Following on from my post about being recalled for further imaging after an initial scan, I thought I’d conclude the tale with the results.

Good news: no malignant disease.

Not so great news: disc between L5 and S1 has prolapsed and there are bulging discs at L3 and L4. Also multiple osteophrites (bone spurs).

As the prolapsed disc isn’t compressing any important nerve roots, there will be no surgical intervention at this time.

So I just have to carry on with life and manage my pain. its unnerving (no pun intended) to know that at some point, the disc(s) will cause compression and cause all sorts of problems.

What’s odd is, my general lower back pain is now absolutely focused on that L5/S1 junction. Now my brain knows….

Well, very glad it’s not malignant and at least you have a clear diagnosis too. Back pain is the pits though!

Yea…. 😀
And Booooo….. 🙁

keep on keeping on Neil….. 8)

Welcome to our world
(shit though but it gets better)

Well the good news outweighs the bad and I hope that’s enough to make the bad bearable.

I’ve sat through hundreds of medical conferences and the great news is that there are thousands of things that can come along and kill you before the thing you’re worried about gets you. 🙂

It’s a bit crap once you know about that type of problem as your brain can focus on it and make the symptoms worse IMO. On a much lesser scale, I have a fused big toe joint which has been fine for past 7 years, but distal joint now full of arthritis and may need fused. Went from fine to aching in a week and since x-rays seems worse !

I’ve had a few episodes of bulging discs over the years.

Strong as an ox now and able to do pretty much anything.

Helped by a great physio on the NHS. Still have to do a few exercises to keep core strength etc.

So my advice would be to see a good physio and remain positive.

And my mrs has spurs identified on mri. She didn’t know she had them and they hadn’t caused her any problems, so she doesnt give them any thought. I suspect many of us may have them and never know.

Glad to hear that it wasn’t too serious. I had a back injury that led, over 25 years later, to me having a spinal fusion at L3/4. The surgeon said my spine was “a mess” and the nerves had been compressed for years. So, even if your nerves do eventually get pinched, it could be many years until they manifest as symptoms.
Anyway, the surgery went ok!

@derek good news, thanks for sharing

Best of luck with fhe semi-**** up back which on a relative basis is a result

They shaved some of my osteophytes off to make bone for fusing my vertebrae. It’s not all bad 🙂

paul4stones- they did the same to me. As the surgeon said, “everything recycled, nothing was wasted!”

My anecdote is that MRIs can show up all sorts of crap that doesn’t matter. Mine did possibly show the bulging disk that was causing problems but it was very difficult to see any change in the repeat scan after I was better. And there was lots of other stuff from rugby playing days.

I had surgery to deal with prolapsed “discs” at L3/4, L4/5 & L5/S1 last year after years of sciatica. Disc deflation, and flexible fusion, elastomer bands to keep everything stable but still flexible. The sciatic nerve had been compressed for years. The back pain is all but gone, still building strength, but the nerve pain manifesting in my right foot is at times bad. Amitriptyline helps, but the side effects are unpleasant.

At least with a diagnosis you can focus on rehab or damage limitation. IMHO it’s better than not knowing.

I was diagnosed with a herniated disc at L5/S1 (MRI) some time ago (around 11 yrs).

After a few days on drugs the pain subsided but was always a niggle. In the end I used my private medical and ended up having two lots of injections.

The first was a general pain killer type (I think) in to the area. This worked for about three hours.

Last one was a series of 4 X-ray guided injections that felt like an elephant was been lowered onto my back. Most odd, especially watching it on a screen as it was performed.

I’ve had no real pain since, although if I do tweak it I know taking diclofenac and cocodamol for a few days sorts me.

The only time I suffer (outside of bending in a stupid fashion) is when really hammering on a road bike. Then I feel a twinge in the area which tells me to back off.