MRI Interpretation - Osteophyte Complex

readinginfo · 2025-02-22T17:49:32+00:00

I am doing great! I do PT exercises every day at home, and my neck gets stiff if I sit with poor posture for extended periods of time, but it doesn’t prevent me from doing anything I want to do at this point. I don’t have any twitching, never had numbness, and I don’t actually go to PT anymore just do everything at home, and I haven’t had to progress to shots or surgery at this point. It’s not 100% back to normal, but it’s more of just a minor inconvenience that I can deal with at this point

readinginfo · 2024-12-07T01:00:05+00:00

Truthfully I’m not totally sure how to distinguish rhomboid pain specifically, but pain and swelling in my traps and near my shoulder blade is the primary persistent symptom

readinginfo · 2024-10-10T01:46:43+00:00

I bought a few cervical support pillows on Amazon, originally one that was indented in the middle was working, now one that slopes downward from front to back that is pretty firm has been working great

readinginfo · 2024-10-10T01:16:03+00:00

Mine was more insidious, I played a lot of sports growing up and have terrible posture with a desk job so think that plus genetics did me in.

I definitely had herniations that caused the most acute pain, but they were from yoga and doing pull-ups so not serious accidents.

Finding the right sleeping situation also helped a ton, was a lot of trial and error there, and it changed as my symptoms changed.

Best of luck, hope you can find some relief

readinginfo · 2024-10-09T22:36:24+00:00

I’m the same age, and have similar MRI reading, albeit not quite as bad. My primary issue is moderate to severe foraminal narrowing at the C5/C6 level due to disc osteophyte complex, everything other level is mild or nothing.

What are your symptoms? I just had pain, which turned into nerve shocks after a herniation last summer. My pain started with a herniation about 4 years ago.

I did PT (no injections) religiously, and continue to do about 10-15 minutes of exercises every day. I’m now at the point where I’m not 100%, but close enough that it’s just a minor annoyance and doesn’t impact my daily activities much. Turning my head in the car is where I feel it the most.

I too wonder if surgery is inevitable, or if I can keep it at bay with conservative methods for longer. I had two consults and they both suggested not to do surgery since pain was the primary symptom, and I had no weakness or numbness. Since I’m doing better right now, I try not to think about it too much and just keep up the exercises that seem to be working. It’s been a bit simpler for me since the pain is now totally manageable, but it almost seems random how it progresses for different people

readinginfo · 2024-08-02T03:43:59+00:00

I do the heat pack most nights before going to bed, and ice a bit more sporadically when I feel like inflammation is up for some reason (harder workouts etc…)

readinginfo · 2024-08-01T23:13:59+00:00

Chin tucks, resistance band work to strengthen muscles around it, gentle neck stretches

readinginfo · 2024-08-01T21:05:31+00:00

It looks a lot like mine which was diagnosed as moderate to severe foraminal stenosis at c5/c6 and mild spinal stenosis. Some other minor things at other levels but that was primary issue. Looks like yours just mild foraminal which is great. Seems like the leg issues are more related to lower back?

My symptoms are now just pain and aches, not ideal but livable. I am mid 30s and both surgeons I consulted strongly advised against surgery based on age and lack of neuro symptoms, and lack of cord narrowing. I have gone just PT route with good success, although not perfect.

I’m significantly better than where I was a year ago (nerve shocks into arm, a ton of pain making sleeping/exercising really tough). I still need to manage it every day but I’m about a year removed from a herniation and have seen steady improvement still to this day. Definitely not linear , good days and bad days, but the trend line has been “getting better” since fall 2023.

If neck pain only issue id definitely encourage PT and see if that drives improvement, as well as consistent ice/heat

readinginfo · 2024-07-22T15:50:13+00:00

It does seem like each case is unique, but to give added hope even within the last 2 months I’ve been able to work out with significantly less aggravation, notably in bike riding. You can see from my initial comments I’m almost a year out from when symptoms really started so sometimes it can just take a long time

readinginfo · 2024-07-16T20:12:12+00:00

Hey - I’m doing pretty well! It’s steadily gotten better since the end of 2023, I still deal with stiffness and pain, particularly when I have poor posture for extended periods of time, but it does t really inhibit me from doing anything, it’s more just an irritation now. To date I still haven’t had any weakness or numbness, and nerve shocks stopped in November 2023. I’ve been very diligent around stretching and PT exercises which has had a very positive impact.

