hi, thank you for providing the brief history of your father. A thorough neuromuscular assessment is advised. I will like to begin with this. Your father s age is 68. So the physiological degenerative changes will be setting in. Lumbar spine has got 5 vertebrae and in between the vertebrae there comes a Disc, which is called as inter vertebral disc. This disc s act as shock absorbers and support the spinal column. As ageing progresses the disc starts losing the water. By which the overall spinal column reduces in Size. Once the disc starts losing water , it mat lead to - herniation, protrusion, prolapse etc. due to which there will be a compression on the adjacent nerve roots and this may lead to radiating pain, numbness, burning sensation, weakness of the relevant side. Also, lumbar spine is the most mobile weight bearing area after cervical spine and is prone for disc injuries. Treatment options which are safe and successful but in the following order, are - Medication, physical therapy, steroids, physical therapy, surgery, physical therapy. Now the MRI scan suggest here is - that your father has some disc protrusion but no where it mentions that the nerve root impingement on either side. L1-L2 , L4-L5 and also the L5-S1 as well. Since no where it mentions about the nerve impingement the surgery will be an optional or rare thing to look ahead. Also, the symptoms like, pain, numbness, tingling sensation, etc are more than one needs to wait and see with physical therapy is the symptoms subside. In 99% of cases in my clinical practice have been never operated and responded well to physical therapy. Duration may be longer, but conservative is better than operative, is a good medical logic. If by physical therapy the symptoms don t subside then a steroid dose is recommended and if this fails them surgery. Also, since the levels are too many, it is totally subjective that surgery successful changes are depending. Since your father s age is 68, I will advice to under go physical therapy and he should he fine with physical modalities and exercise; & may not need surgery. For any more details / doubts / suggestions etc you can contact me and I will happy to solve the matter with the in depth knowledge. Regards. Jay Indravadan Patel