Bulging Disc: Surgery or not?

[Iggy82]

About 2 years ago, I started feeling classical symptoms of sciatica - pain radiating down my right leg, all the way to the knee, mostly on the side of the leg. This happened right after I made about 10 consecutive jumps. A year later after that episode, I had MRI done. It showed that I had 2 bulging/herniated discs and 1 herniated disc. The bulging/herniated discs are at L1-L2 and L2-L3 position. The mildly herniated disc was at L5-S1 position. My leg pain is always there, however, its severity is on and off. It's never extreme, such as inability to get out of bed or not go to work. However, at times it's distressing resulting in inability to exercise at gym or do various physical activities fully.

I am 25 years old and sports has always been a somewhat large part of my life. I have a gym membership for 10 years, I play basketball, tennis, soccer and other sports recreationally. This pain has inhibited some of those activities and I had to cut out many of the exercises that I used to do in the gym (squats, back rows, military press and etc.)

Recently I had 2 epidural injections done, about 3 weeks apart. The first one helped for about 10 days and the 2nd one I had done less than a week ago and the pain has already come back almost fully.

I have seen 2 surgeons and both recommended surgeries after first trying more conservative treatment. I have been prescribed by one surgeon to undergo a PT course for 6 weeks. While I didn't start it yet, it's unlikely to help in my view.
The first surgeon recommended a laminectomy and the 2nd one microdiscectomy.

Is it worth going through one of these surgeries given my age and somewhat nagging pain, should PT fail (as I predict it will)? If so, how successful are these surgeries in terms of pain relief? Will I ever be able to go back to gym again at at least 80% of how I used to? In other words, do the benefits outweigh the costs of recovery, pain and some risk?
Is PT any help in situations like these where the pain is chronic and according to MRI and X-Ray, I have some bone spurs and somewhat degenerated discs?
Thank You for your time and attention,
- Igor

[Runnomore]

I am in the same boat.  I am 31 and I have three bulging discs.  My left leg is always numb, my buttocks aches, and my back throbs.  I hurt my back running.  My weekly mileage was @70, with a lot of speed work.  My doctor says I can never race again, or even run.  

I have had three epidurals, all with no effect.  My L5 is crushing my S1 and the only option is to have surgery.  My L3 and L4 are also bulging. So much for staying in shape.

I do not want to be on NORCO pills my whole life. I think if you have an injury especially in your 20's to 30's and all options have been exhausted then surgery needs to be done.  I cannot live with this pain for the next 40 years only for it to get worse every year.   They say that these bulging discs heal in 5 years with no intervention, yeah right.  Mine will heal then I will lean down to tie my shoe and blow my disc again. At least if the surgery is done I can possibly mtn bike again, or continue rafting.  

I do not know much about the surgery but I am at the point where I have no other option.  I cannot take the pain any more.

[milkshakebabe]

I know excatly what you are going through my husbnd has a buldging disc ,
  he has been in hospital for 1 week so far after suffering at home for 5 weeks he is now at the stage that he cant stand or sit and has to lie down constantly,his whole left leg is completely numb and has tingling in his arms and leg and foot.
   he is in agony and has become very down, because he cant support me and our three children , he just wants the pain to stop and to get his life back .
    He had a spinal block injection last week but has had no effect, the doctors are just talking about pain management through pills and have said that it is not yet bad enough for surgery how bad does it have to be to get a operation?
  He has already had a operation on the same disc 10 years ago.

[needrecovery]

Hey run no more.  I am somewhat in the same boat.  i was a jogger ( only about 15 miles a week) and I have been playing rugby for the last 10 years, I"m 29.  I have been diagnosed with S1/L5 and L5/L4 disk bulges/herniations.  I just receieved my first opinion and it was to have surgery.  Have you had any surgery since January?  Where are you at now?

[lisa309]

I'm in the same boat here too. I'm 44 and since May I've been having excruciating pain that runs from the side of my left hip down the front of my leg to my knee or below.
Often, I have complete muscle weakness in both legs. I've not been able to walk (usually 4 to 5 miles a day), sit on the floor with my kindergarten students, or sleep for that matter!
My dr had me go for an xray and then an MRI in Aug and I have bulging disks on my L2 and L4. An old sacral bone fracture has not fully healed correctly which is also causing issue.
I'm in PT right now but find the day after, I'm in more pain due to aggrivating the issues with the exercises.... anyone know if the PT is supposed to make it worse before it gets better?
I feel like I don't want to go through all the PT in order to hear time for cortizone shots in your spine.....been there done that with tendonitis in my elbow and ended up with surgery after a year of PT and shots!

[cin818]

My mother is currently going through the same thing & what really annoys me is the way that her doctors are educating her.  I do not believe that they are NOT knowledgeable, but they are incapable of thinking outside of their own box... and often times, there are alternatives out there!
I work for a leading national health insurance company and have had first hand experience as to what type of "inabilities" that doctors have when offering and referring care.  Generally speaking, a medical doctor (primary care, specialist, etc) is trying to make a buck and only trained to do one of four things: diagnose to the best of their ability, medicate, refer out to a specialist, or cut.  There are other non-surgical options that are available that your doctor is NOT telling you about.  Often times when your have a bulging/herniated disc, there are other problems that lye within your spine that your doctors are not addressing.  My mother's one vertebra is completely misplaced, which caused her disc to slip to begin with.  Her doctor and surgeon want to go in and fix the disc; not address the misplaced vertebra - because that is outside of their realm of expertise.  The end result may not even fix my mother's issue and her pain may persist; especially if they are fusing things together to correct the disc surgically.  Fixing the symptom does not fix the problem, it may create more stress on other discs, other areas of your back may start hurting because they are compensating for the problem that still persists, and your surgeries will become cyclical.
My thought... try everything first.  Back surgery (or any surgery) is a serious, serious thing.  I understand that PT can be painful and cause further problems, but I urge you to see a back doctor - not a primary care physician, an orthopaedic surgeon, voo doo, or witch doctor... see a chiropractor and ask about DTS before getting cut.  For many people this could be an option and will allow your body (with a little help) a chance to do what it does best - and heal itself.  Most health plans offer 20 visits per calander year and more if medically necessary.  I urge you - get a referral and go.  

I found one link that I thought was good:
http://www.ewerspecific.com/DTStherapy.aspx

google it, use your resources, talk to a chiropractor and see if this could be an option.  

[selmaS]

Thank you for ur prospective on this issue which I agree is a biggy...especially since I will most likely be facing that option.....however, a chiropracter is not always a safe choice...it depends on what other "things" r going on in ur spine....such as chiari malformation, which manipulation would not be a wise choice......but there r other non surgical ways to reduce pain.....

Again thanks for ur insight.

Godspeed
"selma"