Markakis Scheduled For MRI

[Guest rochester]

Markakis was probably balancing them on his chin. Bends his neck back, and bam!, pulled muscle. He gets to stay home, draw checks, and bang his wife. Frankly I am appalled a father would use his children for insurance fraud like that.

We should've stuck with Jay Gibbons.

c'mon... that is not what I meant at all.... that's not what I meant at all and hope you know that. I do not comment to be provocative but if I had an injured neck (spasm) I may refrain from activity that could make it worse.

[csgordos]

Maybe I am totally wrong and off base for saying this, but the first thing that came to mind when his neck "tightness" came back on March 8 is this statement.Markakis' neck tightened up again yesterday while he played with his kids I have no med experience (and maybe the experts can hopefully tell me I am insane) but did this activity set him back and/or made it worse? If so, wouldn't it been prudent for his time with the kids not include something that involved the neck until he was back to (at least close) to 100%. And, no, I am not anti-Nick.

March 3 - Made aware on injury, will not play (BS "neck spasm")

March 6 - Nick Markakis isn't in the lineup again today, which comes as no surprise, and he told a couple of reporters this morning that he will "probably rule out tomorrow."

Markakis was scratched from Sunday's lineup because of stiffness in his neck. "It's better," Markakis said. "I'm close. A couple days, probably, and I'll try to get back in the swing of things

March 8 - Nick Markakis said his neck is feeling better and the stiffness is "slowly moving out," but he can't say for sure that he will return to the lineup Sunday.

Later on March 8 - Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis won't be in Sunday's lineup against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Ed Smith Stadium because of continuing stiffness in his neck.

Markakis' neck tightened up again yesterday while he played with his kids, according to manager Buck Showalter. He's better today - basically back to where he was two days ago - but the Orioles aren't taking any chances.

March 9 - The Orioles have scheduled an MRI on Monday for right fielder Nick Markakis to determine the cause of his neck stiffness.

Markakis didn't show much improvement today - he wakes up each morning with the same discomfort - and the Orioles have arranged an examination.

The hard part about recovery is that when you start to feel better you start to return to "normal" activities. And, not until it is too late do you realize that maybe you were not ready yet. Overall it is probably a good sign that he was feeling good enough to play with his children. It may just take some more time of rehab to return to the field.

[Can_of_corn]

Markakis was probably balancing them on his chin. Bends his neck back, and bam!, pulled muscle. He gets to stay home, draw checks, and bang his wife. Frankly I am appalled a father would use his children for insurance fraud like that.

We should've stuck with Jay Gibbons.

What?

...

How about this font for sarcasm?

[Carllamy]

Look, there are realistically only a couple of reasons why Markakis is having a spine problem right now:

1) It is self-inflicted. Everybody knows that every time he has a bad at-bat he smashes himself across the back with his bat. We should just be glad he didn't wallop himself in the head instead. But really, who would do something like that?

2) He is of Greek heritage, and like all good men of Greek heritage at some point in his life he has to go out and fight the Kraken, and recently as he battled the Kraken he hurt his back because he was cursed by Echidna, the Greek Goddess of all monsters. I hear the O's are in contact with Asclepius, the Greek God of medicine, so he should be fine realitvely soon.

As a side note, Peter Angelos also fought against the Kraken a number of years ago, but he was smart enough to fight the Kraken in court. That poor Kraken didn't stand a chance.

[Barnaby Graves]

c'mon... that is not what I meant at all.... that's not what I meant at all and hope you know that. I do not comment to be provocative but if I had an injured neck (spasm) I may refrain from activity that could make it worse.

I'm mostly joking because it reminded me of his (former?) talent of balancing huge things on his chin (click the link). And it's a popular sports forum trope to complain about outside activities causing injuries resulting in lost time on the field.

In this case I think it's silly because, we have no idea what he was doing, you could pull a neck muscle shaking your head if the conditions are right. We don't even really know how serious this is, other than he's out and in pain. "Refrain from activities that could make it worse" is a commonsense approach but this guy is a world-class athlete, has been for a decade basically, what could he possibly be doing with his kids that's more strenuous than what would be expected of him in his job? Seems like playing with his kids was the straw that broke the camel's neck and it probably would've happened one way or the other. Not a doctor though.

I understood it was sarcasm, I just didn't think it was a very good joke.

You are so mad. You should try Palatino Linotype. The official font of bitter forum rivalry.

[Barnaby Graves]

Look, there are realistically only a couple of reasons why Markakis is having a spine problem right now:

1) It is self-inflicted. Everybody knows that every time he has a bad at-bat he smashes himself across the bat with his back. We should just be glad he didn't wallop himself in the head instead. But really, who would do something like that?

