[adrigail]

In response to the OP,

Many on here can give you far better technical advise than I, so I will strictly stay with anecdotal advice. My pin symptoms manifested starting in my feet. So logically I saw a Podiatrist. After surgery for Plantar Fascia and rounds of orthotics/injections/PT, and no relief, 5 yrs goes by and out of exasperation the Pod (who is a neighbor) says "maybe it's your back".
Needless to say, that's all he got right. In the 5 yrs, things got much worse according to my sugeon, and had we taken action sooner, I may have avoided the need for ADR and done well with less invasive techniques.
Even after the initial diagnosis and advice for ADR, I wasn't "ready". I didn't feel pain levels warranted surgical intervention. Then "it" happened. Not sure what "it" actually was, but pain thay had been 3 reaching 5 turned into burning, stabbing, shooting pain that ranged 6 to 8.
Four months of that was enough for me and I made the decision to proceed. But, that wasn't as simple as it sounds. From the time I gave my consent to actual surgery and approval of insurance was another 5 months.
Long story longer, knowing all that hindsight brings clarity to, I still dont think I would have moved any faster.
Good luck and godspeed.