Q: My friend is suffering from a back pain and he cannot move from the bed. The MRI reports says the following: disk desiccation & disk protrusion; secondary spinal canal & mild bilateral neutral recess narrowing L>R & thecal compression & L5-S1 level, normal lordosis is lost, small osteophytes are seen in vertibral bodies, with lumber spondylosis. Please suggest what should we do? The doctor suggested an operation but is this the only solution?

A:95% of disc prolapses respond to conservative treatment like functional rehabilitation, which consists of gradually increasing mobilisation, pain killers and spinal movements. Surgery is only indicated if he has severe and persisting leg pain( sciatica) after a reasonable trial of the above.