Following your recent MRI scan and consultation with your spinal surgeon, you have been diagnosed as having a lumbar disc protrusion, resulting in nerve root compression (trapped nerve) and leg pain (sciatica).
The intervertebral disc is the structure between the vertebrae (bones of the spine), which acts as both a spacer and a shock absorber. The disc is composed of two parts: a soft gel-like middle (nucleus pulposus) surrounded by a tougher fibrous wall (annulus fibrosus).
Lumbar nerve root pain (often called sciatica) generally goes below the knee and is felt in the area of the leg that the particular spinal nerve supplies. Sciatica is usually caused by an intervertebral disc protruding because its tough fibrous wall weakens and is therefore no longer able to contain the gel-like substance in the centre. This material may bulge or push out through a tear in the disc wall (herniation) causing pain when it touches a nerve. Symptoms also associated with sciatica include altered sensation, pins and needles, burning, numbness or even weakness of the muscles in the leg that the nerve supplies.
One Health Group PLC (AQSE:OHGR) are a team of Consultant Surgeons and Healthcare managers working with the NHS to provide faster, local and expert care in Orthopaedics, Spinal, General Surgery and Gynaecology.
