Hello,

I am a 30 year old female with sever pain in my left shoulder blade for over 2 years and severe chronic lower back pain for the past 10-12 months. I had an MRI of my cervical spine 2 years ago that basically said I have degenerative disc disease and a bulging disc and was told it was no big deal. My pain has got worse over time and I just had an MRI of my cervical spine and my lumbar spine and I was wondering if you could explain my results and tell me if I would benefit from physical therapy. I recently started going to pain management and the doctor wants to start epidural injections in my back and I have heard there are very little results if any from the injections, plus I am very skeptical about having an injection so close to my spine. I would like to find out what some other alternatives are. My symptoms regarding my neck are radiating pain down my left arm with a tingling sensation down to my finger tips with pain in the back of my neck, my shoulder feels as if there are knots that need to be massaged out, it feels very inflamed. As for my lower back I have aching pain 24/7 across my entire lower back from mid back to right above my buttocks. Below are the results of my MRI. I appreciate any insight on what may be the best route for me to take to correct the problems.

MRI of the cervical spine with a multiplanar multisequence technique
Findings:
At the level of C4-C5 there is a broad-based bulging annulus with compression on the thecal sac.
At the level of C5-C6 there is a 1mm broad-based ventral epidural defect compatible with either a bulging annulus or a 1mm broad-based central disc herniation with compression of the thecal sac, and de

MRI of the lumbar spine without contrast was performed with a multiplanar multisequence technique.
Findings:
There is a partial disc desiccation at L2-L3 without additional discogenic disease.
There is a mild asymmetric bulging annulus at L3-L4, slightly more prominent to the left of the midline, with compression on the thecal sac and mild disc desiccation.
At the level of L5-S1 there is a 1-2mm broad-based right paracentral disc herniation with clear visualization of the right paracentral annular tear, compression on the thecal sac, and diffuse disc desiccation.

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond.