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I have L4-5 severe disc degeneration, with the same thing in L5-S1 + a 5mm disc bulge at L4-S & L5-S1.cont'd?
I also have the following:
Lumbar Facet Aurthopathy? at L4-5 & L5-S1?
Moderately severe Spinal Canal Stenosis
Moderately severe Fovawingwingl? Stenosis.
how screwed am I?
It sounds worse than it is. The questions that must be asked are what are the symptoms you are presenting with? Is there muscle weakness or numbness in either leg? What are you having trouble doing? Are you overweight? How old are you and in what kind of shape? If the pain or irritation is limited to the lower back then it is going to be easier to handle. I recommend that you get a referral to a physical therapist that works with backs. You want someone that will work on you with their hands and not machines(ultrasound, diathermy, electric stimulation, etc). Talk to the therapist about this and find one that does this. You want them to free up the vertebrae and allow more room for the nerve so it will decrease the symptoms. You also want to work on your posture as this is of the utmost of importance. Strengthening the muscles to the correct levels to achieve balance between groups is also important. Proprioception movements are also essential to save the ankle and feet from becoming injured. In essence what you have according to the information that was given is two discs that are bulging and not herniated. The disc is made up of what are called anular rings. These rings are made like the walls of a radial tire. Each layer or wall is designed to withstand the a particular stress. There are between seventeen to twenty one of these layers. Inside of those layers lies a hard material almost like a ball bearing and that is the nucleus. That is not going anywhere but that ball is surrounded by a thick fluid material. It is this fluid like material that has caused the bulge as it pushes its way into and through some of the walls. If it goes through enough of the walls it will herniate out. So you want the therapist to work on moving the fluid material backwards and away from the nerves. That is where posture becomes very critical. Lastly all of the stenosis and foraminal stenosis is a fancy way of stating that the space or hole that the nerve runs through has gotten smaller. There is simply a lot of degeneration of the bones that is causing the problem. Again the therapy will help this and most important is to keep the joints movable. Doing those things will greatly help your problem.
January 24th, 2009
It sounds worse than it is. The questions that must be asked are what are the symptoms you are presenting with? Is there muscle weakness or numbness in either leg? What are you having trouble doing? Are you overweight? How old are you and in what kind of shape? If the pain or irritation is limited to the lower back then it is going to be easier to handle. I recommend that you get a referral to a physical therapist that works with backs. You want someone that will work on you with their hands and not machines(ultrasound, diathermy, electric stimulation, etc). Talk to the therapist about this and find one that does this. You want them to free up the vertebrae and allow more room for the nerve so it will decrease the symptoms. You also want to work on your posture as this is of the utmost of importance. Strengthening the muscles to the correct levels to achieve balance between groups is also important. Proprioception movements are also essential to save the ankle and feet from becoming injured. In essence what you have according to the information that was given is two discs that are bulging and not herniated. The disc is made up of what are called anular rings. These rings are made like the walls of a radial tire. Each layer or wall is designed to withstand the a particular stress. There are between seventeen to twenty one of these layers. Inside of those layers lies a hard material almost like a ball bearing and that is the nucleus. That is not going anywhere but that ball is surrounded by a thick fluid material. It is this fluid like material that has caused the bulge as it pushes its way into and through some of the walls. If it goes through enough of the walls it will herniate out. So you want the therapist to work on moving the fluid material backwards and away from the nerves. That is where posture becomes very critical. Lastly all of the stenosis and foraminal stenosis is a fancy way of stating that the space or hole that the nerve runs through has gotten smaller. There is simply a lot of degeneration of the bones that is causing the problem. Again the therapy will help this and most important is to keep the joints movable. Doing those things will greatly help your problem.
References :
physical therapist