ohhh allright

"There is some straightening of lumbar lordotic curvature."


the lumbar spine is the lowest five vertebra there is usually a curve in this region that is convex at the front your spine is straighter than normal


"Lumbar vertebral bodies show
normal height and alignment with degenerative changes at some levels with osteophyte
formation at L1/2."

your vertebra show degenerative changes this means there is probably small bony ridges forming around the margins of the joints an osteophyte is a bony spur this is at the fifth joint up from the bottom of your spine


"There is slightly reduced disc height and T2 hyperintensity at L5/S1."


bit confused here its states you had a lumbo sacral scan this is the lower part of your spine T2 is the second disk down in your thoracic spine which starts below your neck.
hyper intensity usually indicates inflammation this is right at the base of your spine.


"At L5/S1 there is right paracentral disc protrusion indenting the descending S1 root on"



at the lowest joint of your spine your disk is protruding at the back slightly to the right its compressing the the nerve root witch is a nerve that branches off the spinal cord

"Possibly subtle disc bulge at L1/2, no significant compressive lesion elsewhere."

L1-L2 is the fifth joint up from the bottom no other significant nerve compression is noted

"Lower dorsal cord and conus are normal".

your lower spinal cord is normal

good luck gordiegords

thankyou very much for that, i'm currently having chiropractic treatment, he told me bad posture has caused my spine to go this way and by him correcting this with adjustments he that would then make my spine balanced correctly then i'm pressuming the bulge in the disc would settle down? right? it is strange sometimes its agony like this morning, then out of nowhere its fine for a while, is that the bulge going back inside the vertibrae? is it that simple?

Thanks again

Gordiegords

its probably not quite that simple, i am a lay person so i cant be to sure of myself, but i do believe that bad posture, and improper curvature can be the cause of these problems, its why often the spine keeps deteriorating despite every treatment in the book being tried, your chiropractors treatment should be making you feel better. Like any profession there are quality people, and ones that aren't much good i would reckon that you aren't quite at the stage for an operation, but if the chiro is not helping you you probably should consult an orthopedic surgeon or neurosurgeon you have had an MRI so you have probably already seen one maybe they could not help any way disc herniation often settle down a few years after they occur if the spine is in good condition, but if you have scoliosis the reason for the degeneration of your spine may still be present

i have a feeling my chiro will recommend i continue the straightning of my spine with hi and ive also a feeling my neurosurgeon will recommend a.......... Laminotomy?

Although i'm in no way qualified to back up my feelings for suggesting this.

Gordie

i think you have pretty much hit the nail on the head only surgeons are more reluctant to operate these days due to the fact that surgery is more succsessful when patients are carfully selected meaning only the most obvious candidates for surgery get it

I am lying in bed over a month recovering from lower lumber back pain. an ambulance took me to the hospital for an mri. just got the report from my gp. this is the fifth major back attack in 3 years. i am able to research with my laptop on my stomach, so i can read the mri report with understanding. there's mild bilater facet hypertrophy. mild to moderate disc bulging. l2/l3
more to the left side causing mild foramina stenosis. i love the use of the word mild by the technician. i have been knocked down paralyzed with pain by my back. i have been awakened in the night screaming and i'm not a wimp.
i'm in the va system and medicare a. that's it. i think an operation is called for to remove the bulges from the disc's and open up the facet bones to give the nerves coming through there a little more freedom. write me if anyone has any advice for me. does anyone know if medicare a covers a surgery?
i just turned 65 so i'm new to it. thankyou. ed

As rollar64 said, spine surgeons are far more selective in doing surgery now.

Chiro's will always tell you to continue with their treatment and will tell you that you need to come in for frequent adjustments all the time.

Surgery is usually decided on after conservative measures are tried and do not work. those include physical therapy, anti inflammatory medications, epidural steroid injections.

If you are not improving after several visits with your chiro, then it is time to check in with your spine surgeon and go from there.

If he/she is talking about a laminotomy vs lamicectomy, that is a good sign that your spine surgeon is well up to date on what is considered now to be a better alternative.

Laminotomy, removes a very small portion of the lamina to access the disc instead of the old traditional laminectomy that removes the entire lamina.

Laminotomy provides far better stability to the spine, and helps to prevent the need for spinal fusion down the road, because of the spine becoming unstable.

One can have more than one laminotomy done on different levels and still maintain a stable spine.

Bad posture can create havoc in the spine as well as other parts of the body, but if bad posture has created a disc problem, the real way to correct the posture is to correct the disc problem first.
Once that is corrected than a round of physical therapy afterwards will aid improving the spine and other ares of your body.

Good luck

Fran