“How do I know if my back pain is disc-related?”

There are two basic ways to determine if the back pain is disc related, or not. One way, the simpler way, is to undergo an MRI study of the lumbar spine and assess for disc changes (annular tear; bulges; protrusions; herniations; foraminal or central spinal canal stenosis). The second way, a more difficult and possibly more complicated way to determine whether or not the back issues are due to the disc is to undergo a provocation disc injection of dye contrast (discography) study. This requires a special team (anesthesiologist; pain doctor; X-ray technician) and is potentially somewhat painful and riskier. Besides those two ways, there is no foolproof way to determine the involvement of the discs as being pain generators. Good luck! Kenneth D. Candido, M.D. Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology-UIC Professor of Clinical Surgery-UIC ASIPP Board of Directors-to 2023 CEO & President of Chicago Anesthesia Associates CEO & President of Chicago Anesthesia Pain Specialists Phone: (773) 562-9549 Kdcandido1@gmail.com kdcandido@yahoo.com kdcandido2@gmail.com (assistant)