This is helpful. You were weight lifting three years ago as a body builder and performed squats. With one of the lifts, you developed severe lower back pain. This pain has remained, more or less the same for the last three years and is associated with left leg numbness but not pain. Laboratory testing was normal.
Most likely, you have torn the annulus of the L4-5 or L5-S1 disc with a small protrusion that does not compress the nerve root but irritates it. That would explain the back pain and leg numbness (see website under lumbar DDD). There are many other potential diagnoses but annular tear would be the most common one to fit with your symptoms.
The squatting maneuvar puts tremendous strain on the disc and your report of pain fits with this potential tear. If this is the case (and there is no way to prove that as this is speculation) then the injury is not dangerous. A visit to a spine specialist if possible would be the next action. An MRI would be helpful but even a simple standing X-ray would be helpful to further your diagnosis.
Dr. Corenman
PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.
Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.
