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Originally Posted by BUTLER REDSFAN
ok...my family doc called me with results of mri while i was driving home(had lower half of back mri'd yesterday)...when he started off with "well nothing too terrible" I knew it wouldnt be real good..said nothing at this time needed operated on but then rolled off i have arthritis in my lower back and "a little bit of a bulging disk" in the same area...and also said a nerve being "slightly compressed" ?!? nothing too terrible yet he rolls off about 5 different things and blew it off with well you will have some good days and some bad days?!?!told me to take ibuprofen...light walking...like i said i was driving and really wanted to write some of this down--he is outta the office tomorrow but i wanna call him back friday to go over this again...Should I have a orthopedic doctor give me a second opinion?? Sounded to me like a lot more serious than my family doc made it sound!!
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You might see if he's willing to prescribe some physical therapy. I have bulging discs in my back that were so bad it felt like someone had hit me in the back with an ax, shooting pain out to the sides and down both legs. I had a steroid block (similar to an epidural) and physical therapy a couple of times and has gotten me to the point where I manage it with medication. I can live with it now. I get sore waking up in the morning and when I stand too long, so I do stretches I learned from PT to loosen it up and move the disc material so that it isn't rubbing on the spinal cord and nerves.
I would only go the surgery route if it gets bad enough to where you can't live with it. Surgery may solve the problem, but I don't think things are ever the same after you've had it. I had knee surgery 15 years ago and, while I have more stability, it's never felt the same.