Hi all! My recent mri says L5 is collapsed. I had L5 herniated and removed in 1999, no fusion. Does collapsed mean bone to bone? can it never be fused? also mri says arthrosis and degeneration of L3-5 and C 4-7 and bulging L3-5. Do the discs collapse if they are not fused? http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/confused.gif cj

Yes, collapsed pretty much means bone to bone. I have the same thing, same disc. You can have fusion but I would reccomend looking into artificial disc replacement. I'm going to Germany next month for it because my HMO won't pay for it here as its not FDA approved in the US. They've been doing it for over 10 years in Europe and its 1/3 the price.

Thanks Jennifer! I have similar ins too so will look into artificial replacement too elsewhere. So nothing more can be done? muscle strengthening or pt the pain will only get worse? how about those electronic type stimulators for pain? I hate the thought of more surgeries!

I just went to Johns Hopkins in baltimore. They are doing the trial on the artificial disc replacement. They actually wanted me to do it. The problem with the surgery is that you do not know wether or not you are getting the disc replacement or the fusion. I think waiting until it is fda approved or going to another country is a good thing. If the artificial disc does not work, you can still have a fusion. You cannot have a disc replacement after a fusion though.