Hey everybody. I hurt myself playing softball, not too much pain at first so I kept playing. Then pain got worse over the next few weeks and didnt get better. Saw my doctor, first diagnosed with an inflammed SI joint. Pain was in my left butt cheet and radiates down my leg to about my knee. No tingling in my foot. Pain becomes very bad at times. I have been seeing a chiropractor for the last 3 years, my back has been very healthy in that time. He wanted to treat the injury twice a week for 3 weeks and see what happens. When that didnt work I had an MRI that confirmed a large disk herniation at L5/S1 with some disk space degeneration. Everything else normal. Herniation confirmed pinching left sciatic nerve. I am currently taking Naprosen 500mg x 2 daily, sometimes it works okay, sometimes not. I am seeing a Neurosurgeon to determine best course of action on August 5. Also am seeing doctor soon to get a new prescription. I am a firefighter and I have been off duty since 4th of July and Im getting mixed signals from different folks that I talk to about the possibility of having surgrery. Also Im not sure what if any excercises I can do to help things along. I am used to helping people, but I dont know how to help myself with this thing. But the best thing I have going for me is my positive attitude about the injury and my prayer life. Would appreciate any feedback from those recently with this specific type injury, thanks a million!

I have a similar problem. Hurt my back on 7-7-03 changing a tire. Could not walk without severe pain the next day. Pain primarily in my leg down to my foot. Waited 10 days to go to chiropractor. Thought it might go away on its own. Started taking 800mg ibuprofen 3 times a day. Stopped after 8 days due to possible side effects. This seemed to help. Went to chiropractor 8 times in 3 1/2 weeks. Pain slowly went down but not gone. Decided to go to orthopaedic Dr. Went today and got x-rays and MRI. Dr. said based on symptoms it was the S-1 nerve being pinched by the disc. He has not seen MRI yet and I will go back next week for further results. He prescribed methylprednisolone 4mg for a six day regimen. Will let you know further results next week.

Hello, I also have been diagnosed with Disk Herniation at L5/S1. I also have an additional herniation at L4/L5. I got hurt on the job. I'm a Firefighter also. At first I thought that I had strained a muscle in my leg, but it seemed to get worse day by day. I finally went to a my doctor. He took xrays and said he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but suspect a disk herniation. I was finally scheduled for an MRI, hense the above diagnosis. I'm going to be sent to an orthopedic doctor next...not sure what to expect. I'm on OJI now from my job and have a lot of free time. I have family and friends praying for me and am sure I will recover and go back to work.

i have herniated L5 S1 2 monhts ago. i have seen 2 neurosergions and got 2 opposite diagnosis. 1 sergury and 1 not. (isn't this odd). please research all you can about your problem (i have). there "is no guarantee" that you will be ok after sergury. (and if you haven't seen the "consent" forms that you'll sign before the sergury; you may take a bit longer to think on this. (i have). i was told that i'm a "definite candidate" for sergury. but i have great fear of it. i reinjured my back 2 weeks ago and had to go to the ER. i lost all feeling in my right leg and could "not" stand up straight do to severe back spasm. after the 5" needle in the back,steroids,and codine...i am on my feet now.
there "is" a way around this thing but you must be deciplined and strong minded. here's a test you can take on your own. can you walk on your heals and can you walk on your toes? if so (reguardless of how many steps you can take) then you may be able to overcome this ordeal through therapy. you have to teach your back to use muscles its not used to. (it'll be hard)
i'm doing this now. "if" you be carefull and not reinjure the disc, your body will repair it. it will take a while though and no, it will never be as strong as it was. go slow with it. try this link: www.lowbackpain.com (http://www.lowbackpain.com)
take care.

All -

look into nucleoplasty, its min evasive, not surgery for herniated disks. try www.nucleoplasty.com (http://www.nucleoplasty.com) for more info. more posts about it in the back problems board.

ken