Can a spinal tumor be misdiagnosed as a case of herniated or compressed discs?

Question

My MRI from April says: "L5/S1 degenerative changes with central disc herniation deforming the anterior margin of the thecal sac."

I don't even know what a thecal sac is! I DO know that I have back pain that prevents me from getting any kind of restful sleep. I don't have sciatic problems. When I bring up my herniated disc issues, people immediately assume I have sciatica and start telling me about their sciatic pain. I was wondering if there's anyone else out there with similar back problems who can shed some light on this. Did you have surgery? Do you have flare ups in between periods of well-being?

I felt great all summer but I've been feeling pretty lousy since September. Thanks!

Answer 1

MRI is the gold-standard for diagnosing spinal tumors. If your MRI report doesn't mention tumors, that means that the very best test that medicine has for detecting spinal tumors shows that you don't have any.

The only thing better than the MRI for finding spinal tumors is an autopsy, a procedure that I don't recommend that you undergo at this time.

The thecal sac is the membrane that surrounds the spinal cord. The spinal cord ends prior to the L5/S1 level so that this level, the thecal sac contains various nerves that will exit the spine at the levels of L5/S1, S1/S2, S2/S3 and so on. The MRI suggests that the central disk herniation may be pushing on these nerves - could cause pain in the back that radiates to other parts of the lower body; a condition commonly called sciatica.

Answer 2

http://www.chirogeek.com/
I found this to be the best site to comprehend disc problems and back problems. Over the age of 30 every Human will have some form of Degeneration of the spine, its part and parcel of the normal aging process. The discs are like jelly, so if you take two dinner plates, turn one upside down, stick some dessert jelly on top and then the other dinner plate then press hard what happens? The jelly will squish and the plates get closer together. The plates are your vertebra and the jelly your disc. As we age the discs dehydrate, so the jelly goes from being soft to hard and that is normal. However things go wrong when we squish the disc. The hard outer ring splits and leaves the lovely jelly material out. That material is highly inflammatory! So when you jump, the vertebra compress, jelly squishes, you go high and then gravity brings you doen with a Bang and jelly squishes even more pouring out into nice things like nerve roots. When the jelly hits the nerve root, do not worry you will know! I do not have Sciatic probelms either, when it goes squish, I loose everything below the waist, down I go as the legs buckle and last time I was out for the count for 3 hours. Came too with legs and bowel and bladder functions. Not all disc problems cause back pain and not all degenerative changes cause back pain!
What you need to do is first, well how is the bed matress, new old? Renew it. Then get a nice egg crate matress cover to put on top and then you will fine sleeping pretty good. Be aware that you have this small herniation and try NOT to damage it further, so learn how to lift, sit and about Posture.

Answer 3

For what it is worth, I have had a herniated disc for many years (nearly 50)L.5, S.1. With no disc left. Is bone n bone with spurring in an attempt to fuse the joint. During that time I have had symptoms 3 times. Each time I visited a chiropractor and then resumed my normal activities. I remain symptom free at this time but am made aware of the problem if I stand at the sink for any amount of time. Or use a vacuum cleaner Is the bending that makes me awae of the condition.

Answer 4

Yes. I had pain, a constant ache in my lower back, and pain in my hip joints that would wake me at night, but would go away when I rolled over. That went on for about 5 years. One AM I woke up, rolled over and stretched, and something snapped so low in my spine, I didn't know anything was movable that far down. And I was pain free for 10 months. Then one AM I woke up unable to move, the pain was so bad. I was literally immobilized for 9 months, I even had to learn to wake up and sit up in order to turn over in bed, before they finally decided there might be something really wrong, and did an MRI. I had a synovial cyst on the inside of my spine, as large as a plum, and it was pressing on nerve roots. They did surgery less than a week later. By that time, there had been so much nerve damage done that it took 7 years for the pain to completely go away, but it was bearable, nonetheless. I was only on pain pills for 2 months after the surgery. Before the surgery, they'd refused to give me anything, and I survived on Naproxin. The synovium is the membrane covering the bones.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

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