[Skully]

Hello all, I was just diagnosed with a buldging disk at L 4-5 with an anaular tear. Does anyone have any experience with this or know what it all means?
Any replies are appreciated. Thanks

[Perna]

Skully, I had a good friend with such a problem and she was operated on successfully. Sometimes they can be serious and pose a worse threat (she had to have the operation or might have been paralyzed by another hit/accident/jostle to her neck). But I think as we get older we all get somewhat bulging disks. Does it hurt? Did the doctor or whoever diagnosed it tell you what the next step would be, whether you'd have to go to a specialist or what?

[racee]

really good websites to check out i have been dealing with DDD for lil over ten years progressively getting worse by the year.
always bestcourse of action i have learned i am not going to take away from what it is by saying well how serios is it, i will say start with the less evasive course of action than go from there...unless it's something that is crucial and absolutely you need to be cut open. doctors have been itching to cut me open since i was 17 i'm 28 now but still think i am too young to be cut open and have worse back issues for the rest of my life, than it already is.
and the way the doctors explained it to me and my own research the type of surgery they would be doing would only hurt me in the long run so i am waiting for something new to come out or till i get older. to do something as drastic as that
http://www.spine-health.com/conditio...e-bulging-disc

http://www.spineuniverse.com/

[AAAAA]

My husband deals with this on a daily basis. He avoided surgery (relying on the temperary relief of the cortizone shots) for years. When he finally couldn't deal with it anymore and allowed the surgery he wished that he would have allowed them to do it years before.

I should clarify, the surgery was for ruptured disks. Find the best doctor in your area that specializes in this.

[Skully]

Originally Posted by Perna

Skully, I had a good friend with such a problem and she was operated on successfully. Sometimes they can be serious and pose a worse threat (she had to have the operation or might have been paralyzed by another hit/accident/jostle to her neck). But I think as we get older we all get somewhat bulging disks. Does it hurt? Did the doctor or whoever diagnosed it tell you what the next step would be, whether you'd have to go to a specialist or what?

No she didn't really. I had an appointment with her on Monday but she called out sick so saw another doc for my injections...I got 12 coritzone shots in my hip and lower back...OUCH is all I can say!

She did mention on the phone that it might herneate so I have to restrict my activities, no bending or twisting, and follow a "home exercise program" but she did not tell what that meant!

I go to the neurologist so I will ask some questions about that. The bulging discs are cutting off the nerves to my feet and causing them to burn bad. So I may need to see a neurosurgeon. I will know more about it tonight.

[Petunia111]

I had to have L5-S1 laminectomy and spinal fusion, with a bone graft from my iliac crest, in my early 20's. I had a ruptured disc of which the nucleus pulposis (gel-like insides of the disc), which was squishing against the sciatic nerve root. I tried bedrest for a long time, to no avail. I was in agony with this. Finally, I was getting nerve damage to my entire leg, so I had to have surgery. Everything came out great though and I have been fine, ever since. I had a wonderful surgeon and had it done at a top-notch hospital.

Hope that you do alright with conservative therapy!!!!

[ramsdekm]

I had 2 bulging disks from an old football injury. I had a neurologist fix them for me in 1997 and have not had any problems with them since.