A Case History of a Mixed Diagnosis
Here is another case of mistaken identity (or should I say mistaken diagnosis) with an acute back problem. In this instance it is/was my own back, when nearly a decade ago I suffered a two-week debilitating episode of crippling back/leg pain and muscle paralysis. I was told I was suffering from the ill-effects of disc fenestration (also known as sequestration).
See the black blob, tear-drop shaped L5 disc material extruded out the back (posteriorly) into the spinal canal. This is fenestrated disc material of a fairly healthy disc (see how thick it is - L4 above is much less robust!) burst out into the spinal canal due to the intense compressive forces of acute muscle spasm.
In the above image the arrows highlight the spinal nerve being completely squashed by the extruded disc material, compared to circular (white) spinal nerve on the other side. This caused dulling of the ankle reflexes, severe lancinating leg pain and ankle weakness on the affected side.
Ten years earlier in 1996 I had suffered fracturing of the transverse processes of L1 and L2 in a horse-riding accident. That trauma caused damage and ongoing vulnerability of the nearby L1-2-3 facet joints on the same side.
You will read in these website pages A Case History Of Disc Fenestration that with the right treatment the acute disc fenestration episode was gone, done and dusted, within the first two weeks and I was back treating patients.
On the other hand, the associated trauma of the nearby L1-2-3 facet joints has left me with ongoing vulnerability of these joints that I must work to maintain under control. This is all discussed in the podcast.
Yes, You Do Have Disc Trouble. But No, It's Not Your Problem