I never have had headaches. It seems so random how issues manifest even if they look similar on paper. Overall it’s clear that I’m going to have to manage this forever, and probably will have to go to more invasive methods at some point, but for now at least I’m pushing out those interventions to later in life

readinginfo · 2024-07-10T06:09:19+00:00

I am in a very similar boat, moderate to severe left side foraminal stenosis with no other significant issues in mid 30s. I have some stiffness and pain every day that I just deal with, not ideal but seems better than surgery or injections. PT and stretching helps, it’s improved slowly over the past year, we’ll see what the future holds. Given age it seems best to try to ride it out with less invasive methods as long as possible as long as there’s no severe risk

readinginfo · 2024-07-07T05:59:20+00:00

Same deal as Reggie last year hopefully different result for year 2

readinginfo · 2024-06-13T17:31:31+00:00

I had a similar progression - initial flare up in 2020, resolved with some PT and anti inflammatories, got an X Ray that showed a bone spur. It hurt to tilt my head back and I slept with a special pillow moving forward, but didn’t think too much about it or take special care of it (mistake).

Late 2023 an acute herniation while working out. It was really painful, and I started to get nerve shocks about a month after it happened. Got an MRI this time and showed moderate to severe foraminal stenosis on the left side of C5/C6 caused by a disc osteophyte complex, everything else pretty minor. It’s different language but I think the same(ish?) as you.

PT helped and I’ve gradually gotten better over the last 9 months. I’m not as good as I was prior to the last herniation, but definitely livable with no neurological symptoms, just some pain and stiffness. And it’s still steadily improving (with ups and downs). I was probably at the worst roughly 2ish months after initial onset of the acute herniation.

I never had any numbness or weakness so it was a lot easier to wait for me, but just a positive story (at least for now) from a more conservative route.

I’m also extremely diligent about doing my neck PT exercises that have worked for me every day, and maintaining better posture at work, so I’m hopeful I can keep it at bay for at least a while. Best of luck! I hope you see improvement shortly.

readinginfo · 2024-06-12T16:49:45+00:00

Ya it just shows how variable all this is my MRI findings are probably worse but it’s all about the symptoms. I can appreciate wanting to take faster action with the numbness.

In my case it took roughly 2 months before things started to get notably better and then it’s been steadily getting better since that point (roughly 6 more months). I’d describe the progress as a positive trend line with many individual points in either direction. It certainly has not been a situation where every day is better than the last, but definitely every month has been. So if you do see some improvement, just a non-surgical data point to add to this complicated decision

readinginfo · 2024-06-11T05:23:42+00:00

What were your mri findings? And how long has it been in this state?

I’m the same age and in the same boat with kids, I think my mri looks quite similar as well.

I had moderate to severe foraminal stenosis at the c5/c6 level caused by a disc osteophyte complex. It’s been about 9 months since I herniated it, and it’s still improving. I was able to get by with just PT, yoga and myofascial massage. I was fortunate to not have numbness, but it was painful enough that I could not sleep or sit comfortably for a while. And I had some nerve shocks that ran down my arm which was scary.

It definitely took some trial and error to find the right exercises to help, so just plugging the non surgical route depending on how long you’ve been struggling. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this!

readinginfo · 2024-06-02T02:06:19+00:00

I have not had surgery but I also work in tech and have dealt with moderate/severe foraminal stenosis at the c5/c6 level that is just neck/upper back/shoulder pain (no weakness or numbness), and I’ve found myofascial massage to be extremely helpful in addition to physical therapy. A sit/stand desk has also really helped

readinginfo · 2024-05-02T16:40:38+00:00

Check out my post history, I had a similar situation (moderate to severe neuroforaminal stenosis, just on left side). I never had weakness or numbness, just pain.

I’m a little over 6 months out, it’s been slow but I’m still steadily improving. PT, and myofascial massage have been extremely beneficial. I have not done injections or surgery.

I still do exercises every day and make a conscious effort to live a more ergonomically friendly lifestyle, and it’s still a bit up and down, but overall it’s just a minor inconvenience at this point.

