L5-S1 Disc Herniation Treatment Without Surgery – Kearny Mesa, CA

An L5-S1 disc herniation is one of the more common lower-back problems Dr. Cassidy James Boelk, DC evaluates at The Spinal Decompression & Chiropractic Center of San Diego in Kearny Mesa.

Some patients come in because their back hurts. Many others are much more concerned about what is happening in their leg. They may have pain running through the buttock and down the leg, numbness or tingling in the foot, a calf that constantly feels tight, or sciatica that becomes unbearable after sitting or driving.

Then they get an MRI and see L5-S1 disc herniation, disc protrusion, extrusion, nerve compression, or foraminal stenosis written in the report.

The first question is usually pretty simple: Can this be treated without surgery?

In many cases, conservative treatment is still possible. That does not mean every L5-S1 herniation can or should be treated without surgery. Dr. Boelk has been working with difficult disc conditions for more than 22 years, and the decision depends on much more than the name of the diagnosis.

He wants to see the MRI, understand exactly where the symptoms are going, determine whether there is weakness or other neurological involvement, and find out what the patient has already tried. A nasty-looking MRI does not automatically mean surgery, just as a smaller-looking herniation does not necessarily mean the problem is minor.

Anthony Had Already Had Disc Surgery — Then the Disc Bulged Again

Anthony's experience is a good example of how disruptive a lower lumbar disc problem can become. He had undergone surgery for a bulging disc five years earlier. When the disc problem returned and began affecting his sciatic nerve, the leg pain became severe.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Anthony K. — San Diego, CA

“I have been dealing with back pain for several years. It got so bad that I had surgery 5 years ago for a bulging disc. About 5 months ago the disc bulged again hitting my sciatic nerve creating pain in my legs that made me want to cry it hurt so bad. After trying so many other options I was fortunate enough to find the spinal decompression and chiropractic center of San Diego. After just a few sessions I noticed a difference. Now after being there for the past few months I'm able to go about my normal life again.

What a blessing it was to find a Dr that genuinely cares and knows how to help people in my situation. Thank you Dr Boelk!”

— Anthony K., San Diego, CA

Anthony had undergone previous surgery, but that does not mean every patient with previous spinal surgery can undergo decompression. The type of surgery, the level involved, whether hardware is present, spinal stability, current MRI findings, and several other factors have to be considered before Dr. Boelk determines whether treatment is appropriate.

Start by Finding Out What Is Actually Going On

Patients with an L5-S1 herniation can schedule a No-Charge, No-Obligation Consultation with Dr. Cassidy James Boelk, DC at the Kearny Mesa office.

Patients who already have an MRI should bring the actual images whenever possible, not just the written report. Dr. Boelk personally reviews available imaging and compares it with what the patient is experiencing.

During the consultation, he will want to know things such as:

• Where the pain starts and where it travels

• Whether the pain goes into the buttock, thigh, calf, ankle, or foot

• Whether there is numbness or tingling

• Whether either leg feels weak

• What happens when sitting or driving

• Whether walking or standing changes the symptoms

• Whether coughing or sneezing increases the pain

• How the condition is affecting sleep and normal activity

• What treatments have already been tried

• Whether there has been previous spinal surgery or another significant back injury

• What the MRI or X-rays show, if imaging is available

Patients do not need to have an MRI before scheduling the consultation. If additional examination or imaging appears necessary, that can be discussed.

There is also no obligation to start treatment. Some patients are good candidates for Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression. Some need additional information before that decision can be made. Others should not undergo decompression at all.

Call 619-298-0800 to schedule a No-Charge, No-Obligation Consultation.

The Spinal Decompression & Chiropractic Center of San Diego
5095 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 300
San Diego, CA 92123
Phone: 619-298-0800
www.SanDiegoBackCare.com
Live 24/7 Answering Service • Hablamos Español

Why Does L5-S1 Cause So Much Trouble?

L5-S1 sits at the bottom of the lumbar spine, where the lower back meets the sacrum. It is an area that handles a great deal of mechanical stress over a lifetime.

The disc can become injured gradually through degeneration or more suddenly during lifting, twisting, sports, a fall, an accident, or another significant load on the spine. Once the outer fibers of the disc weaken, disc material can begin pushing outward.

What happens next depends heavily on where it goes.

A disc herniation that irritates or compresses a nearby nerve can produce symptoms well beyond the lower back. That is why Dr. Boelk asks patients to describe the entire symptom pattern rather than simply rating their back pain from one to ten.

