Conversation: The conversation between human and AI assistant.
[|Human|] I have ongoing chronic back pain, my MRI 2 years ago showed deg inl3/4 and L4/5 with a central to right paracentral disc protrusion at L4/5 which distorts the thecal  sac and impinges the right L5 nerve root ni the lateral recess but no nerve compression.I have tried everything, osteopathy, physio and have been seeing a chiropractor for the last 6 months and cannot get anymore than a couple of days without pain. Should I be considering surgery, I am at my wits end! Thanks
[|AI|]  Hi, If the pain has been getting worse, and you are not able to manage it in spite of all the therapies you have gone through, I think it would be worthwhile to consider surgery. You need to discuss with the physician and also get a thorough neurological examination done to accurately decide which nerve impingement is causing most problems and at what level a microdiscectomy would most help. If it is at multi levels, you will probably require fusion surgery. Your spinal surgeon is best equipped with making the decision based on his clinical findings and what the imaging shows. Microdiscectomy is the most oft done procedure and has a perfect rate of success of about 95%. Hope this helps you make a decision.