[Jennyg1077]

Hello! I am in need of some assistance to understand my x-ray report. I fell at work last week and went to the emergency room. They did an x-ray and told me nothing was broken, but I would still like to understand what they found.


"There is detractive endplate spurring and degenerative disc disease present at the L3-L4, L4-L5 and L5-S1. Facet disease is present at the L3-L4. Mild L4-L5 and L5-S1 severe causing bone encroachment and foraminal narrowing at the L5-S1 level bilaterally. There is no evidence of fracture."


Thanks in advance!

[(Broken Wings)]

not a radiologist or doctor but...

X-rays show only hard tissue (meaning bone), spacing and some other things. they're limited in the scope of diagnosing injuries and pain syndromes. they do, however, tell a provider what it's not; as in, "no fracture" nothing broken". So on to the next level of diagnostic tools available. If problems persist maybe an MRI or an EMG/NCV.

As far as my understanding, you have a lot of aging/arthritis/degeneration in your lumbar spine, your lower back. a lot...

Endplate spurring and degenerative disc disease (DDD); that is, a finding for pre-existing conditions in your lumbar spine. If you didn't have problems, you were lucky. If you're having more now, you were predisposed to have problems if you became injured in that area.

Your healing could be compromised because of your pre-existing conditions.

With so many levels in your lumbar region, you probably have it in other joints of your body as well.

Smokers and coffee and cola drinkers can have accelerated aging processes also. weight is also a factor, so is past history and work experience.

Get some good treatment and try to limit narcotics, if at all possible. They're not a cure. Just an ugly bandaid that don't work for the long haul. See how it goes. You're going to hurt if you're injured. Sorry you're having pain. Understanding is a big help. Hopefully you'll heal quickly and you won't have chronic problems.

Originally Posted by Jennyg1077

Hello! I am in need of some assistance to understand my x-ray report. I fell at work last week and went to the emergency room. They did an x-ray and told me nothing was broken, but I would still like to understand what they found.


"There is detractive endplate spurring and degenerative disc disease present at the L3-L4, L4-L5 and L5-S1. Facet disease is present at the L3-L4. Mild L4-L5 and L5-S1 severe causing bone encroachment and foraminal narrowing at the L5-S1 level bilaterally. There is no evidence of fracture."


Thanks in advance!