Question
Hi,

Firstly, thankyou for taking the time to help out..I never realised something like this was available!

I have been suffering from back pain for over two years now.

I used to run on running machines every day for a long period  - one day I felt a sharp shooting pain in my back whilst running. There was no immediate pain, however in the following days, I was almost unable to walk. I had spasms in my lower/mid back, pain in my right buttock and all down my right leg.

The first improvement I had was when I visited a chiropractor, who made some adjustments which got rid of most of the pain in my leg however the spasms where still happening, although less frequent.

That was about 18 months ago.

I was finally sent for an MRI scan by my GP, after being prescribed cream(?) and sent to another physio.

The results are as follow:

"Clinical information:

Back pain with right sciatica.

Findings:

L3 - L4, L4 - L5 the discs are normal.  There is no protrusion.

L5 - S1 there is mild disc degeneration.  There is a small central disc bulge but no evidence of nerve root impingement.

There is no evidence of central canal stenosis or of foraminal stenosis and the signal from the conus is normal.

Conclusion:

No cause for right-sided sciatica."

I eventually got to see an orthopaedic physcian, who gave me cortisone injections, which relieved the pain, however this was only temporarily and the pain is now back.

I am still suffering from back spasms in the lower/mid back and also a dull ache in the right side of my neck - behind my ear and towards my shoulder. There is also some pain on the side of my right leg, just above the knee, although this is much less frequent than before!

I was hoping you could maybe shed some light on this - as you could imagine, spending two years like this has not been enjoyable!

Many thanks for your time and effort!

Answer
Radicular pain (shooting pain) follows three pathways, most likely is the nerve.  (others are the muscle, and the hinges of our bodies)  These pathways were established before we were born, and they are pretty consistent from human to human.  Your pain above the knee seems to mimic the pattern of the L3 dermatome, or section of skin covered by that nerve... your GP was right to send you for the MRI.

Now the MRI says something different than what you are feeling. Hmm. Let me reread here.  Cream?  Huh?

The pain you feel could still be related to L5.  Do you feel it more when you cough/ sneeze/ laugh? Bend forward?

I would recommend reading my article about the disc on my website, www.dynamicclinic.com as well.  It's pretty informative.  If that doesn't answer your question, please follow up with me.  I'll be on vacation this week.  Your neck pain is a different issue. Go see a chiropractor for that.