u/Imaginary-Paper4449

Hi all, I am in need of some advice or maybe even just support if I’m that far gone haha😅
I’m a 23 year old female and have been having issues with my back for the last 4 years. I have pain in my lower back that comes and goes with aching to sharp pain throughout the day that has recently started getting worse in the early hours of the morning. It has times when it flares up and ever since a night at soccer training where it literally felt like I popped my disc out it’s been causing nonstop issues.
I have also had nerve pain that radiates down the top of my thigh that comes on when I’m in a really bad flare. Ive seen physios in the past but have mainly found relief with an Osteopath so have been doing that on and off for the last couple years.
I’ve had CT scans that have shown a disc bulge at L4/L5 on differing sides at different times, had cortisone nerve root injections, and recently had a rheumatology referral to see if there is anything more going on in terms of an autoimmune condition. My rheumatologist was querying ankylosing spondylitis/axial spondyloarthritis.
With this I got an MRI which said this:

‘L4-5: There is endplate T2 hyperintensity and degenerative cysts due to Modic type degenerative changes.
No erosions are seen. There is disc desiccation with a small broad-based annular disc bulge, and posterior fissuring resulting in mild foraminal stenosis and compression of the left L5 nerve root in the lateral recesses.’

I then had the follow up appointment with the specialist this week and she pretty much just said there is nothing going on that she can see from my scans and although it could be something with my strong autoimmune condition family history, I’m too young for it to show anyway. She never even checked for the HLA-B27 gene via blood test which I thought was strange- I know it’s not guaranteed but i know it can be an indicator. I also don’t believe she treats or accepts referrals for EDS/hEDS so I wondering if maybe she didn’t even consider that because of that. Mentioning that as I am very hyper mobile.
I just felt so defeated to be told that it’s just the disc bulge and nothing more. Maybe I’m underestimating how bad and painful a disc bulge can be but I just can’t fathom that there isn’t something else going on because anytime I tell a health professional about my history they always make a comment that I’ve got a lot going on for being so young.
It’s not that I want something to be wrong I just want there to be more of a reason this is all happening to me.
I’m not sure if I should get a second opinion or just come to terms with the fact that it’s a disc bulge and focus on doing exercises for that or get nerve root injections again.
Does anyone have any experience with this? Or any specific experience in the Australian rheumatology system?
I’m just so lost on what to do at this point.

Hi all, I am in need of some advice or maybe even just support if I’m that far gone haha😅
I’m a 23 year old female and have been having issues with my back for the last 4 years. I have pain in my lower back that comes and goes with aching to sharp pain throughout the day that has recently started getting worse in the early hours of the morning. It has times when it flares up and ever since a night at soccer training where it literally felt like I popped my disc out it’s been causing nonstop issues.
I have also had nerve pain that radiates down the top of my thigh that comes on when I’m in a really bad flare. Ive seen physios in the past but have mainly found relief with an Osteopath so have been doing that on and off for the last couple years.
I’ve had CT scans that have shown a disc bulge at L4/L5 on differing sides at different times, had cortisone nerve root injections, and recently had a rheumatology referral to see if there is anything more going on in terms of an autoimmune condition. My rheumatologist was querying ankylosing spondylitis/axial spondyloarthritis.
With this I got an MRI which said this:

‘L4-5: There is endplate T2 hyperintensity and degenerative cysts due to Modic type degenerative changes.
No erosions are seen. There is disc desiccation with a small broad-based annular disc bulge, and posterior fissuring resulting in mild foraminal stenosis and compression of the left L5 nerve root in the lateral recesses.’

I then had the follow up appointment with the specialist this week and she pretty much just said there is nothing going on that she can see from my scans and although it could be something with my strong autoimmune condition family history, I’m too young for it to show anyway. She never even checked for the HLA-B27 gene via blood test which I thought was strange- I know it’s not guaranteed but i know it can be an indicator. I also don’t believe she treats or accepts referrals for EDS/hEDS so I wondering if maybe she didn’t even consider that because of that. Mentioning that as I am very hyper mobile.
I just felt so defeated to be told that it’s just the disc bulge and nothing more. Maybe I’m underestimating how bad and painful a disc bulge can be but I just can’t fathom that there isn’t something else going on because anytime I tell a health professional about my history they always make a comment that I’ve got a lot going on for being so young.
It’s not that I want something to be wrong I just want there to be more of a reason this is all happening to me.
I’m not sure if I should get a second opinion or just come to terms with the fact that it’s a disc bulge and focus on doing exercises for that or get nerve root injections again.
Does anyone have any experience with this? Or any specific experience in the Australian rheumatology system?
I’m just so lost on what to do at this point.