spine exam complete, What does all this mean?

ChuckStr

Hello Cat and welcome to the board!

All of that means that you have some degeneration of the disks in your lumbar spine which in turn are causing some arthritic changes in the joints of your vertebrae. Specifically bone spurs growing in the facet joints.

Most everyone has some level of degeneration as they age. As to how serious it is, from the language presented there it appears to be "diffuse" which means there are slight changes throughout. If there was no mention of either central canal or neuroforaminal stenosis (narrowing of the space for the spinal cord and nerve roots respectively), then it is likely not serious if the report is accurate.

Are you being treated by a spine specialist? That is either a neurosurgeon or orthopedic surgeon with specialty training in the spine who limits their practice to spine issues. If you are not being treated by a spine specialist I would suggest looking into seeing one as they are the experts in correlating diagnostic and clinical information with signs and symptoms and coming up with appropriate treatment plans to alleviate spine problems.

What symptoms did you have that prompted the MRI? Was there any information on the individual spinal levels? Any mention of stenosis? If we know this information we can help you understand if your spine is the likely source of your issues.