aik8man,
Welcome to the board and I'm sorry for your back problems.
"l5-s1 annular bulge with broad based central disk herniation of the protrusion type and bilateral foramina impinging a stenosis of the exiting nerve roots of l5"
l5-s1 is the bottom disc in your spine which connects the lurabar area to the sacral area.
annual bulge - basically the disk is flattening out and bulging out the sides instead of being fairly straight vertical on the sides.
broad based central disk herniation of the protrusion type - broad based means a large area, central disk herniation means a herniation centrally located toward your back from the disk, protrusion type means there is a clear protruding area coming out from the disk
bilateral foramina impinging a stenosis of the exiting nerve roots of l5 - bilateral means both sides, foramina means the side holes where the nerve roots exit your spine, impinging means pressing against, stenosis means too little room for your nerve roots, exiting nerve roots of L5 means the L5 nerve roots as they exit your spine on the bottom foraminal (side) level of your spine.
Unfortunately, this reports shows that you have a major herniation of your L5/S1 disk which is probably causing you great back pain and sciatic pain down both legs, probably across the top of your foot and into your big toe. Does that match up with your symptoms? Please post what your symptoms are so more people can jump in and help you out. You can search the Internet for dermatome charts to understand sciatic pain better.
There's always a chance that conservative treatment may help, but I've got to be honest and tell you that this MRI makes it clear that you have major damage and very possibly (if not likely) will need surgery to correct it. If I were you, I would get myself to a fellowship-trained neurosurgeon or orthopedic spine surgeon ASAP. They may or may not want to run some more tests or try more conservative treatment such as epidural cortisone injections, but I would get under their care very quickly.
Also, I would suggest taking some time to look through all of the old posts contained on this board - I found them invaluable to help understand my condition and prepare for surgery, and know what questions to ask my doctor.
Good luck and let us know how you are doing, and ask as many questions here as you want to. We've all been where you're at, and we understand how frustrating it can be to go from being fine one moment to having major problems the next.
