Sorry to hear that you are going through this especially at such a young age. I am not a doc so the only thing that I can really do is express my personal opinion.

I really wonder if it is indeed the discs that are causing your leg pain. I have always been told that if the disc causes the leg pain it will go all the way down to your foot.

That being said I have had a microdiscectomy a few years back and my leg pain stops at the knee. I had an annular tear that was causing me a great deal of pain but I did not have a herniation.

The surgery did help the nerve pain in my leg but it did not help the pain in my back at all.

I have two seperate family members that had a discectomy 15-20 years ago and neither has had any problems since.

Once a part of the disc is removed it will weaken that disc and make it possible to have future issues with the same disc.

Is your surgeon a spine specialist that is fellowship trained? It is important to know as much about your surgeon as possible before having surgery.

I would always suggest getting at least one more opinion. I always feel better about any surgery if I have at least two qualified surgeons that agree what needs to be done.

You are the only one that can really make the decision and you are doing the right thing by learning as much as possible before making your decision

I wish you luck and please do post and let us know what you decide.

thank you so much for you post, I am confused my self , my pain goes only to my knees, i feel very week on my lower back however the pain is very minor,

right now i am taking anti-inflammatory which reduce the pain, and also i am trying to bring my wight down , i am 60 pound over weight, and same time work my abs.

my other question would is there any natural herbal medication for disc herniation.

thank you all

In my own experience the first time I herniated the disc I only had leg pain in the hip and thigh. I think the more the nerve is compressed the more symptoms you get, but I could be wrong

Personally I wouldn't rush into any back surgery until you have try all the conservative options first. I would definitely try physiotherapy first and look into an epidural spinal injection. Only you can say whether your pain is such that you can't live with it any more and therefore surgery is the only option. If you can get a second or even third opinion

i am reading on the bottom of you post, that you had L4/L5 dis and you treated with physiotherapy, would you think in my case that is 11mm would physiotherapy help

thanks

How long have you been seeing your doctor and know of your case? What type of doctor is he?

Based upon your post I can not tell if you already had epidurals or any other shots to relieve the pain. As all stated going into surgery should be the last option not the first. If you have not seen a PM I would strongly recommend it.

You need to have several opinions first. Also you are going to the gym but are you doing the therapy needed to help your back? Check out this site for some easy great exercises.

-js

as a person whose life has bee destroyed by surgery .and i mean destroyed .job/first marriage /home .need i go on ? first let me ask you a few questions ..do you have unbearable leg pain ? do you sleep for more than 3 hours a night /can you do normalish things .like walk swim shop.work.enjoys sex and a social life .could you get by with medication {forget herbal meds] if you can get by on pain killers and a sensible life than do ..i was 30 when my trouble started i was a young fit slim man .now i am i n terrible pain and facing even more invasive surgery i will never be out of pain ..and that's a fact ..once you start with back surgery ..even if you get a good result your back will never be as good as it was before surgery and you will require more surgery later on in life,please think long and hard about surgery .have you tried all other options ? .if you need surgery make sure you do your research and get the best surgeon you can ,,don't be in a hurry to go under the knife
STRAKER

you are a wise man.

thanks every body for the great post specially thanks to straker,

I did have epidural shot and I did go to chiropractic and did the disc decompression table, and acupuncture , none of this helped me.

Right now my quality of life is low, don’t have ambition, I became a procrastinator, no drive in life. I am fighting with my wife constantly.

I am reading that dis herniation surgery has 95% success rate , and same time I am reading post on this forum that is making me think if I should go for operation ,,