Question
I fell at work 7 months ago I had surgery for a herniated disc on the right side. I
am 4 months post surgery and now I have pain down my left leg, we had a new
mri done that says enhancing granulation tissue encasing the descending right
s1 nerve root with a shallow left paracentral protusion which genlty abuts the
descending left s1 nerv root. Now could this cause a lot of pain and will I need
surgery again?

Answer
Hi, Theo,

1:  yes disc pressure on a nerve root can cause pain
2:  Surgery is usually not a good answer for a disc protrusion; usually, protrusions and herniations come from muscular contractions that pull vertebrae together (although a violent injury can weaken discs, making them more vulnerable to compression and predisposing them to herniation); in your case, L5/S1 sounds like it's being compressed, causing the protrusion (bulge).

Please see my article on sciatica at somatics.com/page4b.htm
for more explanation and what you can do.

with regard,
Lawrence Gold