This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

hi dr. flanagan,

here we go 2012!!

first hope you are well and you found someone really good to take your case.

got my mri with flexion and extension today. that's what this dr. wants so. for sure an upright mri just makes so much sence but you go with what you got. even an x-ray sitting up and head flexed down i kinda think might show more. better than laying flat on your back and trying to look down.

would you want me to send you a copy to see if in your eyes there are any changes? your opinion and knowledge is always appreciated. i had the last one done around april 2011.

i'm still scanning but have not found any endroscopic facilities that use an upright mri. if you know of any or come across one would you let me know? there might be some hospitals like i've tried to talk into this but i think that's pretty much looks like no go's. maybe a hospital that is wise enough to have their own upright mri would be wise and think out of the box a little when it comes to cases like mine. "seek and ye shall find."

Happy new year to all of you. Dear Dr Flanagan, I wish you health and I hope you ll continue to save lives as you did with mine.

Happy new year Blossom,
Things have been very challenging for us for awhile but the lessons have been invaluable. I doubt that I will find an attorney to handle the case but I am going forward in addressing the issue one way or another.

As for your case, while upright MR would be ideal, regular supine flexion and extension MR views will work fine for what the surgeon wants to see. Send me the scans when you get them. If the surgeon is willing to do the surgery you should also let him know that you want to follow up with rehabilitative exercises.

Thanks Costumenational and happy new year to you as well. It's nice to hear from you.

Dr. Flanagan
Of all the spinal problems discussed on this thread, can any of them cause an elevated level of IgG antibodies in the spinal fluid?
Thank you
Dave

Greetings Dr. Flanagan,

If you haven’t seen this yet, here you go.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012 ... tudy-says/

Neck Pain: Chiropractors, Exercise Better Than Medication, Study Says
When it comes to neck pain the best medicine is no medicine at all according to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, tracked 272 patients with recent-onset neck pain who were treated using three different methods:
Medication
Exercise
A Chiropractor

After 12 weeks the patients who used a chiropractor or exercised were more than twice as likely to be pain free compared to those who relied on medicine.

The patients treated by a chiropractor experienced the highest rate of success with 32 percent saying they were pain free, compared to 30 percent of those who exercised. Only 13 percent of patients treated with medication said they no longer experienced pain.

“Doesn’t surprise me a bit,” Dr. Lee Green, professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan told ABC News. “Neck pain is a mechanical problem, and it makes sense that mechanical treatment works better than a chemical one.”

Dr. John Messmer who specializes in family medicine at Penn State College of Medicine agrees. “I always prescribe exercises and/or physical therapy for neck pain,” he wrote. “I also tell patients that the exercises are the treatment and the drugs are for the symptoms.”
The exercises prescribed to patients in the study were simple and designed to be performed at home with the help of instructional photos.

Lora

Ruthless67 wrote:Greetings Dr. Flanagan,

If you haven’t seen this yet, here you go.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012 ... tudy-says/

Neck Pain: Chiropractors, Exercise Better Than Medication, Study Says
When it comes to neck pain the best medicine is no medicine at all according to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, tracked 272 patients with recent-onset neck pain who were treated using three different methods:
Medication
Exercise
A Chiropractor

After 12 weeks the patients who used a chiropractor or exercised were more than twice as likely to be pain free compared to those who relied on medicine.

The patients treated by a chiropractor experienced the highest rate of success with 32 percent saying they were pain free, compared to 30 percent of those who exercised. Only 13 percent of patients treated with medication said they no longer experienced pain.

“Doesn’t surprise me a bit,” Dr. Lee Green, professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan told ABC News. “Neck pain is a mechanical problem, and it makes sense that mechanical treatment works better than a chemical one.”

Dr. John Messmer who specializes in family medicine at Penn State College of Medicine agrees. “I always prescribe exercises and/or physical therapy for neck pain,” he wrote. “I also tell patients that the exercises are the treatment and the drugs are for the symptoms.”
The exercises prescribed to patients in the study were simple and designed to be performed at home with the help of instructional photos.

Lora

What a very logical article. It's amazing how many of started to rely on drugs of some form in our lives without the thought that is was purely addressing the symptom only.

David1949 wrote: Of all the spinal problems discussed on this thread, can any of them cause an elevated level of IgG antibodies in the spinal fluid?

Hi David,
IgG antibodies are part of the adaptative immune system that responds to specific antigens. Although they can weaken the body and make it more susceptible to immunological problems, spinal problems don't produce antigens so they are not likely to raise IgG antibodies. If anything spinal problems would stimulate the complement immune system which are protein type enzymes that breakdown irritating foreign materials as well as inflammation.

