Originally Posted by glenntaj

--it means that at one disc level--the one between your fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae (lower back, right above the butt) there is bulging--a projection out of disc material--and a little disc protrusion, meaning that it has shifted in position somewhat from normal as well.

There is no mention of herniation, which would mean the disc had ruptured and material was profusing outward.

The bulge, however, is pressing on the thecal sac--the spinal canal. There is no mention of flattening of the spinal cord, fortunately. Between the disc bulge and some arthritic bone spurs--that's the "hypertrophy"--you have some narrowing of the spinal canal and of the foramen--the opening through which the nerve roots pass through on their way out of the spinal cord itself-at that level.

Narrowing of the foramen, and some spinal stenosis, is very common in many of use as we age, and can certainly produce symptoms. Nerve root compession tends to produce symptoms is very specific anatomic distributions that are fed by those nerves (called dermatomes). What are your symptoms?