not slipped disc

well, as a follow-up to the a&e visit where the doctor told me my bad back was a slipped disc, i visited the orthopedic specialist earlier this week. and guess what? the specialist, who is a senior consultant, concluded that it was not a slipped disc after all.

he concluded so after taking x-rays of my spine in an flexion and extension posture (i.e, x-ray of my spine when i bend forward and bend backward). he added that if the injury was any more serious, it would be a serious case of slipped disc. and from what he could see from the x-rays, the bone looked rather loose but measurements of the space between the vertebrae suggest that it is still within certain comfort limit that would not warrant further treatments such as going for mri etc (whatever that means...). nonetheless, he concluded that it was a very bad sprain and predicted that by the time i hit 50 (which is about 3-4 years time), the back could possibly deteriorate to the point where i would need a major surgery to fuse some of the vertebrae. otherwise, i might be in very bad shape and would suffer tremendous pains due to frequent slipped discs...

hmm... does not sound optimistic. but that was probably the best diagnosis he could give. according to him, this is something that a lot of military personnel experience after their service and it could be attributed to long periods of excessive strains and frequent use of the back/ spine from long marches, trainings, runs etc. and for now, his advice to me is to strengthen my core muscles, do light runs, and maintain my health to the best i could. as for the pains that i still feel, he prescribed some anti-inflammatory medicine and told me that it would probably be 3-4 months more before i fully recover...

haiz.