Dr said there is a herniated fragment strategically positioned right on the nerve. So a piece of the bone broke off and the MRI looks like a black triangle coming out of my spine so I took that as ruptured.
Ah...was this a neurosurgeon or ortho surgeon who told you this?
And a piece of bone...of the lamina or??
And the herniation is sitting on your nerve root...in the foraminal tunnel where the nerve root exits the vertebrae? I had that and it was NOT going to get better by itself though heavy steroids could mask it for a bit.
If not a spine surgeon you saw, I suggest seeing one and see if you get the same answer cause "get better by itself" is not making a lot of sense to me for a foraminal herniation.
I’m not one who goes to the Doctor often, most things just work themselves out. I need a little advice. This started when I was cutting up a tree for firewood and I tried to lift something I shouldn’t have. It got better on its own but now it’s back. I have a rather intense pain daily in the lower right side of my back. The more I sit or lay down the worse it gets with the pain starting in my lower back and going down my right leg to the ankle. If I’m standing or walking the pain is either much less or goes away at least for a little while. Anyone have this issue?
So, I just finally had an L3/4/5 fusion after fighting this for 15 years. Laminectomy 15 years ago to remove a herniated piece of L3/4 disk from the foraminal tunnel and squashing my nerve root and over the intervening time that disk completely collapsed (as in bone on bone pretty much) and 4/5 disk was going on the right side and giving me a lot of issues.
First, I agree with those to say try all less invasive treatments before considering surgery. That's PT, cortisone epidural/high does Prednisone, and also just time as 80% of disk herniations resolve themselves in 8-12 weeks or so as the tissue shrinks back and gives the nerves room. Just didn't happen in my case.
I absolutely do not agree with those who say avoid surgery at all costs as this is just uninformed, ignorant, and frankly irresponsible advise to give to another. People who say this are; 1) not doctors, 2) do not have any idea of the exact nature of your specific back injury, will tell you some tale about someone they knew who was ruined by back surgery without any exact details on that they person's injury and overall health was, what exact procedure was done, and when in history did this take place as the state of the art of these types of procedures has advanced radically in the last 20-30 years.
But without an MRI...read by a surgeon (and I suggest neurosurgeon)....you really don't know what you have going on and without that its impossible to craft a valid plan of action to get it resolved.
Your symptoms are classical sciatica from either a disk bulge or disk herniation. But you need to know exactly what's going on there definitively before you can really make any plans. So, back to an MRI... and consultation with a spine surgeon....and maybe after that with a pain doc for cortisone epidural (they are almost all anesthesiologists and at least mine does it under a quick propofol sedation).
As for chiropractors....just my opinion but its the biggest fucking fraud in modern medicine. Oh...and just how are they going to "realign" your vertebrae. You know, the the little bones in your back held in place by a plethora of muscle, tendons, maybe ligaments. You may have noticed that when you move, lay down, etc your vertebrae don't just fall out of place....because there is a lot of shit holding all that together and the little crap that the chiros do doesn't do squat in my experience. I did see a VERY highly regarded chiropractor when I first hurt my back way. I told them exactly what I had...a foraminal herniation with the disk chunk dug into my nerve root. So, what does he do....he did the only thing chiropractors do...he manipulated my back and I left more fucked up than when I came in and I never went back.
All of this is just my opinion but it is an opinion informed by a LOT of direct experience and a lot of time educating myself on lumbar injuries and treatment.
Best of luck