[csb44b]

#6314

While according to most doctors that I have talked to have said that this is not as uncommon as it sounds and should not cause any discomfort. I experience a throbbing pain in my lower back. The pain is right in the center of my back and the pain seems to be very localized. However I also have shooting pains only down my right leg on the top of my thigh and also on the outside of my right tight which keeps my up at night. My doctor said it should be nothing when I saw him last and gave me prednisone for 6 days and prescribed I take 2 Aleve daily for a month. This was around Christmas 2011. Now my pain is back and I can barely move. What should I do?

[Donald Corenman, MD, DC]

#6315

You have a reported “extra vertebra” in your lower back. This could be a sacralization of L5 or a lumbarization of S1. When we are in utero, the sacrum is actually 5 separate pieces of bone and fuses together when we are a fetus. Sometimes, the message gets confusing and the L5 vertebra might try to fuse to the sacrum or vice versa.

Typically, this “extra” level is stable and not capable of becoming painful. There are rare circumstances that a joint called a transverse-alar articulation between these segments can cause pain, but this is unusual.

You need an MRI of your back and a consult from a good spine specialist.

Dr. Corenman

[Author]

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