Had MRI Friday and they called today to let me know I have a ruptured disc and some other problems. Set me up with a neurosurgeon. Who's had this and what can I expect? Also who do y'all recommend in bham?

If you can stay away from surgery then do so.
Manage it properly and it won't be too bad going forward. I ruptured a disc at 25. Bothered me pretty bad for a few years but, knock on wood, i haven't had any issues the past 5 years or more.

Dr Swaid, Neurosurgeon. Friend s and family have had him work on them. all have done very well.

My wife is in her early 50's and has struggled with disc issues since her early 30's. Wish I had good news for you. Every problem is different so don't lose hope.

i had ruptured disc 12 years ago. Had surgery and best thing I ever did. Complete relief. Charles Clark in Birmingham did my surgery.

Can you PM me some of you symptoms? I'm the same age and have some back pain.

My wife had a ruptured disc. She didn't want surgery (who does?) but the pain was unbearable and they told her eventually she would have to no matter what. She had the Dr. with the reputation for being the best in the area, Dr. Zeiger (sp?), but unfortunately he is retired. His partner, whose name I can't recall, had a very good reputation, but he was killed in a plane wreck. She only has mild pain every now and then 12 years later, but they told her that is to be expected. They can fix the problem, but scar tissue development is your enemy. It can form and press on the nerve as bad as the ruptured disc. Not sure you can do anything about this except pray. Good luck. I've got stenosis and am told it is just a matter of time for me.

This is good advice! I almost killed myself on a dirt bike when I was 20. I broke my Helmet, my collar bone and was unconscious. I compressed three badly in my lower back but luckily didn't fully rupture one. It flairs up occasionally but controlling my weight has kept me from Surgery for years and I'm 45. I have to keep my lower back muscles strong or I can feel it.

I've always had some back pain but not like this. Knife in lower back, can't sleep, wakes me up when I do fall asleep, can't think about anything else sometimes it hurts so bad, and been having leg pain today. It gets a lil better then outta no where bam!

i sent a PM not sure if it went through. let me know if it did not.

I've had some people tell me to not let them cut on me and my dad and a few others that waited and then had it done told me to do it as soon as possible!

Haven't got anything yet.

If you don't mind me asking, where exactly on your spine is your ruptured disc? I am currently dealing with was is hopefully only muscle strains, but have been given a week along with some muscle relaxers to make improvements. If I cannot improve imaging is the next step. Mine is high up on my spine, basically at the base of my skull. Feel free to pm me if you wish to keep it undisclosed.

Mines at my belt line to the right of my spine. I think they said L5 S1 or something like that. I had 4 drs tell me it was a pulled muscle since February. It would hurt for 4 or 5 days and I'd be good for a week ( manageable pain). Then 2 weeks ago today it went to a new level and I went to 2 drs and one sent me for a MRI.

Damn. That's exactly how mine started. Manageable for the first couple weeks, then seemingly better, then this last week/3-4 day's was a down hill dive. The worst part is that I have absolutely zero recollection of how it may have happened, so I have zero to base anything on other than what Im currently feeling. I'm going to baby the hell out of it for this week to see if any progress is substantiated. Best of luck to you. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

I had 2 discs in my neck blow out. Totally gone. I couldn't sleep due to pain more than 15 minutes at a time. I was getting 2 hours of sleep at night if you added it all together. I tried to tough it out for a month then I called a doc. I saw the neurosurgeon on Tuesday and had surgery on Thursday. A nerve going down one arm was pinched between two of the discs and a nerve going down the other arm was pinched between the other two. They said there was nothing left of the discs showing up. Like they'd never been there.


I have wondered all my life how people could get addicted to pain killers. In that month I figured it out. The pain killers I was taking didn't help the pain, they just numbed my brain enough to tolerate it.

I've been dealing with it on and off for a few year but the past 2 weeks have been the worst pain I can imagine. Hope yours gets better man!

Luckily I'm not there yet, but the first few hours of the morning feel like a knife twisting in my neck when I turn my head left or right. The rest of the day is just soreness.

Monday was the first time I've ever took a pain pill and you're right. They don't help the pain just make you not care you're hurting! I figured out quic I can't take them after lunch or I won't sleep at all!

I had same issue at age 25, toting a deer of all things. I could only walk 3 steps and have to hit the floor it was on my sciatic nerve so bad doctor said after MRI it was a 9 on scale of 1-10 how bad it was. He didn't have to tell me I had no choice but to have a Laminectomy, It was L5 also. I was worried I would have problems getting a job again. I have been at the same job for 29 years and I am 59 now. You just need to make sure you get a good Neurologist, mine was good. Sure still have some pain every now and then and toe half numb sometimes especially if I done something stupid and try to lift to much by myself. It's not the end of the world and you will do fine if you have to have , if you can get away from having that's good for you. Just according how bad it is and your job takes a lot of lifting or sitting long periods of time. I have another one bulging, not to bad from a tree stand screw up I am going to try and let that one ride at my age. Good luck to you.