I am looking at prospect of needing another spinal fusion of my lumbar area of my back. Two years ago I had fusion done at L-4 L-5 level after severe disc herniation. I am now out from work due to disc at level L-5 S-1 having degenerated severely and now collapsed. I work in housekeeping at a busy hospital, and there is lots of bending, lifting, twisting involved with my work. I was able to return yo work with some restriction in bending after first fusion. But that may have contributed to my current problem now.I want to know if my movements will be even greater after this next surgery, and will I be able to even work at my present job, performing same work. What are limitations of this number of spinal fusions? I am male, 45 yrs. old.

1. Marrow signal is uniform.
2. The visualized portion of spinal cord & cauda equina are normal.

Impression

1. Right sided eccentric disc herniation at L4-L5 causing spinal stenosis.
2. Degenerative changes at L2-L3 & L3-L4, but no disc herniation, spinal stenoisis or nerve root impingement at any other level.

All my pain is in my right hip and severe at times. What would be or COULD be the treatment?

I have been suffering from low back pain for the past 2.5 years now. Initially, it started as small pain but gradually increased to a high level. The pain was mostly on the left side.

In Dec 2006, I had an MRI taken which showed mild disc bulge at L4-5 on the right side and significant disc herniation at L5-S1 on the left side. The MRI also showed some disc dehydration at these two disc levels.

For the past 2.5 years though, the pain used to vanish by 95% when I used to sit down. The pain was continuous while walking and standing at one point.

But since 10 days, the pain has increased to such an extent that I am not even able to sit. The pain starts in the lower back, goes down the thigh and legs and sometimes a burning sensation in the legs. Also, the pain has started on the right side of the lower back which was not there earlier.

I had another MRI taken recently in Oct 2008 and the report was not much different from the earlier one. The only difference was that now the disc herniation at L4-5 and L5-S1 has become bilateral now ( on both left and right sides ).

I have been continuously undergoing physiotherapy for the past 2.5 years but there has not been a period where I was completely free from pain. I have also recently tried Ayurvedic therapy for 7 days continuously and there was no significant relief.

I have heard about this spinal decompression technique which might be helpful for such cases of lower back. This would be the last resort before surgery.

Can anyone tell me whether this really helps ? Are there any risks associated with it ? Also, is the treatment available in India ?

I am ready to spend time, effort and money if it really helps. I have one year of time to go before marriage and I want to get rid of the pain before that.

Sorry for having taken your time with a long history but thought to explain the problem in detail.

Looking forward to some quick replies.