The MRI indicates that you have inflammatory tissue surrounding the nerve root now about two months after the surgery. There is some mild effacement of the root but according to the radiologist, there is no significant compression remaining.
Radiologists can misread the scans but assuming that he or she is correct, the root is now inflamed but not compressed. In my practice, the next step would be an epidural injection of steroid to reduce the inflammatory tissue.
PT is important but has to be performed with great care. Too much aggressive treatment, the root will become more inflamed and your leg pain will worsen. Too little therapy and you will not make progress. This is where the “art” of medicine comes in and a good therapist is worth their weight in gold.
There is always the possibility of foraminal stenosis at the level of surgery that has occurred after the herniation that has not been diagnosed but this would be unusual (see section on lumbar foraminal stenosis).
Dr. Corenman
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.