28 Mar
Help with back pain and correct medical images test?
Posted in auto accident lawyer on 28.03.11
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HELP!!! I was in an auto accident in December 1, 2008. My upper back and neck were seriously injured, although the pain was not felt untill 3+ hours after the accident. Since then I have seen several doctors including : orthopedics, neurologist, chiropractor, and pain management specialist. The pain management doctor diagnosed me with Facet Joint Syndrome and Myofascial Syndrome. He assigned me 3% permanent disabilty in my neck, and also put me on 6 rescriction such as weight limit and work activity etc….. I have been on at least 10 different medications for this. The most recent that have been some what helping are tramadol 50mg 4x a day and soma compound 2x a day. I have been to the ER 2x because the pain was so unbearable. Xrays were taken 2/09 and 9/09. The ones taken in 2/09 showed a possible vertebrae fracture. There was also an MRI taken 3/09 and they said they could not see any fracture on the vertebrae. On the MRI to me it looked like the discs were slightly bulged into the spinal cord but no enough for the radiologist to say anything. He did say there was a mild straightening of the cervical spine which is due to muscle spasms. We do have a lawyer for this as the accident was 100% the other parties fault and also because I have not been able to work for more than 2 months without being in total agony. As some points it gets to a point where the pain killers don’t touch it. The pain has gotten worse over time and it is now not only in my neck but in my upper back and it seems as time goes on it begins to go farther and farther down my back. Is it possible that the doctor has wrongfully diagnosed me? If so what do you think it could be? Also the lawyer stated that the insurance company is going to want some kind of proof that there is a problem in my back. What kind of medical images would show what is going on in my back? Should I get another MRI because the one that we have no was taken so long ago and the new one could show something that was no visible at that time but has no progressed to a point where it is visible. Also what about a CT/PET scan? Would either one of those help? Please anyone any kind of input.
I am currently taking tramadol now. I have seen bone doctors but not specifally a spinal doctor. I guess that will be my next step. I talked to my doctor today and they ordered the MRI and hopefully that will show something. I will try to load some pics of my MRI on here and see what people have to say.
EDIT : here’s the pix http://www.flickr.com/photos/50159725@N08/?saved=1
2 comments on this topic
28. March - 4:53 am
An MRI would be best to show the damage in your back. I did not notice in your commentary that you have seen a spinal surgeon. Have you seen a spinal surgeon yet? The surgeon can tell you more about your problems and can be done to fix your problems. The surgeon may recommend surgery, which I think could be very possible due to your symptoms. I have seen a spinal surgeon and received all kinds of good information that I did not get out of any other doctor.
28. March - 4:53 am
about it you can get information from here http://webmd76.notlong.com/AA2mTxA
28. March - 4:53 am
So, you want to know what scan would be best for you? Let me put it this way, if a doctor suspects something and orders a CT and they do not see it they order an MRI. Just ignore PET scans (they are more from organs and tissues if I remember correctly). If you feel there was bulging on the original you can always take the original images to another doctor for a second opinion (it is still allowed) or get another scan if you are worried that they missed something on the first. It is always possible a doctor misdiagnosed a patient.