I am having my 3rd discogram on Friday. The test is not pleasant. It is not that bad until they get to the point of the test where they test each disc. If you dont have any bad dics, it is realatively painless. If you have one or more bad discs, that is where it is painful. The spike in pain does not last long. But afterwards you do have increased pain due to the test.
It can cause increase in pain for a day or two after, but with pain meds it is not that bad. They also usually give you something to relax during the procedure. Hope this helps. Take care, Robin

Before anyone can really respond to your post, it would be helpful to have more information.

By "doctor" are you referring to your PCP or family doctor or are you seeing a specialist? From what you said, it sounds like you are having some generalized back pain and are being sent for X-rays? That is a place to start, but X-rays do not show much but slippage of vertebrae and fractures. If disc pain is suspected, you will need to get a MRI. That will image the soft tissue, nerves, discs, etc.

It is OK to let a general physician deal with back pain to begin with, but if you are diagnosed with a herniated disc or some such problem, seek out the services of a fellowship-trained spinal specialist. This can be either an orthopedic spinal surgeon or a neurosurgeon who devotes his practice to issues of the back and spine. It is important that you do not "waste" too much time with a general practioner if your problems do not respond to conservative treatment -- certainly no more than six months tops. Sometimes they think they know what is wrong, when in reality they do not...example, me. I love my internist and waited over a year before demanding an MRI because "losing weight and exercising" were just not cutting it. My internist read my MRI and said everything was fine...but I kept nagging him and finally, just to get rid of me, I think, he referred me to a specialist. Imagine my surprise when within a minute of looking at my MRI the specialist told me I needed fusion!! So I spent probably 16 months with a compressed nerve, in a great deal of pain, thinking if I just lost a few pounds and strengthened my core, the pain would go away. Luckily I did not suffer permanent nerve damage by relying on my internist for so long, but I now advise people they not make the same mistake!!

Discograms are not necessarily required to make a diagnosis -- just depends on your problems, so don't worry about it at this point.

Good luck.

Gwennie

I agree with Robin.Its only hurt for awhile. Nothing to be scare about. If you scare or in pain or just worrying all you have to do is let us know. And we will help you as much as we can.We all been thru it.

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Jim