23 years old. I injured my back at work lifting and carrying 60 50lb bags of sand. I ended up getting an MRI and the findings were there is a disk bulge at L4-L5 and there is an annular tear in the posterolateral including foraminal portion of the disk at this level and I was wondering what exactly that means. Does that mean it s a pretty significant tear? I ve heard of people having posterolateral or radial annular tears but I don t know what it means when it says it includes the foraminal portion of the disk and if that makes it a bit more sever and more complicated to heal. I ve been on complete restrictions for 5 weeks now, undergoing treatment, and only allowed short walks and there has been no improvement in my pain levels. They re low enough to tolerate when not doing anything, but any kind of activity causes swelling and severe pain. Will this most likely end in surgery or no? I know annular tears CAN heal without surgery, but I m just not certain how bad mine is considering I ve never heard of anyone having a tear like mine.