I had an MRI first, to see how bad the damage was.

My back had hurt for awhile (only a couple months), then one day, the pain in my back, hip and leg was so bad that I couldn't move, and I had to take an ambulance ride to the hospital.

After that, I had the MRI. Then one epidural, PT, another epidural, and more PT.

A couple months later, it's much better, but I'm much more careful too.