Who do you believe?

Okay, it's been about 12 days since the spondylolisthesis diagnosis and, after TONS of research, I'm perhaps even more confused than when I started.

There's an old joke: Two Jews, three opinions. Well, when it comes to Doctors, it's more like FIVE.

Here are the often conflicting theories and recommendations:

1) From the orthopedic surgeon: Let's give you a cortisone shot in the L5-S1 disk to reduce inflammation, get you some physical therapy, and, HOPEFULLY, you'll be able to run again, but maybe not. And if nothing makes the pain go away, we'll have to fuse your spine.

2) From a couple friends: Someone I know had their spine fused at that joint and now they feel GREAT.

3) The physical therapist: If we do these little exercises, working muscles you can barely feel, maybe L5 will shift back a bit and you'll be more stable and then be okay... maybe. Either way, do NOT do things that arch your back!

4) From the chiropractor: Looks like something with your SI joint (granted, he hasn't seen the x-rays)

5) From my friend the M.D. who does prolotherapy: The ligaments that hold the femur to the pelvis are loose, which is why all the other muscles are tightening up to compensate, and giving the IMPRESSION of nerve-related symptoms. A few treatments and you should be okay. Don't worry about the spondylolisthesis; if that had been the problem, you would have had back pain for the last 25 years.

(On the one hand, the fact that he was able to reproduce the symptoms by irritating the ligaments and NOT the nerve was reassuring. On the other hand, why didn't the symptoms go away when I stopped running for 3 weeks?)

6) From the Egoscue people (I've been a big fan of Egoscue in the past): Oh, you need to get some mobility in that L5 area, so let's do some exercises that involve arching in your low back.

7) From my Feldenkrais guy (love how Feldenkrais makes me feel): We don't really treat specific symptoms, but these exercises will get your body functioning in a more coherent way.

Well, all I know at the moment is that I still have most of my previous symptoms -- pain in my right glute, tighter-than-usual hamstrings, sometimes pain just medial to my hip flexor -- and I now have lower back pain that I didn't have when all this started.

OH! And a friend who has similar symptoms, and a similar history, just got a DIFFERENT treatment recommendation, including lumbar traction. Not surprisingly, half of the medical people I've spoken with recommend something like inversion therapy, and the other half think it's a horrible idea.

Can you say "frustrated"? I thought you could.