Hi, l went to a hospital appointment and my Consultant checked my reflexes, my knee jerk reflex was normal. Can anyone help me out?
That's normal it should do that means your reflexes are fine don't worry
Hiya, that's the problem. I have a bulging disc and my reflexes shouldn't be like that. I'm confused!
I have the same as you my disc are bulging disk with DDD si l5 had MRI and the specialist said my back is fine yet I can't feel my feet toes total numbness
Lower back pain is hard too diagnose
I think you're the best judge if you have sciatica or not - knee jerk or no knee jerk! The pain of sciatica is quite distinctive (and unforgettable). I was told by one consultant that I 'couldn't' be suffering sciatic pain on my right side - I had suffered agony for five years - because my herniated disks were on the left side. Idiots! I've put a lot of stuff about how I got over my sciatica on the 'Inversion tables' thread by Samanthak - I don't use any outside help any more, no operation (never!) no tablets, no chiro/osteo/practors, just my own help and advice from Steve Lockhart who's in Australia but is a mine of information on sciatica and how to get over it. And he, unlike the consultant, talks sense!
Cheers mate, l had a double discectomy 16 years ago and now it has come back as l have a lot of wear and tear around my nerve as well as a bulging disc.
That bears out what I've discovered over the years... no-one has just the one operation. It doesn't work forever. eventually you need a second op. A good friend of mine is left in a wheelchair for life thanks to her third operation that was botched. No compensation from the NHS, just a lifetime sentence of legs that don't work, constant pain, enemas and catheters. This is the risk you take by having surgery, very real. Check out Steve Lockhart's advice (from Australia) on strengthening the muscles that hold everything in place. It makes so much sense and it's worked for me. Five years of sciatica conquered with no surgery, no painkillers, no doctors.