I m a 26 year old female that injured my back last year resulting in a herniated disc at L5-S1 with left sided radiculopathy . I m currently taking 1200mg gabapentin three times a day for burning to left leg. Dr had me try physical therapy (which didn t seem to help), acupuncture (didn t help), and 4 epidural steroid injections (only 1 helped). Since last July I ve had 5 UTIs (no prior history of UTIs). Since January I ve had a UTI every month. Sometimes my back hurts so bad I can t relax my muscles enough to pee. PCP had me see urologist to see if it was anything other than my back causing this-still awaiting results. Got an upright MRI done this past week since there s been no improvement in pain. MRI showed some new things that the traditional MRI never picked up last year. MRI stated L1-L2 3mm bulging disc mildly compressing thecal sac, L2-L3 3mm bulging disc mildly compressing thecal sac, L5-S1 7.5 central disc protrusion mildly compressing thecal sac, and loss of lumbar lordosis curvature. Not sure what should be done considering I ve done everything else I can. Started noticing within the last couple months that right after I urinate, I tend to leak a little. With all the UTI s I ve been getting, not sure if surgery would be the way to go if it s a result of the thecal sac being compressed. What should I do next?