I had an accident in October of 2007 in November 2007 I had an MRI of my Lumbar. The MRI states that I have L4-5- There is a 2-mm central disc bulge/protrusion with a small associated annular tear.

L5-S1- There is a 1 to 2-mm disc bulge with a far right posterolateral annular tear. There is disc desiccation and endplate degenerative change.

So, I had a transformial disectomy on March 2008 to fix the tears.

Since the surgery I have had another MRI done to see what the change is if there is any at all.

The MRI I had June 2008 states,

L4-5 There is a 2 to 3 mm far posterolateral disc bulge/protrusion bilaterally.

L5-S1 There is a 3-mm left posterolateral (foraminal) disc protrusion best seen on sagittal images, producing mild left neural poraminal stenosis. There is endplate degenerative change at this level as well.

If anyone knows what the difference is between these MRI's please let me know because I still have a lot of pain and I have two knots on my left side of back around the surgery area. I would like to know if I am going to have life problems in the future. The doctor originally wanted to do a fusion but I wanted to try the Transformial Disectomy first. Any response from a professional would help me to understand my condition better. The MRI's seem like the disc bulges got bigger and I am not sure about the tears, if they are better or worse. I would appreciate a professional response.

Thank you,
Paula