I TRAVELED ALL THE WAY FROM FLORIDA TO SEE DR. JEFFREY CARLSON.
I am a 23 year old, active female who enjoys going to the gym several times a week. I began having lower back pain in November of 2017. I had already gone through back surgery for a herniated disc at L4-L5 when I was 17 (also done by Dr. Jeffrey Carlson), so as soon as I felt the slightest twinge in my back, I made sure to rest and try to allow my back to recover. For 2 months, I refrained from any intense work outs, did various stretches, and tried home remedies like heating pads and ibuprofen.
In January 2018, I finally decided it was time to see a doctor. I live in Florida now, so I went to a doctor in Orlando.
I spent the next 8 MONTHS enduring a plethora of different treatments, ranging from medications to back braces to multiple intraspinal injections ordered by the doctor in Florida. They even did an MRI which showed a herniated disc, but the doctor kept telling me I am “too young to be in pain” and “it\’s not bad enough to operate”. Meanwhile, my pain level kept rising to the point where it was debilitating. No position was comfortable. I started not being able to work, since I work at a desk in a seated position all day long. I hobbled around like an 85 year old woman. The nerve pain was so sharp I would scream sometimes. I cried often.
By May, I realized the doctor I was seeing in Florida did not care about my well being and my quality of life the way Dr. Carlson does, so I got on a plane and flew to Virginia.
During my first appointment with Dr. Carlson, he asked me to sit in a chair, extend my leg as straight as possible (which was not much due to the excruciating nerve pain), and lift my toes toward me. I was in complete shock when my toes did not move or twinge a bit. He said this is a clear, physical sign that a nerve is being pinched and that if it has been going on for more than 6 months, they begin to worry about permanent nerve damage. The doctor in Florida should never have let my herniation go untreated for that long. Dr. Carlson not only saw that I needed surgery, but that I needed it as soon as possible, considering that the doctor in Florida had already been seeing me for 8 months. He set me up for another MRI so we could get an updated image of what was going on in my back and scheduled me for surgery. I ended up having a herniated disc at L5- S1, a completely different site from my previous back injury when I was 17. Dr. Carlson did a lumbar fusion back in June 2018 and today (January 2019) I am happy, healthy, and out of pain!
Dr. Carlson listens. He cares, and he absolutely takes his patients’ quality of life seriously. He is skilled in his work and takes his time with his patients. I can not begin to thank him enough for giving me back my life. He is an incredible doctor and I 100% recommend him.
Ileana Geary