I was hurt at work 6/9/03 mri showed herneated disc at L5-s1 but its not pressing on a nerve and i have really bad pain in left leg now w/c is giving me a hard time mylogram shows nothing i am married, 2 kids and a mortage im just really worried can someone please give me some advice on what to do?
mike
ps: please forgive my spelling!!!

Hi juke!!
I went through that whole thing too with my mylegram showing nothing at all and I was in excruciating pain. Finally a different doctor told me that I had a disc tear and that it wouldn't show on a mylegram. The doctor told me that with tears, if they are gonna heal, the first 6-7 months is pure hell and then it should start leveling off for you. Well, my 7-8 months went by and I started feeling great. I got better after about a year and was doing wonderful.
So, you still have lots of time to see how you heal. It is a long process but only time will tell.
I did mess myself up again though after about a good year and a half so you have to be careful not to re-tear the disc as it is still 'weak'. It was such bad pain though as the first time I did it only to come to find out that I had a huge bone spur growing trapping my nerve and I just had surgery for this on the 5th but I think the tear itself is doing well. I would give it some time. I know how hard it is to hold out with bills and all though.

I wish you and your family the best of luck!!

Christina http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/heart.gif

Hi Mike,

Sorry to hear you're having troubles with test results not showing anything. It's really difficult to deal with the pain alone forget feeling like you can't prove it to anyone and then the financial issues. Here in Ottawa, Canada we're going through something similar. My husband has been suffering with back pain since September 2002, which progressed to his taking time off work due to the pain intensity around May of this year. His MRI, CT Scan and x-rays show grade one spondylolithesis but it does not show any pinching of the nerves or anything else to attribute the pain level to. We are now having a difficult time proving to our insurance provider that there is a problem and are not presently receiving benefits. We are heading in to meet with a neurosurgeon next Tuesday and hope that he might have some more insight as to why the pain is there when nothing shows pinched nerves or other. I can tell you though that my husband has significant lower back pain, pain in his buttocks and down his right leg, even reaching his foot at times. You are not the only one. I’ll update you after his appointment if we learn any more. What I can say for sure is that you know your body better than anyone. Just because tests are not showing anything right now does not mean that there isn’t a reason for the pain to exist. Don’t give up and I hope you can take some comfort in that others are going through similar situations.

Best wishes.

hey juke...you might also ask about an epidural....good luck

thanks for yuor replys it is good to know im not alone
i did have two steroid epedurils but got no relief.
juke

juke -
I feel for you, I really do. The best test for disk integrity is the discogram. It definitly pin-pointed exactly which disc and how to fix them. ESI's didn't help me, either. Sorry I don't have a clue how to deal with w/c. (Personally, I'm glad I injured it in my own home!)

O'Girl

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20 years intermittent back pain - no treatment sought
Nov 2001 - herniated disk - Right leg radiculopathy
Jan 2002 - Chiropractic care
Mar 2002 - MRI, X-Rays, Oral steroids
Apr 2002 - L4/L5 Microdiskectomy
Sept 2002 - PT, Oral steroids
Oct 2002 - MRI, Xrays - Failed Back Syndrome
Apr 2003 - TFESI, EMG, MRI
Diagnosis - DDD - foraminal narrowing, disk bulges, osteophytes, ligamentum flavum hypertrophy, active marrow edema, levoscoliosis, retrolisthesis, scar tissue encompassing L5 nerve root, disk height diminished, abnormal EMG results for left leg
Sept 2003 - Discogram with Xrays, CT Scan.
Oct 2003 - 2 level 360 degree fusion to be scheduled