re: Herniated disc L5: Orthopedist or neurologist help

You asked why not st Jude and I answered.

st Jude's leads are not MRI capable and medtronics are. That's a fact.

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Try Physical Therapy first. A lot cheaper than surgery

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I wish this would have worked for me

I am an RN and herniated L4 and L5 at age 49. MD's gave me pills, wanted to operate, etc. I said screw that. Went to chiro and was so bad he couldn't even adjust it. After light stretching and lying on the roller machine he was able to adjust me the second visit. I started doing yoga and core strengthening exercises. After six weeks all pain was gone and I could touch my toes again. Chiro told me that if everyone did yoga he would be out of a profession. That was six years ago and it is doing well. Even went through P90x several times without issues.

I guess what I am trying to say is go see an MD, surgery, pills, etc. if you want but the percentages aren't in your favor. I would try other avenues first. In any case good luck and I hope you get better.

I went to Dr. Girod at Baton Rouge ortho. I went to lake after hours first they have me muscle relaxer, pain reliever, and anti inflam . A day later I couldn't feel my right leg and I went to the er. I was in hospital for three days and got the spinal epidural. I had my follow up last week and they want me
to give injection more time. I asked if I should go to chiro and they said stay away the could do more damage. I go back on the 30th
but I am in so much pain. I do some Mckenzie stretching which helps.

Just pain, I would try the PT, pain Meds, muscle relaxer route. Weakness, significant numbness, or bowel/bladder dysfunction, do surgery.

The majority will get better on their own.

I'm 24 and have a herniated L4 & L5. It was pretty debilitating at first, especially in the morning. By mid afternoon, my left leg would start tingling and it lasted all night. As others have said, try PT. I did 8 weeks, 2 x / week and it helped a ton. That was a year ago. Now, I know what will trigger the pain. If I drive for a long distance, I wear a Velcro back brace or put a towel at the small of my back to keep my back pretty straight. If I run a few days in a row, it'll also start bothering me again but never as bad as it was. Ibuprofen and ice packs will knock out any discomfort I have from time to time. Good luck!!!

SCRANTZ. This guy completely fixed my herniated disc when others told me there was nothing they could do. I'm back to working out, exercising, and running. At the very least, get this guys opinion.

Edit: I tried everything and nothing worked, surgery was the last resort. I was willing to try anything with the pain I was in.

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Corksoaker, you are very well-informed.

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Yet she consistently gives terrible advice. A spinal cord stimulator is a LAST resort.

True. I've seen some very successful outcomes in the recent 2-3 yrs that come to mind of people who got no relief from injections and did not want to undergo fusion surgery, or had RSD or some variant of that. Last resort for sure, and for a very select patient.

I'll share this publication's most important two lines from its conclusion:

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In general, there is evidence that early surgery in patients with sciatica provides for a better short-term relief of leg pain as compared to prolonged conservative care, but the evidence is low quality because of the fact that only one trial investigated this properly. No significant differences were found between surgery and usual conservative care in any of the clinical outcomes after 1 and 2 years, but the evidence is of very low quality

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