My husband is 34 years old. In October of last year he tripped over a tree stump and injured his back. He has been seeing an orthopedic specialist since about November. They have been treating him with Flexaril, Mobic and  Norco. The pain is constant and sometimes radiates down his left leg. They have given him a series of two spinal injections and he has been doing PT three days a week for up to two hours per session. The PT seems to be doing more harm than good. The days he does PT, he can barely make it through the door. He had a follow up visit today and from what my husband told me they want to do an EKG next week to determine if surgery is needed. I was just wondering what and how the EKG will do to determine the need for surgery. Thank you for your time in advance.
Hello mam, I have studied your case and I can make out that your husband has two problems. One is his back pain and other is leg pain. I want to tell you that physiotherapy is helpful in back pain as it improve muscle strength. In some patients it can increase pain and may need to change certain exercise. Leg pain is due to nerve compression. Your doctor is trying to find if any nerve compression is there by EKG. My advice is it would be better if you do an MRI scan. This will give us clear picture that nerve compression is present or not. If your husband has more pain in leg than back, and nerve compression seen on MRI, he may be benefited with Surgery. Otherwise, he should focus on muscle strengthening and medicines. I hope this solved your query. Feel free to answer any other thing if you want. Take care.