Question
thank you so much for helping people!
male 54 yrs. old ,not sure how this started ,either lifting weight or as the result of sitting long hrs. at work,this started over 2 yrs.ago.
initial symptoms were low back pain ,musscle thightness in the middle of my back on the left side,shooting pain down the left leg,specially the ankle ,the pain is on the side not back of the leg and on the foot where the shoe laces are! also the musscle in the buut are thightened when standing ,there were also numbness and heat sensation in the left foot.
i have pain walking,my body is shifted to the right side(i am crooked),no problem sitting or sleeping. MRI result is "diffuse disc at the L4/5 level that is centered toward the left and is effecting left neural foramen" can you help!
thank you and bless you   mylo

Answer
Dear Mylo,

The disc bulge is only one aspect of the problem and not the cause, to begin with.

Being crooked is a sign that you have muscular contractions that affect your posture as a whole and that cause overcompression of the disc in question by pulling the spinal column too tight.  Your symptoms are typical of a nerve pinch -- same cause.

So your problem simplifies down to the fact that you don't have enough control of your muscles to relax them; all the rest are secondary consequences.

Please visit somatics.com/page4.htm and read the articles on pain and on back pain.  That will give you more detail on the situation and a course of action.

You should then undertake a program of self-training in which you exercise meticulous care in improving your control of muscles and movement.  A haphazard approach won't do the job.

Sometimes, a health crisis is what is necessary to get a person to address an aspect of life they haven't addressed, before.

with regard,
Lawrence Gold