Question
Hi Jenny,

Not sure if you can help me, but I was told I have a positive "Babinski reflex" on my left side after a physical for a herniated disk. Do you know what that means?

Answer
Hi Dan,

Everyone has a positive Babinski reflex until they are about 2 years old.  Then, in most of us, it goes away (kind of like the sucking reflex).  In some, it doesn't go away for some reason.  If you have a severe trauma to your brain, the reflex can come back, which is a bad sign that reflects damage to the brain...but since you haven't had any brain damage, my guess is that your reflex just never went away.  Here is a link that tells more about it.


http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003294.htm

Best wishes,

Jenny