Question
hello doc. i am a 28 year old with lower back pain. i had an mri taken and states that i have a small central disc protrusion at L-4/ L-5 and a right sided disc extrusion at L-5/S-1 , disc dessication at both levels with loss of disc space hieght, also have degenerative retrolithesis at L-5 on S-1 wiich is a slight grade 1 , 6-7 mm.. i am very scared and dont know what to do . is retrolithesis going to get worse as i age. is there anything i can do to keep at a grade 1.am i suffering from retro or from my disc issues. please help thank you

Answer
John;
Retrolisthesis is a pretty common thing, actually.  It has a number of causes, one of the most common is just being a really active child.  I think I see a lot more of it because I'm a chiropractor, but the literature, last time I looked said something like 4 or 5 in 100 people have it.

As you know, the grading is based off a percentage of how much the bone has slipped in relation to its neighbor.  Grade one is less than 25%.

Going to a chiropractor will help with your condition, but won't fix it.  It's merely something that you maintain, monitor, and generally, forget.  It's certainly not life threatening at a grade I, and shouldn't inhibit you at all in your daily activities.

As I said, go find a good DC in your area.   If you would like some help finding one, contact me through my web site, www.dynamicclinic.com, or go to the chiroweb.com website.

It's nice to give someone some good news here for a change!

Best of luck,

Dr. Peter Carr
Seattle, Washington