back pain and leg numb
 

I am hoping someone can explain this to me in dummy terms. It tells me nothing and I can not get in to see the doc for another 5 weeks.
It says
At l5-s1 there is moderate disk degeneration with a small lateral foraminal disk herniation. There is moderate right neural foramen stenosis.
Next line says,
At L4-L5 there is moderate to advanced disk degeneration. There is a mild broad based disk herniation. There is mild right neural foramen stenosis.

Lastly says that there is mild depression of the t12 superior endplate without signal change which is probably due to developmental variation.

Again I have no idea what this means. Surgery? I had pt for 2 months and it did nothing at all for me. I have pain in my lower back, noticible swelling there as well and my right leg is numb and weak. ALso, and I am told it could be related, I have some performance issues that I have never had before. Any info would be greatly appreciated. My primary says she not a neuro so she wont talk to me about whats going on as she isnt sure herself. I just wanna know what is going on and what my options are.

It's unfortunate that your primary doctor won't explain your imaging results. Basically, you have some disk degeneration (akin to arthritis) in your lower back, and you have some bulging (herniation) and hardening (stenosis) of tissues in your spine. All of these conditions can cause pain, discomfort, loss of range of motion, and (sometimes) numbness. Physical Therapy can help reduce some of these symptoms, though it may take several months.

As your local pharmacist about over-the-counter meds. Be sure to ask about pain patches that you apply directly to your back. Finally, although you won't be seeing your doctor for another month or so, you can still call the doctor's nurse and ask if something can be prescribed. There are patches containing diclofenac, and these have been very helpful to some people.

You may want to copy your post to our
Spinal Disorders & Back Pain forum for more replies -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum22.html

I have seen the neuro surgeon and his assistant and they are telling me that surgery is my only option at this point as I have done 16 visits of pt and numerous chriopractic care visits. They also say that I may never get all of the feeling back in my leg and that is unfortunate and grounds for malpractice I am told. This is because my previous primary refused to prescribe or order the MRI saying it wasnt needed and my insurance would not cover it. I told them several times I was in pain and something was wrong and that if I had to I would pay for the MRI myself and they still refused. Now neuro says "Why didnt you have the MRI a year ago?" I say thats a very good question.