Bone Health
 Bone Health > Question and Answer > Pain and Symptoms > Back and Neck Injury > L5-S1
L5-S1
9/23 17:30:37

Question
My husband had a CT SCAN  The result  is below:
    At L5-S1 the disc is narrowed.  There is a leftward disc protrusion or  herniation impinging upon the left S1 nerve root and there is a left lateral spur present resulting in some left-sided foraminal stenosis. The disc findings appear worse the prior study.

Please let me know what it is and any recommendation  on what to do next.
Thank you for your prompt attention and quick response.

Answer
So I'll get right to this question... there's a lot going on here.

I've written a pretty good length article about the a href="http://dynamicclinic.com/lumbar_disc_seattle.php"lumbar disc.</a>... and it's almost always L5 that's most involved in disc issues.

So a protrusion is the same thing as a disc bulge, and can be treated with traction ( I prefer the Saunders Lumbar Home Trac... check Craigslist for one)  and extension, which is arching back over a ball, or doing the camel/ cow position in yoga.

More disconcerting is the spur.   This is a bony outgrowth, and can put the nerve into a place it can't escape from.  If the spur is severe, it will require surgery.  If it isn't, there's still a lot that can be done to help out your hubby.  On my same website, I've outlined a form of stenosis that responds really well to non-surgical means.  

Not to promote chiropractic in any way, but they have a number of means to get the pressure litterrally off the nerve root that will give your husband some relief.

Is there any way you can post the CT findings here?  Why a CT and not MRI?  I usually recommend MRI, as the CT gives you lots of xray radiation.  

Copyright © www.orthopaedics.win Bone Health All Rights Reserved