|I am 20 years old and have the exact same problem except the leg part! Every now and then i get sharpe pains down my right leg. But during examination from a surgeon, found out that it is actually my left leg that is effected more. The whole of my left side infact, is numb compared to my right side! Not completly numb i must say, but there is a very noticable difference.
I have been told there is no operation that can fix this, UNLESS, the disc prolapses (Buldges even more) or dehydrates even the two vertebrer touch and trap a nerve (bad spelling i know) causing extream pain and will basically make me unable to walk. I asked the physio why nothing could be done now and to prevent this Prolapse from happening, but she had no idea why.
Anyway, the physio has given me a load of exercise's to do to build up the muscle around the disc. She made it very clear to me though, that they will not make the pain go away, but most probably will make it a little bit better!
I still would like to know, Why do we have to wait for it to get worse before something is done?