I have two 5.0mm herniations at L4-5 and L5-S1, are these large???? And one smaller at L3-4. I have had problems on and off since I was 26, when I herniated my first disc giving birth (L4-5) , I am 44 now, and 2 years ago the other two disc's herniated. One above and one below. And I have DDD.....
I have never had surgery only the series of injections in my spine which did not help....
What is next for me, I feel like they are going to just continue right up my back!!!
Any advise or imput would be apreciated.....

Wannabe... the potential problem depends on what they are pressing on. If your spinal canal is clear and you have good disc height, a 5mm bulge may be completely asymptomatic.

However, if you've had an MRI it's because you have a problem. Maybe the bulges are a problem and maybe they are a distraction as they were with me. I had discectomies on 2 large protrusions. Both those surgeries were successful in dealing with the issues related to the protrusions, but my underlying low back pain continued to get worse and worse. Finally I had a 2-level disc replacement surgery last September that resolved my problem.

So, it's hard to say. Probably 50% of people in thier 40's have disc bulges of 4 and 5 mm and don't even know it. Some may cause serious problems and some will never be a problem. There are other issues that may be overlooked because the bulges are easy to focus on.

Good luck,

Mark

Thanks for your reply Mark!