Common complaints can include:

• Lower-back pain or stiffness

• Pain that is worse on one side

• Buttock pain

• Sciatica traveling down the leg

• Burning, numbness, or tingling

• Calf discomfort or cramping

• Symptoms extending into the ankle or foot

• Weakness in the leg or foot

• Difficulty sitting for extended periods

• Pain during longer drives

• Interrupted sleep

Not every one of these symptoms means L5-S1 is responsible. The symptoms still have to make sense with the examination and imaging.

Sitting and Driving Can Be a Big Part of the Problem

Dr. Boelk often sees patients who say something along the lines of, “Walking isn't that bad, but I can't sit.”

That is useful information.

Long periods of sitting can be particularly irritating with certain lumbar disc injuries. Driving adds another problem because the person is sitting in essentially the same position while being exposed to vibration from the road.

Seat position can make things worse. If someone is sitting very low with the knees well above the hips and the lower back rounded for an hour every day, that position may continually aggravate an already sensitive lower lumbar disc.

It does not mean everyone needs to drive around sitting perfectly upright at 90 degrees. It means the position should be comfortable, the lower back should be supported, and patients who know prolonged sitting aggravates their symptoms should try to break it up when possible.

On a long drive, getting out periodically and walking for a few minutes can make a noticeable difference for some people.

That “Tight Hamstring” May Not Just Be a Tight Hamstring

Another common mistake is aggressively stretching a leg because it feels tight.

When the sciatic nerve is irritated, patients can feel pulling or tightness through the buttock, hamstring, calf, or even into the foot. It is easy to assume the muscle needs to be stretched.

Sometimes it does. But repeatedly stretching an irritated nerve can also make symptoms worse.

If a hamstring stretch causes pain to shoot farther down the leg, increases numbness or tingling, or leaves the patient noticeably worse afterward, Dr. Boelk would want to know about that. Simply stretching harder is not necessarily the answer.

What Are the Treatment Options for an L5-S1 Herniation?

There is no single treatment that is best for every patient.

A relatively recent L5-S1 injury that is improving each week may need time, sensible activity modification, and gradual rehabilitation. Medication may help control pain and inflammation during an acute episode. Physical therapy can be valuable for restoring movement, strength, and spinal stability.

Some patients receive epidural steroid injections to reduce inflammation around an irritated spinal nerve. Others have already tried injections by the time they reach Dr. Boelk's office.

Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression is another option for selected patients. Dr. Boelk primarily considers it for disc-related problems such as herniated discs, bulging discs, certain extrusions, degenerative disc disease, disc-related sciatica, and selected cases involving foraminal narrowing or stenosis.

It is not automatically recommended simply because an MRI says “L5-S1.”

How Dr. Boelk Uses the DRX9000

The Spinal Decompression & Chiropractic Center of San Diego exclusively uses the DRX9000 for lumbar Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression.

Treatment is not simply a matter of putting a patient on a machine and pressing start. Dr. Boelk considers the level being treated, the patient's MRI findings, where the symptoms are traveling, body size, positioning, treatment angle, starting force, tolerance, and response from previous sessions.

Those settings can change as treatment progresses.

This is one reason experience matters. The DRX9000 is the equipment being used, but the machine does not evaluate the MRI, determine whether the patient is a candidate, decide how aggressively to begin, recognize a neurological change, or determine when rehabilitation should progress.

Ira Traveled From Las Vegas With Sciatic Pain and Multiple Disc Protrusions

Patients seeking Dr. Boelk's opinion do not all come from San Diego. Ira Smith traveled from Las Vegas after a longstanding lower-back problem flared up and his usual approaches were no longer helping.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ira Smith — Las Vegas, Nevada

“My name is Ira Smith. I live in Las Vegas and found out about Dr. Boelk’s program here in San Diego and decided to start treatments with him. I’ve had lower back problems since I was very young. I had aggravated my lower back pretty bad again and usually I could do exercises, chiropractic treatment, rest and this time those things would no longer relieve my pain. I would get the sciatic pain shooting down into my leg and foot and would be pretty bad.

I found out thru my MRI’s that Dr. Boelk went over with me that I had 5 protruding discs. I did not want to get surgery as I have heard and seen that they don’t always work very well at all. I am 2/3 of the way done with Dr. Boelk’s program and I have zero pain. I pretty much go thru my activities with no pain. As I follow the program it has been absolutely fantastic! I have been thru physical therapy, chiropractic programs, I went to the hospital and they told me I have 1 bad disc, but I found out I had 4 more bad discs as well. The treatment has relieved the pain and is not painful at all. This can be the starting point for anyone with back pain to get their life back.

