A Male Patient in His 60s: Lower Back Pain Recurs About Two Years After Receiving Outpatient Treatment

Patient Information

A man in his 60s

Diseases and Symptoms

• Spinal Canal Stenosis
• Herniated Disc
• Sciatica

Condition

The patient experienced sciatic nerve pain and back pain due to a herniated disc and spinal canal stenosis, which caused difficulty walking. In June 2022, he underwent Discseel treatment at the Osaka clinic. Due to recurring back pain since May this year, he consulted the Tokyo clinic.

Pain Scale

Examination

The MRI images before and after treatment. The photo on the right is the image before treatment (June 2022), while the photo on the left is the image from today.

There is no significant change in the herniated disc and spinal canal stenosis between the pre-treatment and post-treatment images. However, there is a significant increase in subcutaneous fat.

Diagnosis

The sciatic nerve pain when walking has disappeared, but back pain is felt when jogging. The lack of changes in the MRI images is often reported because the improvement in disc function is not visible on the MRI images. It was also confirmed that the patient has gained 7 kg since the beginning of this year (possibly due to the large amount of meat received monthly as part of the donation through furusato nozei since January).

Conclusion

Considering that the back pain is not felt at rest and only occurs when moving, and the absence of sciatic nerve pain or issues on the MRI examination, it is estimated that the cause of the back pain is weight gain. It has been proven that weight gain correlates with back pain attacks, and weight loss can improve back pain. The patient was advised to undergo dietary restriction and will have a follow-up examination in October.