my thighs in the fetal position, very comfy and healthy (if I didn't toss and turn so much at night it would be better.

Of course these tips are coming from an L5/S1 person (very low back) -- but I think it helps anyone...

So, keep swinging from the chandeliers -- just don't try to pick it up by yourself if it falls off the ceiling.

GT is spot on for most things except for spondylotic change which just indicates (age-related) degeneration of the vertebral discs and is as such not uncommon. Probably the most important information is: Disc is pressing against the spinal cord (and maybe also affecting an outgoing nerve) in your lower neck area, which most probably is the cause of your problems. Ouch. Get well soon.

He already thinks I'm a complete and utter looney, so if I ask that I think he will commit me rather than try to cure me.


Those slippers have never felt the same since that man stroked them
Hope you're feeling better hun.


The doc has told me I can't do any exercises at the moment, which is a bit of a bummer as it was one of my new years resolutions . At the moment I can only sleep on my back with one pillow supporting my head and shoulder, can't sleep in the fetal position at all otherwise I wake up stiff. Not the ideal stiffy I would like to wake up to in the morning


You just made a grown woman cry!!!

Oh yeah, I felt the jolt when I read that. At least you won't be a Granny by the end of the year (never say never!).

Ah, OK. I was thinking of spondylolisthesis which is what I've got (among other things), and means that one vertebra (is that the singular of vertebrae?) has become misaligned - slipped forward a bit - wrt its neighbour, though I'm not sure if that was the cause or the effect of the slipped disc.

Re "age-related" degeneration: there are things you can do to minimise degeneration of the discs, at any age. One is to keep moving about, and avoid staying in the same position for long periods as that results in prolonged pressure on the same areas of the discs without giving them a chance to recover.

Another good thing is to drink a lot (no, not alcohol) because the discs are like sponges. Since they don't contain blood vessels, they get their nutrition and get rid of waste substances by absorbing liquid from their surrounding environment and squeezing it out again, so it helps if you've got plenty sloshing around inside you.

And as Ruthie mentioned (Hi Ruthie - I'm another L5/S1 sufferer!) it's very important to strengthen the muscles that support the spine, as they can then give it stability and take the load of the intervertebral discs. That goes also for the neck muscles.

Since I had my slipped disc 3 years ago, I've been going twice a week to this place in Munich:

Gesundheitszentrum Dr. Fischer

where they offer a weight training programme for the back muscles, including the neck muscles. What I like about them is that they place emphasis on getting the right balance between different muscle groups. For instance, my abdominal muscles are quite strong compared to my lower back muscles, and the muscles at the front of my neck are very strong, so I'm not training those at all, but concentrating on the lower back and back-of-the-neck muscles. I also had a tendency for the top half of my body to swing round to the left if I stood in a relaxed position, and the muscles on my left side were stronger than those on the right side, all of which was destabilising my spine. Now after 3 years of doing muscle training to get myself back into the right shape, I can feel that it has made a huge difference.

Anyway, good luck Andrea. Swinging from chandeliers actually sounds like a good idea, as long as you don't fall off!