gzig5 said

I blew the disk at L5-S1 junction. Not sure how/when it happened, kinda snuck up on me. Full impingement on the spinal cord. Couldn't feel my left foot of nearly two years, constant pain sitting or standing. Hated the pain meds and quit taking them after a week. Went to spinal specialist and got the MRI to figure out what it was. Started PT and made some progress but then stalled out. I DID NOT want any kind of fusion surgery so I got two epidurals 3 months apart and that took care of 90% of the pain by reducing the swelling. Still got to be very careful how I move, lift, or sit. Losing weight helps a lot and it is all about core strength to stabilize the spine and provide separation and not rely on the disks. I'm 55 now and pretty active with golf, bowling, softball and competition shooting but I get by pretty well for an old(er) fart.

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fishmarket said

I had L4,L5,S1 fused at the age of 35. Its been 13 years, I traded one pain for another by having the surgery... I pretty much didn't have a choice though as my legs would go numb with radiating pain down the *** and legs. I have never been given anything for pain since I had the surgery. Makes it tough to get motivated to work on the cars sometimes.

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