BACK PROBLEMS

[EDWIN]

Hi to every one. I served active duty in the Army in 1984. After falling into a hole I started to experience a lot of pain. I was diagnosed with PUBIS SYMPHYSIS DYSFUNCTION. After being treated with meds and "MUSCLE ENERGY TECHNIQUE" I started to experience constant pain in my lower back. X-rays neg, MRIS negative, CT scans negative. Now,  2016 i'm diagnosed with DDD in my lower back. VA says that my current condition is not related at all with what happened while in service. That it does not matter how long I was on profile for my back pain. ANY suggestions ????

[pwrslm]

X rays dont show tissue or damage to disc's between vertebra.  MRI's do.  Problem is, with MRI's you can have 3 different guys with 3 different opinions in the same office.

Also, they didn't have MRI's in 1984, MRI's were not in use until the 90's.  Xray evidence is inconclusive for disc damage unless they injected dye into the spine.  Injecting Dye into the spine was very dangerous back then and most MD's refused to use it except for cases of extreme necessity.  Modern MRI's changed all that.  Any MRI info would only go to confirm later stages of development of DDD. DDD is age related and a natural process, but when you get it due to an injury, it comes on much worse and much earlier than by natural causes.  If you have DDD that is more advanced that it should be for a person of your age, then you have a good basis to make your case.

ArNG11 is right on the money.  Take all of your records/documents/MRI's and x rays to a spine specialist who is willing to give you an IMO.  If he confirms a nexus, the VA will probably give it to you.  You can appeal without it, but its a long shot without the IMO.

[iceturkee]

routine back xrays (i have several) will show arthritis and bone spurs.

[ArNG11]

I feel like I should mention this as well.  You need a variety of exams to really get the true picture of your back or spine disability.  EMG, x rays with dye, MRI with dye: preferably with closed MRI system, then have this information utilized to get the best course of treatment.  No less would be doing the patient an injustice.

There is a system that has been around for a few years or so where they do the whole body scan.  This is great for locating and observing the actual trouble spots that you have when your spine is just supporting your own weight.  

 

[EDWIN]

Since all the recent results show everything that is wrong with my back , now I have to wait until the Appeal.

[iceturkee]

13 hours ago, ArNG11 said:

I feel like I should mention this as well.  You need a variety of exams to really get the true picture of your back or spine disability.  EMG, x rays with dye, MRI with dye: preferably with closed MRI system, then have this information utilized to get the best course of treatment.  No less would be doing the patient an injustice.

There is a system that has been around for a few years or so where they do the whole body scan.  This is great for locating and observing the actual trouble spots that you have when your spine is just supporting your own weight.  

 

i have had dozens of xrays, mri's and ct scans on my spine and none have been with dye. you can get an accurate picture of whats going on without it. only in a rare instance will a radiologist use with exams. i had it once with a brain mri to rule out tumors!

[ArNG11]

Yeah I have the same done with one of my mri's of the brain as well. The rest have been done to various disks in the C,T,L spine.  Kind of looks like the images when you do a barium swallow on the screen

Oddly enough the docs in my case have not done a myleogram.  Even with the disco grams I'm not sure exactly what dyes were used every time then.  At the time it just looked like a black poof of ink on the screen.  

The point that I was trying to get across was that multiple diagnostic exams, when used together, the collected data results in a more accurate picture of the actual problems with a spine injury.