Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator
Post count: 8660

The MRI report indicates you had surgery at both the L4-5 level and the L5-S1 level. You have a residual bulge at L4-5 which is not unusual after a microdiscectomy. There is no bulge at the L5-S1 level. There is no recurrent herniation that the radiologist noted.

You do have significant granulation tissue at the previous surgery sites. Granulation tissue can be “healing tissue formation” but also can indicate the possibility of an infection. There are non-virulent organisms (ones that don’t create too much of a body response) that can cause this. I don’t expect that you would have an infection but some labs might be in order. Ask you surgeon.

If infection is ruled out, then you are correct that this is residual neuropathic pain and will take some time to hopefully fade away. I have found that epidural steroid injections can help to reduce the inflammation around the nerve root and speed up nerve recovery.

Dr. Corenman

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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.