Thanks for the post Lora. You can't beat regular exercise. I will be covering fitness for MS and neurodegenerative conditions, as well as autoimmune-inflammatory connective tissue disorders as my website grows.

hi dr. flanagan,

i got the mri cd's and report. they would only let me have 2. i offered to pay still no go. they even put them both in one plastic case. unbelieveable! i guess they are "cutting back." soon as i get copies i'll send them. i scanned the report but it sounds his read is acknowledging the problems but i take it as they aren't a big deal. "i disagree". also, as you know i've had only one lesion on the cervicle only. i don't see it mentioned. maybe it's doctor lingo and i don't catch it.

got a question. from your education in neurology can you tell me when a femoral nerve is injured "as mine was when i had angioplasty" and i woke up with that left numb leg "never experiencing any numbness anywhere before". this has since spread across pubic area and into the right leg also. i can still pretty much feel the bottom of my feet but the numbness is getting pretty painful burning and stinging etc. the spreading of this awful feeling i don't understand. all i know is going in the touch to my legs was normal, when i came out i had a novicaine numb left leg. and it is getting worse.

also, i would appreciate you takeing a peek at this therapy machine i am buying. google--www.flexiciser.com--the one i'm getting is the "pro". give me your thoughts. i am getting so bad i gotta do something. water therapy i know is great but until i can get something figured out that is consistant and dooable. when i think of how much money medicare and my ins. forked out for the therapy i went and stayed that was next to worthless--yet they won't even give help to purchase what i'm getting-at least in my case.

so, again a wait and see what these dr.'s say. i hate that on the report it mentioned ms and comparison to ones done there in 2009. so, i'm just sending them the cd "no report".

Hi Dr. Flanagan,

This discussion concerns you: http://www.thisisms.com/forum/chronic-c ... ml#p184449

~Pam

I had upright mri yesterday. My pcp will get the report later. Since we were in Atlanta we picked up my records from Emory. According to their records I have bone spurs in the cervical spine and crvical stenosis. Could this be part of the reason I seem to be declining as well as the lumbar stenosis? The report said multilevel degerenative changes in cervical spine with the worse being at the C4-C5 level where there is moderate to severe neural foraminal stenosis. Also patchy T2 signal abnormalties throughout the cervical cord consistent with demyelination in the setting of multiple sclerosis. Of course all the other info was about ms findings. Just getting tired and worn out. Looks like I'm in the same boat as blossom. Guess I can enjoy the company.















s

hi dr. flanagan,

hope all is well. you have not been heard from lately.

i have a question. with my cervical problems that i hope to get corrected they can cause every symptom i have. but i have not read it can cause heat intolerence. can it? i know it will help with the blood flow and csf flow as you said. some that got ccsvi done it helped that. as you know i was not one of them.

i know we don't know the results until after-if any improvement. but i was wondering your thoughts about the heat intolerence.

as always your input is appreciated.

blossom wrote:...got a question. from your education in neurology can you tell me when a femoral nerve is injured "as mine was when i had angioplasty" and i woke up with that left numb leg "never experiencing any numbness anywhere before". this has since spread across pubic area and into the right leg also. i can still pretty much feel the bottom of my feet but the numbness is getting pretty painful burning and stinging etc. the spreading of this awful feeling i don't understand. all i know is going in the touch to my legs was normal, when i came out i had a novicaine numb left leg. and it is getting worse.

also, i would appreciate you takeing a peek at this therapy machine i am buying. google--www.flexiciser.com--the one i'm getting is the "pro". give me your thoughts. i am getting so bad i gotta do something. water therapy i know is great but until i can get something figured out that is consistant and dooable. when i think of how much money medicare and my ins. forked out for the therapy i went and stayed that was next to worthless--yet they won't even give help to purchase what i'm getting-at least in my case...

Hi Blossom,
The damage to the femoral nerve can occur as a result of direct trauma from the surgical procedure. It can also occur as a result of neurotoxicity from local anesthetics.

We are heading south for a month or so, so I will be on the road for a couple of days. I will take a look at the flexiciser later and get back to you.

HappyPoet wrote: This discussion concerns you: http://www.thisisms.com/forum/chronic-c ... ml#p184449

Thanks Poet but it's actually not a very interesting topic. I don't think anyone grounded in orthopedics would accept the premise that upper cervical subluxations are a major cause of herniated discs. It can just as easily be argued that pronated feet, excess Q angles, leg length discrepancies, pelvic misalignments and scoliosis cause upper cervical subluxations.