2) He is of Greek heritage, and like all good men of Greek heritage at some point in his life he has to go out and fight the Kraken, and recently as he battled the Kraken he hurt his back because he was cursed by Echidna, the Greek Goddess of all monsters. I hear the O's are in contact with Asclepius, the Greek God of medicine, so he should be fine realitvely soon.

As a side note, Peter Angelos also fought against the Kraken a number of years ago, but he was smart enough to fight the Kraken in court. That poor Kraken didn't stand a chance.

THIS ISN'T FUNNY RAWRRAWRRAWR. And now you must die.

GARFIELD! YOU ATE MY ENTIRE BAKED ZITI!

[NJBirdfan]

Not sure what to make of this:

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130312&content_id=42627726&vkey=news_bal&c_id=bal

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis has a small disc herniation -- a small tear -- in the area around his neck, and he will be sidelined for at least another week while the injury heals.

"Everything else structurally is fine; some of the things you worry about with it weren't present," said manager Buck Showalter, who didn't think the injury would jeopardize Markakis' ability to be ready for Opening Day, on April 2 against the Rays at St. Petersburg. "So we have positive hopes for it to resolve itself."

Markakis, who underwent an MRI exam in Florida on Monday, flew back to Baltimore on Tuesday to be re-examined by spine specialist Lee Riley. Expected to miss between seven and 14 days, the outfielder has already been sidelined for a week. Showalter said Markakis has been feeling better of late and that the news -- while not positive -- is far from the worst-case scenario.

"You'd rather it be nothing, just a spasm," Showalter said of the C4-C5 herniation. "But when you start talking about [herniated discs], you hope you get that type of prognosis."

The neck issue is the latest in an unfortunate string of injuries for Markakis, who is considered one of the Orioles' toughest players and underwent three surgeries (abdominal, right wrist and left thumb) in 2012. Slated to be the team's starting right fielder, Markakis has played in at least 160 games in three of the last four seasons. He's played in four games this Grapefruit League season, going 3-for-12 with an RBI and two strikeouts. He last appeared on March 1

[Blizzard1090]

Still goes back to when CC drilled him on the hand. I really really hope karma catches up to him this year.

[Guest rochester]

The hard part about recovery is that when you start to feel better you start to return to "normal" activities. And, not until it is too late do you realize that maybe you were not ready yet. Overall it is probably a good sign that he was feeling good enough to play with his children. It may just take some more time of rehab to return to the field.

Thank you - makes perfect sense.

[csgordos]

If Markakis has a small herniation my guess is 1 to 2mm.

Not sure what to make of this:

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130312&content_id=42627726&vkey=news_bal&c_id=bal

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis has a small disc herniation -- a small tear -- in the area around his neck, and he will be sidelined for at least another week while the injury heals.

"Everything else structurally is fine; some of the things you worry about with it weren't present," said manager Buck Showalter, who didn't think the injury would jeopardize Markakis' ability to be ready for Opening Day, on April 2 against the Rays at St. Petersburg. "So we have positive hopes for it to resolve itself."

Looks like you were correct in that is was a tear. Just so it is clear, this tear is not the same thing that happened last year to Reimold. It could always become like Nolan's, but it could also happened to somebody else on the team that is currently not injured and never bother Nick again.

[NewMarketSean]

Looks like you were correct in that is was a tear. Just so it is clear, this tear is not the same thing that happened last year to Reimold. It could always become like Nolan's, but it could also happened to somebody else on the team that is currently not injured and never bother Nick again.

Nick is going to miss a good chunk of the season this year. I just feel it.

[csgordos]

Not necessarily, although the term herniation does imply that the annulus fibrosis (the doughnut in above analogy) has indeed been ruptured, causing the nucleus pulposus (the jelly) to extrude from one side. I doubt a radiologist would use the terms herniated and bulging interchangeably.

In fact, you will find a much larger clinical distinction between a bulging disc (annulus intact) and herniated disc (annulus torn) than you will between a severely herniated disc and a "ruptured" disc.

Great picture. The transverse cut pictures on the right side are a great illustration of the difference between the two injuries, based on the author of the picture. When I used to shadow 2 separate orthopedic surgeons, they would review past records, MRIs, x-rays, and reports/studies with me from radiologists, neurosurgeons, and their peers. More often than not, they said they disagreed with how or what the other MDs labeled the injury. Now I am not saying the guys I was following were correct and the others were wrong, but what I did get from them is that there is definitely a disagreement on either the reading of the studies or a disagreement on the description/terminology of the injury. I will grant you that my experiences with the surgeons were 10+ years ago, but I would not be surprised if there are still variants on the description of herniations in the medical community. It would be great if everybody was on the same page.

