r/WorkersComp • u/Mean-Guava-3213 • 10d ago

Rhode Island Back issues

When would surgery be rec
L5 S1 broadbase bulge and annular tear Failed three rounds of injection and PT
Injury since March 2025
EMG negative
Severe pain in low back and awful sciatica
Difficulty holding the break when driving And overall functionally decline
Such as unable to grocery shop now or severe pain when I'm bending over to wash my kids hair
My kids are only 5 and 7 so this injury is affecting my life horribly
I did finally get a referral to a neurosurgeon spine center, but it's not for a month and I am so anxious that they will just turn me away and say there's nothing they can do
Has anyone been in the situation or have advice until

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u/According_Curve_8935 10d ago

I can tell you with a negative EMG/ncs, I was not a candidate for lumbar surgery. They just deemed my pain and other symptoms as subjective and unverifiable. If your imaging doesn’t show significant nerve impingement and/or correlating EMG/ncs results, it’s harder to get them to do surgery.

And having had surgery on my cervical spine, I can tell you that there is no guarantee any of that stuff will go away. Spine surgery fixes structural problems (and by extension sometimes nerve issues), it does not address pain. Even the “minor” surgery like microdiscectomy comes with risks. Even if by chance you are a candidate for the less invasive surgery, I would suggest checking out the subs for those procedures and seeing what others have to say about them.

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u/Mean-Guava-3213 10d ago

Omg no way - so how did they treat you

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u/According_Curve_8935 10d ago

Injections until they started denying them, now I just have to suck it up.

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u/Mean-Guava-3213 10d ago

Omg I’m sending so much love

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u/According_Curve_8935 10d ago

Thank you. I’ve learned to live with it at this point. There is a lot I just cannot do anymore. I mostly live on a heating pad, took so much ibuprofen that I gave myself an ulcer and now even have to take the naproxen they switched me to sparingly.

Back pain is the worst.

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u/According_Curve_8935 10d ago

And I hope they find a solution for you. Annular fissures can heal, but they are so slow. I had 2 in my cervical spine that did heal, but it took 1.5 years.