This is the place to start. If your skeptical, what’s your health worth? The cost of this has been way less than the cost of all my other therapies that I have gone thru. This is less money than all those things, less pain and gives you a great quality of life. This is new and modern and it fixes the problem. Use Dr. Boelk’s program to change your life and it will change your life! This is the place to start. -Thank You”

— Ira Smith, Age 49, Las Vegas, Nevada

Getting Out of Pain Is Only Part of the Job

Patients understandably focus on pain when they first come in. If sciatica is keeping someone awake at night or making a 20-minute drive miserable, getting that under control is going to be the immediate concern.

But the longer-term question is what happens afterward.

As the condition allows, rehabilitation can be used to rebuild strength, improve movement and spinal stability, and gradually prepare the patient for normal activity again. The endpoint for one person may be comfortably sitting through a workday. For another it may be returning to the gym, surfing, golf, running, lifting, or a physically demanding job.

Dr. Boelk has spent thousands of hours working with rehabilitation both professionally and because of his own history of significant spinal injuries. He suffered an L5 compression fracture as a teenager and later dealt with additional disc injuries and sciatica himself.

That experience is one reason the office does not look at pain relief as the only measure of progress.

Why Patients Seek Out Dr. Cassidy James Boelk, DC

Dr. Boelk has focused a substantial part of his clinical career on difficult disc conditions and Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression.

His experience and credentials include:

• Doctor of Chiropractic

• Certified Spinal Decompression Doctor

• Certified Pain-Free Performance Specialist

• More than 22 years of clinical experience

• More than 100,000 spinal decompression treatments performed

• Founder of the Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression Training Academy

• Trains doctors in spinal decompression protocols and techniques

• Founding Member of the American Spinal Decompression Society

• Member of the International Disc Education Association

• California X-Ray Radiation Supervisor & Operator

• Seven DRX9000 spinal decompression systems

• Exclusively uses DRX9000 technology for Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression

The Kearny Mesa office has four lumbar DRX9000 systems and three cervical DRX9000C systems. Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression has been one of the primary focuses of the practice for many years rather than an occasional treatment added to a general chiropractic office.

Previous Surgery or Hardware Can Change the Decision

Having an L5-S1 disc problem does not automatically make someone a candidate for decompression. Previous surgery is one of the areas that needs to be evaluated carefully.

Toni W. came to Dr. Boelk after having extensive surgical hardware placed in her back. In her case, treatment was not recommended.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Toni W. — Lake Elsinore, CA

“Very nice Dr. and Honest ! I would definitely recommend anyone who hasn't had metal put in there back in a surgery to go to him and give his program a shot. I believe it would definitely help. Just not in my personal case. As I have a lot of hardware in my back. But I'm glad I took the time to meet with him. It was very informative all around.”

— Toni W., Lake Elsinore, CA

That is exactly why candidacy matters. A consultation is not supposed to end with everyone being told they should start treatment.

Other situations that may prevent or delay Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression can include an unstable spondylolisthesis, an unhealed spinal fracture, significant osteoporosis, abdominal aortic aneurysm, pregnancy for lumbar treatment, certain malignancies, certain surgical hardware, progressive neurological weakness, cauda equina syndrome, and other conditions that could make treatment unsafe.

When an L5-S1 Herniation Needs Urgent Attention

Most L5-S1 herniations are not medical emergencies. There are, however, neurological symptoms that should not be ignored.

New bowel or bladder dysfunction, difficulty beginning urination, numbness around the groin or saddle area, rapidly progressing weakness, or sudden difficulty controlling one or both legs requires prompt medical evaluation.

Those symptoms are different from routine back pain or sciatica and should not be treated as something to simply watch for a few weeks.

Can an L5-S1 Disc Herniation Be Treated Without Surgery?

In many cases, yes. But the answer for an individual patient depends on the MRI findings, symptoms, neurological status, spinal stability, previous treatment, previous surgery, overall health, and how the condition has been progressing.

Some patients improve with time and rehabilitation. Some respond to medication or injections. Some may be candidates for Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression. Others need a surgical opinion.

The first step is figuring out which situation the patient is actually in.

Schedule a No-Charge, No-Obligation Consultation in Kearny Mesa

Patients with an L5-S1 disc herniation, bulging disc, disc protrusion, extrusion, sciatica, or another lower lumbar disc problem can schedule a No-Charge, No-Obligation Consultation with Dr. Cassidy James Boelk, DC.

Bring MRI images, X-rays, and reports if they are already available. Patients without imaging can still schedule.

The Spinal Decompression & Chiropractic Center of San Diego
5095 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 300
San Diego, CA 92123

Phone: 619-298-0800
www.SanDiegoBackCare.com

Live 24/7 Answering Service • Hablamos Español

Call 619-298-0800 to schedule a No-Charge, No-Obligation Consultation with Dr. Cassidy James Boelk, DC.