I have been having back problems for about two years. I have a herniated L5 S1 and bulging or herniated (depends on who's looking at it) L4/L5 and L3/L4. I have tried PT and injections and have had some relief but I still don't have a life and I can't stand to ride in a car or take the subway because of the vibrations. Earlier this year I was offered a fusion of L5/S1 and L4/L5 by a neurosurgeon. He sent me for a series of facet blocker injections on the different disks, because I had a Discogram prior which showed that L3 L4 was my pain generator and he thought that it was a false result. The facet blocker injections did not help at L3 L4 so for the neurosurgeon that was proof that L3 L4 was not a problem. I was still worried and went to a physiatrist who had seen my prior Discogram. The physiatrist wanted to do another Discogram on L3/L4 just to make sure it wasn't the pain generator; he said that it was herniated, although the neurosurgeon claimed that L3/L4 was healthy. I sent an e-mail to the neurosurgeon asking him if I should get the Discogram. He never responded and has been over a week and I've been calling the office. I am contemplating canceling the surgery-I think the neurosurgeon is blowing me off. I posted on this board about this last week about whether to get the Discogram on L3 and was told to get another opinion. Here is what happened:
I went to go see an orthopedist, also highly recommended. He told me that I did not need a fusion, that Discograms are not so great, and that I should only get a microdiskectomy at L5/S1, which is the disk that shows up as most herniated. He said L4/L5 and L3/L4 are just degenerated and that this is to be expected because I am 41. I am tempted to just go for the microdiskectomy on L5/S1 and not have another Discogram at all. The problem is, I have mostly back pain and I have read that microdiskectomies are better for leg pain. This orthopedist said he sees a lot of people who are told they need fusions, they then get fusions and end up needing more fusions because the disc above cannot support the stress. He's pretty conservative but maybe that's good. Anyway, now I'm even more confused. I've been to five or six people and been told a bunch of different things-two docs told me I needed a triple fusion and they couldn't help me, one told me I needed a microdiskectomy, and another told me I needed a double fusion. If anyone has any suggestions or can even understand this confusing post, please let me know. Also if anyone has had back pain relief from the microdiskectomy, please let me know. Thanks and wishing you all a pain-free day...
also, does anyone know if having several CT scans in a year is bad? I heard something about the radiation...