Q: I’ve had back pain for more than 1 year, and I’ve had pain and numbness in my left leg for 2 months. I’ve had CT and MRI, and the doctor said I have a herniated disc in my lumbar spine, and medication and injections are not effective. Gao Chunzheng, Director of Spine Surgery, Chief Physician and Master’s Supervisor of the Second Hospital of Shandong University, replied: Lumbar disc herniation is one of the most common diseases in orthopedics, and about 1/5 of patients with low back pain are caused by disc herniation. The disease often involves the lumbar 4/5 and lumbar 5/sacral 1 segments, and the common symptoms are lumbar pain and lower limb pain, numbness and weakness. There are many treatment methods for lumbar disc herniation, including bed rest, application of nerve-nourishing and dehydrating drugs, physiotherapy, surgery, etc. If the patient has a history of more than half a year, if the conservative treatment is ineffective, if the symptoms recur and affect the working life, especially if there is numbness of the lower limbs, dysfunction of urination and defecation, huge protrusion or prolapse, and if there is lumbar spinal stenosis, surgery should be performed. About 1 million patients with lumbar disc herniation receive surgery every year in China.