Question
I am a 49 yo nurse who has been having occ nights of back spasms and l mid back pain into the hip area. and stiffness  went for pt and stretching exercises. had a mri results are mutilevel disc bulging nildly flattening the ventral thecal sac from L3 through L 5 with a tiny annular tear noted to the right laterally at the L 4-L5 level  sm far left lateral herniation is present at the L 2 L3 level on the left would unlikely be effecting the exiting L2 nerve but should be correlated clinically.  mild facet arthropathy what does all this mean. I want to get better.

Answer
Karen,
Basically this means that you are having multiple levels of spinal instability and misalignment along with disc involvement.  The L4-L5 Disc has ruptured and basically it sounds like your entire L-Spine is misaligned, unstable, and has disc involvement of some sort.
Here is what you need to understand in order to get well:
#1  You most likely do not need any surgical intervention.
#2  You may require drugs for pain, but know that the drugs do not help correct the problem and can actually add to the problem.
#3  PT right now may be doing more harm than good.  PT is a good thing but you need to have your spine re-aligned and stable first, then you should get back into doing stretches and exercises.
#4  You need to get under the care of an Upper Cervical Specific Doctor of Chiropractic.  This is the only doctor that understands the biomechanics behind this situation.  You see, when the upper cervical spine is misaligned the rest of the spine follows and also becomes misaligned.  This leaves your entire spine susceptible to injury and damage and instability.  You do not need (and probably do not want) anyone trying to re-align your lumbar spine when it is having so much trouble right now.  You can have your upper cervical spine re-aligned and then the rest of spine will fall in line on its own, its such a beautiful thing!
#5  Keep an open mind.  I know that this is very different than what you are being told, but what you are being told is geared towards treating effects which never gets you well. The only way for you to get well is to have the cause of your problems corrected.

If you are open to the ideas that I have just described, then send me your town and state so I can refer you to a quality doctor in your area.
Nothing is bigger than LIFE,
Dr Robert Arnone
Upper Cervical Care in St Louis Missouri