Question
Hello.I am Elena. I am 40. I injured my back a month ago.I felt extreme pain & peresthesia on my legs mostly on my left.The doctor prescribed bed rest for a week and painkillers.The MRI shows central disk protrusion at L4-L5 level with mild impingement of the epidural fat.Lumbar vertebral bodies and their appendages are normal.Lumbar discs show reduced signal intensity with predominant involvement of L4-L5 disc-suggestive of disc desiccation.  There  is focal area of soft tissue contusion/edema in the subcutaneous fat at L3-L4 level on the right side in paraspinal location.Till now pain has not gone.I cannot sit or stand for a long period of time.

Answer
hi elena

sounds like your prortuding disc is pushing on the nerve there, causing pain. the bed rest is meant to give the disc time to decrease swelling. if that doesn't work, they may try injection of steroids into the disc (with the same object in mind- to decrease swelling and let the area heal)

good luck
leslie