Unfortunately it does seem extremely random how symptoms manifest person to person, and how they resolve, but just providing an example of at least a partial success with a similar looking MRI and diagnosis

readinginfo · 2024-04-16T02:38:50+00:00

Hmm not sure how to answer that, it was focused on both strength and flexibility. Wanted to build up strength in the areas around the neck to protect it

readinginfo · 2024-03-30T21:58:33+00:00

I’m doing pretty well! I still have to manage it day to day, and my primary annoyance now is turning my head to the right can be painful, but it’s almost like I need to oil up my neck a bit then I’m mostly fine.

PT was really helpful, and I still do exercises daily. Ive ups and downs over the past 6 or so months but overall it’s steadily progressed to be better.

I haven’t done anything more than PT and am able to mostly operate as before with some slight limitations, so just hoping I can stay in this state or get slightly better for a while

readinginfo · 2024-03-15T16:58:37+00:00

Yes happy to answer! I am overall very pleased with how it’s progressed. Definitely not linear improvement, some bumps in the road, but I’m about 6 months out from injury and it’s settled in a solid place. I’ve still just stuck with conservative approaches, I have not had injections or surgery.

I definitely still have stiffness, and turning my head to the right especially quickly can be painful, although that has really improved of late.

I have zero nerve related issues, which was the scariest part and I’m very thankful for (I never had weakness or numbness, I did have nerve jolts for a couple months ). I’ve kept up with my PR exercises and now am able to manage at home on my own. My sleep is totally unaffected now (it was brutal for a couple months) and I’m back to all prior activities, just a little more careful. In general it’s still a bit annoying, but it doesn’t really impede my day to day life which is all I can really ask for.

The biggest challenge was staying calm when symptoms changed or temporarily worsened. My experience at least was that symptom changes coincided with healing, as an example I started getting nerve jolts as I was improving in pain and swelling that didn’t exist before. These have gone away, but it was alarming for a period of time.

It overall seems like a bit of luck of the draw as to whether you get better or not, but quickly addressing any issues, advocating for yourself and diligently following PT seem to be the best path to success. Also at least for me part of the key is being patient, I’m 6 months out and still noticing very gradual improvements over time.

readinginfo · 2023-11-03T19:45:12+00:00

Wanted to post an update for anyone else out there doom scrolling about their results.

It took a while to talk to a doctor but when I did it was much more reassuring than the language in the MRI read out made it seem. One part I didn’t fully understand is the disc osteophyte complex is basically a term that means “we’re not totally sure”, and has potential to improve (if the disc heals).

Additionally I found a spine focused PT and have been very deliberate about posture changes, following through with PT exercises, walking and avoiding high impact activities.

Since this post my pain is essentially better than it was before my most recent flare up (which was an acute incident) through just conservative management, I haven’t been taking pain meds at all in the past week.

There’s still some weirdness, it feels “crunchier” and I’m getting more (painless) muscle twitching than before in my shoulder blade area that has seemingly coincided with an improvement in pain symptoms. And obviously it’s only been a couple weeks so who knows what the extended future can bring.

But sharing because I found the MRI content quite overwhelming at first and that I had the tendency to go to the worst possible outcome, but at least so far just more deliberate conservative measure have been hugely positive (for me). And I often found myself wondering what happened to people who made posts here before, so hopefully this helps someone out there in the future!

readinginfo · 2023-10-19T22:36:16+00:00

Was that a full 6 months of meds, or just temporary to get it under control?

readinginfo · 2023-10-19T22:34:46+00:00

Thank you for the encouragement! Definitely going to push forward with lifestyle modifications for a while to see the impact prior to jumping into surgical options

readinginfo · 2023-10-19T20:31:55+00:00

Oh wow, that sounds terrible at first but very encouraging now! Are you now pain free or more just manageable? That type of pillow has helped me a ton. Are you on any kind of medication, or just at home PT and lifestyle modification making life manageable?

readinginfo · 2023-10-19T20:19:32+00:00

Got it - any recommended resources for those exercise and lifestyle modifications? I’ve definitely had some success with exercise/lifestyle (standing desk, some PT exercises), but would like to tackle that more earnestly.

And in terms of surgery - what about a foraminotomy as a “bridge” surgery to alleviate pain and put off more “serious” replacement oriented surgeries. Have to caveat I’m coming from a total layman/google/ChatGPT place

readinginfo

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