Question
Could you please explain this to me in english and give me your opinion on the severity and the best action for treatment. The conus medullaris is normal at L1. There is no lumbar canal stenosis. Grade 1 anterior spondylolisthesis of L% on S1 is seen. There are bilateral pars defects at L5. There is uncovering of the disc at L5 _ S1 level.There is disc herniation at L4-5. Increased T2 signal is seen in the posterior annulus at the L3-4 disc consistent with annular degeneration. No marrow signal abnormalies seen. There is no marrow edema. On the tranaxial views, L1-2 disc is normal.  Also l2-3 is normal.Mild degeneration of the midline annulus in seen at L3-4. Circumferential disc bulge with braod based centeral disc herniation is seen at L4-5. This does not produce significant mass effect on the thecal sac. Pars defects are seen at L5 bilaterally. Disc bulge is seen at L5-S1 circumferentially. I apologise if this seems like alot I just want to understand the severity because I am in some serious pain and am wondering if I should have surgury. Also can this injury be treated by anything other than pain meds such as lortab or percocet. Thanks a million.

Answer
Hi John,

This site doesn't explain MRI findings, the doctor that got paid to do it should,

Everyone that has surgery comes to this site wishing they hadn't. just look at all the past questions.


There has been an effective treatment for HNP )Herniated Nucleous Pulposes) for 30 years, its called flexion/distraction.
Here is the site,

http://www.coxtechnic.com/homepage.asp

You can have the surgery but in 20 years of practice, I never saw one that turned out, and you'll never find one that would do it all over again knowing what we know now. Find a DC that has F.D tables and your pain should be gone on a couple weeks!

Good Luck!

Dr. Timothy Durnin