I need help understanding a lower back x-ray result?

Question

I had a lower back x-ray done on Monday of last week and they sent them to a radiologist to look at them. I got a call on Friday from my Dr and he said that they were normal except for some disc space narrowing in the L-5. I do not know what that means, he also said that I was probably born with that. Is that something that you are born with? I have had other x-ray's and I have never been told that. I tried to ask him what it meant, but he just said that we can discuss it at my next appointment. I am just wondering if anyone could help me out as far as what it really means. I have lower back pain(2 years off and on) also have severe pain in my legs, buttock. They feel like an electric shock. He told me that I have to do 2 more weeks of PT and if the pain is still there then he will do an MRI. If anyone could help me out on this I would really appreciate it. I am a little confused and my Dr does not seem to have the time to discuss it with me. I have been searching the web and can not find anything, so any input would be of great help to me! Thank you in advance...

Answer 1

Hi honey! That pain you have in ur legs and butt are from ur sciatic nerve, look it up! I have that too and I have disc narrowing....i'm not sure what it means either but will find out for u!!!!!!!!!  BE GLAD u do not have scoliosis, which is curvature of the spine.   I have it severely and I go to PT and pain management.  Ur back is NOT bad, at least not yet.  Everything gets worse and hurts worse the older u get, just the process of aging.  

Answer 2

As we age the discs dehydrate. A Disc is like a donut, hard outer shell inside is nice soft jelly. The Discs lay between the vertebra the bones of the spine. So on a x-ray you will see the vertebra and then gaps where the discs are. What they have located is DDD or the start of Degenerative Disc Disease, which is not a disease but the normal aging process. As we age the nice soft jelly dehydrates and the disc shrinks. Therefore the gaps in the x-ray, will not be all the same size, some will be smaller, as the disc shrinks. For example if you have kids building blocks, stack them up as red and then blue and then red, they are all the same size. But if the blue are the discs, as we age they become half the size of the red block. Some people go through this DDD with no pain whatsoever, while other feel pain, why no one knows. Likewise some people are walking around with ruptured discs have no idea they have them, while others are in severe pain.

http://www.chirogeek.com/

I find this the best source to read up on spine and disc information.

Best of Luck