Thanks again for posting the picture. A visual can always be much better than a description.

[scOtt]

Not necessarily, although the term herniation does imply that the annulus fibrosis (the doughnut in above analogy) has indeed been ruptured, causing the nucleus pulposus (the jelly) to extrude from one side. I doubt a radiologist would use the terms herniated and bulging interchangeably.

In fact, you will find a much larger clinical distinction between a bulging disc (annulus intact) and herniated disc (annulus torn) than you will between a severely herniated disc and a "ruptured" disc.

Great picture. The transverse cut pictures on the right side are a great illustration of the difference between the two injuries, based on the author of the picture. When I used to shadow 2 separate orthopedic surgeons, they would review past records, MRIs, x-rays, and reports/studies with me from radiologists, neurosurgeons, and their peers. More often than not, they said they disagreed with how or what the other MDs labeled the injury. Now I am not saying the guys I was following were correct and the others were wrong, but what I did get from them is that there is definitely a disagreement on either the reading of the studies or a disagreement on the description/terminology of the injury. I will grant you that my experiences with the surgeons were 10+ years ago, but I would not be surprised if there are still variants on the description of herniations in the medical community. It would be great if everybody was on the same page.

Thanks again for posting the picture. A visual can always be much better than a description.

ianad!

[Norfolk orioles]

To me it's not about when he comes back, it's about how quality of a player he can be and how often he can be in the field/lineup and contribute when he gets back.

The last thing we need is a RF version of Brian Roberts from last year. I'm not saying that I think this is going to happen or is even likely to happen, but if you aren't concerned then you haven't been paying attention.

A herniated disc/injured spine is one of the worst injuries a baseball player can have because of all the torque you put on your back, spine, hips and shoulders by swinging a bat as hard as you can in a very fast, violent motion.

This is not good news and I think 7-10 days is a ridiculous proclamation, if he comes back before opening day I will eat my hat. Any herniated disc, as opposed to a bulging disc, is a much more serious injury and must be treated with rest and rehab. Even if its just a tiny tear, its still a tear and it can be made much worse if you come back too quickly and push yourself too hard.

Nick being completely rested and properly rehabbed in 7-10 days is quite frankly a ridiculous notion. We want him for the long haul obviously, so trying to push him back into the lineup too soon would be a huge mistake, especially this early in the year. I hope for his sake, he takes this seriously, see's what happened to Reimold (although his injury isn't anywhere near as bad), realizes it IS possible to make his injury worse by coming back to fast and decides to rest up and completely heal. We need a healthy Nick, not a 50-60% Nick who is rushed back into the lineup because he "feels ok". I'm sure our guys will do right by Nick and keep him out until he is fully healthy.

[webbrick2010]

To me it's not about when he comes back, it's about how quality of a player he can be and how often he can be in the field/lineup and contribute when he gets back.

The last thing we need is a RF version of Brian Roberts from last year. I'm not saying that I think this is going to happen or is even likely to happen, but if you aren't concerned then you haven't been paying attention.

A herniated disc/injured spine is one of the worst injuries a baseball player can have because of all the torque you put on your back, spine, hips and shoulders by swinging a bat as hard as you can in a very fast, violent motion.

This is not good news and I think 7-10 days is a ridiculous proclamation, if he comes back before opening day I will eat my hat. Any herniated disc, as opposed to a bulging disc, is a much more serious injury and must be treated with rest and rehab. Even if its just a tiny tear, its still a tear and it can be made much worse if you come back too quickly and push yourself too hard.

Nick being completely rested and properly rehabbed in 7-10 days is quite frankly a ridiculous notion. We want him for the long haul obviously, so trying to push him back into the lineup too soon would be a huge mistake, especially this early in the year. I hope for his sake, he takes this seriously, see's what happened to Reimold (although his injury isn't anywhere near as bad), realizes it IS possible to make his injury worse by coming back to fast and decides to rest up and completely heal. We need a healthy Nick, not a 50-60% Nick who is rushed back into the lineup because he "feels ok". I'm sure our guys will do right by Nick and keep him out until he is fully healthy.

the more I think this is really bad news

Found an interesing 10 year study on pitchers with herniated disc:

http://www.healio.com/orthopedics/journals/ortho/%7B42a6babb-982d-413d-812f-24d1769774bd%7D/outcomes-of-cervical-and-lumbar-disk-herniations-in-major-league-baseball-pitchers

Definately not something that will heal and be forgotten. It is a permanent chronic injury that will require PT, and more to manage.