Quote:
Originally Posted by Armymedic
I am a 35 year old Soldier in the Army,a Combat Medic, and I recently got the results back from an MRI (which I had been pushing many months for) and the impressions are
MILD NEURAL FORAMINAL STENOSIS AT L4-5 AND L5-S1
MILD DEGENERATIVE DISC DISEASE WITH POSTERIOR PROTRUSIONS (APPROX 2-3MM) AT L4-5 AND L5-S1.
What TX (treatment) should I push for? What should I expect? All my main doctor has done is just dope me up on pain medications. I go to a military orthopedic surgeon next month for an evaluation of a permanent physical profile (An Army document saying you are broken, and limits the exact duties you can perform). I am getting sick and tired of just taking pain meds daily for this, and need to get some ideas on how to pursue this..
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Well, I saw the lead Army Orthopedic on post, and he has referred me out for pain management to get Epidural Steroid Injections to try to narrow down the exact cause of the pain. He said that the possibility of surgery is still out there. I feel like I am in better hands now as he is the lead Ortho Surgeon, and a Lt Colonel (for those that don't know, a Lt. Colonel has been in for a while and has a lot of experience in the Army)