Latest Phone Consultation with Mr. Boeree
I talked to Mr. Boeree a few days ago. He called me from his home right after dinner. As always, extremely polite and generous with his busy schedule.
I told him what was going on. I also asked him about my disc. He said the disc is in perfect condition and is still placed the way it should be. He said it might be my facets giving me issues. I immediately thought, oh no, degenerative facets. He said no, it's just that they might be pissed off with the new movements stemming from the disc and that this might be upsetting the muscles which tighten after they sense issues. He recommended facet joint injections at the L4/5 level.
Here's his follow-up email:
Just to recap with regards to the possible injections with your radiologist. These would be image guided facet joint injections at L4/5. I would normally use a combination of local anaesthetic and Depo steroid but I will of course leave the final decision about this with your radiologist. I think it would be helpful to keep a pain diary for a week or two before you have the injections done and continuing in the weeks subsequent to this. Be prepared for the fact that the injections may not have any affect for a week or two although you may potentially get quite good transient relief for a few hours following the injection of local anaesthetic into the joints. This is of course is useful diagnostically in terms of establishing whether or not the facet joints at L4/5 are contributing to your symptoms
Self-explanatory I think! He said this is the first step in determining where the issue stems from, and that, if it works, will resolve the issue quickly.
It makes sense that it might be the facets. It's where I feel the pain being. And it makes sense that the muscles tighten as a result of this.
I have an appointment tomorrow October 18th with a sports medicine doctor in Miami. Lets see what he has to say!
I told him what was going on. I also asked him about my disc. He said the disc is in perfect condition and is still placed the way it should be. He said it might be my facets giving me issues. I immediately thought, oh no, degenerative facets. He said no, it's just that they might be pissed off with the new movements stemming from the disc and that this might be upsetting the muscles which tighten after they sense issues. He recommended facet joint injections at the L4/5 level.
Here's his follow-up email:
Just to recap with regards to the possible injections with your radiologist. These would be image guided facet joint injections at L4/5. I would normally use a combination of local anaesthetic and Depo steroid but I will of course leave the final decision about this with your radiologist. I think it would be helpful to keep a pain diary for a week or two before you have the injections done and continuing in the weeks subsequent to this. Be prepared for the fact that the injections may not have any affect for a week or two although you may potentially get quite good transient relief for a few hours following the injection of local anaesthetic into the joints. This is of course is useful diagnostically in terms of establishing whether or not the facet joints at L4/5 are contributing to your symptoms
Self-explanatory I think! He said this is the first step in determining where the issue stems from, and that, if it works, will resolve the issue quickly.
It makes sense that it might be the facets. It's where I feel the pain being. And it makes sense that the muscles tighten as a result of this.
I have an appointment tomorrow October 18th with a sports medicine doctor in Miami. Lets see what he has to say!
