disc tear of L5/s1

[tenac28]

oct 09 for bout for 4 weeks i had a little annoying left um cheek pain then suddenly i count walk or move went to physio then 4 weeks later had a full muscle melt down and got ambulanced to hospital were they just gave me medication n sent me home. have had mri and 2 scans of my sciatic nerve.
Now nov 2010 finally after seeing 9 differant doctors/speciallists/physios they have found a disc tear in my L5/s1.
My doctor wants me to go have an epidural then guided cortisone injections in to the site,and had told me the tear will never heal and i cant go back riding horses which was my career,told him ive been seeing a chiro and he told me to stop going as any cracking could make my tear worse
I have for the last 6 weeks been seeing a chiropractor who thinks he can heel my disc tear over time and to not have to injections,
Needing another opinion, should i stop going to the chiro? is he making it worse??
i have pain just above my left bum cheek and sumtimes my arse cheek had its own pulse,i was getting sciatica but had cortizone in my arse for that probly 8 weeks ago,they were thinking it was just that.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Well chiropractor is definitely out. If you want to go back to horse riding then probably surgical intervention will be required. Various options are there including fusion of the vertebrae. Please consult a neurosurgeon. Take care!

[tenac28]

Thank you but still confused when u go to 8 differant people and they all says differant things grrr its frustrating.
i dont think the chiro has helped me,ill finish off the 3 months then i get xrays again to see if anything has changed, if dont see any changes wont go back.dont feel any differance.
Dont want to get the epidural so im trying to do not much at all and laying flat for few hours a day to rest it but have a 2yo daughter so makes it a bbit hard.

[0pete0]

Hi tenac,
All i can tell you is what i did and wish i did I'm L4-L5-S1 . I think going to the chiro ended up doing more nerve damage to me plus i did not take off work like my DR. said long story short i ended not being able to walk for 9 months the epidural helps but after having one you must lay down for a couple hours at the DR. office before you can go home. Your Dr. is right your body can not fix a disk ! Take it eazy for a while and do what your PT told you to do and do some core workouts a strong core is the best thing for a back going bad. Dont end up like me on pain meds 24/7 hating to leaving the house. I hope this helps you .