Question
I have a couple questions if you can help me. I'm not sure my company Dr is really doing what is right.

My history
The pain in my lower back started a little over three months ago.(mid july)
I work for a trucking company, and after unloading about 18,000lbs of cartons, the next day I noticed some pain and stiffness in my low back and shoulder. (just focusing on the back) And went down hill from there.

Over these months, I've gone from just the low back pain, to:
Dull aching pain in left thigh, hip and buttocks. (that does not go away!) This pain does not travel below the knee, it run's down the back of my rear and thigh, but it feels very deep into the thigh.

I get a prickly/falling asleep feeling on the bottom of my left foot(when sitting only), both of the above get worse when sitting for more than 10-15min.

Increased pain in thigh when walking up hill, bending forward. Twisting and bending backwards causes no noticeable increase, aggravation, or relief from the other symptoms.

The last month nothing has changed except now I get an occasional electric shock(best i can describe)along my spine if i move wrong or something. But the worst part about two or three times a week now, i'm getting an unbearable "burning" feeling in my thigh. I say it feel's like an electric range heating up. It starts slowly building until it's red hot, then just cool's back down. This last's maybe 5-7 seconds, and is a 20 on the 1-10 pain thingy.

MRI
Got my MRI results today, Dr put's me on Meloxicam, and three week's PT. He stated that "because my pain did not go below my knee, it was probably a muscle problem, not sciatica based on my MRI."

Here are my MRI result's if you could decipher them, I'd just like to know if there something there the company Dr isn't telling me. (the copy of mri I have is not that good, so I'll try and spell everything best I can make out Smile.

Technique: Multiplanar MR imaging of the lumbar spine.

Findings: There is normal lordotic alignment. Paravertebral soft tissues appear unremarkable. Marrow signal shows no significant abnormality. The conus medullaris and cauda equina show normal signal characteristics without focal compression.

L1-4 intervertebral discs appear unremarkable.
L4-5 shows mild desiccation of the disc with a slight broad based bulge producing minimal bilateral foraminal narrowing.
L5-S1 appears unremarkable.

Impression: Mild L4-L5 disc bulge with slight bilateral foraminal stenoses. No focal disc protrusion or herniation seen. Mild facet bypertrophy lower lumbar spine.

To me that just sounds like Aww, no big deal. And apparently to the gen practitioner, but my leg keeps saying SEE A NEW DOCTOR! What do you think, and can something that these results show to be "Mild" cause the symptoms I'm having? I know the pain i'm in, and just get the feeling they are just trying to blow me off.

Thanks for any help you may give.
JW

Answer
Joey,

Given work situation you described, your symptoms sound like a muscular conditioning problem:  too tight in the low back.

Disc bulges commonly come from tight back muscles.

The burning sounds like a nerve impingement from the same cause.

I'd recommend a program of brain-muscle training to permit relaxation of the tight muscles and then a daily regimen of somatic exercises to keep you from getting into the same condition, again.

For more information, may I direct you to the articles on back pain at somatics.com/page4.htm, which also offer options for recovery.

best,
Lawrence Gold