[colorado2718]

Hi,

I've had back problems for almost 30 years and things seem to be acting up again. Thought it would be good to do my research before I actually have to do something about it.

I've only looked a little, but I'm very impressed with this site and am glad to have found it. I have all the usual questions about options for treatment including trials, and how to deal with the costs / insurance.

My history:

1984 - Herniated disc @ L4-L5 (shoveling snow)
1994 - Discectomy / Laminectomy @ L4
2010 - Herniated disc @ L5-S1 (don't actually know when this happened or how)

I had an MRI recently and a report with all the technical detailed proper language (annular tear, disc protursion, bilateral facet hypertrophy, foraminal stenosis, DDD, facet arthropathy, etc.) but decided to keep this message relatively short.

A summary of my symptoms follows - I have low level pain in my back and legs all the time that intermittently gets worse (especially if I have to cough or sneeze) and can occasionally cause significant loss of strength in my left calf. I'm not currently taking any medication. I do some stretching every morning, but have gotten to the point where it's difficult to do any real excercise.

I try not to let my back stop me from doing most things (work, household chores, etc.). If it does start to interfer much more than it does today, I'll get serious about taking some kind of action...