“Originally I thought I kind of pulled a hamstring, just you know, a little leg soreness,” remembers Jason Skidmore. But what he thought was a temporary leg injury turned out to be just the beginning of debilitating chronic pain that escalated until he found himself unable to continue working.

Jason tried a wide range of solutions to manage his pain. He first turned to chiropractic, physical therapy, and massage therapy, but none gave him results. Then Jason went for injections which worked “amazingly well,” Jason says, pausing, “for about four or five days.”

Nothing was giving Jason true relief from the chronic pain that was invading every moment of his life. Even sleep could not provide a respite. If Jason was able to fall asleep, shifting his body would lead to sharp pains, waking him up and further compromising Jason’s quality of life.

At last, Jason found the Spine Institute Northwest, and received a proper diagnosis for his leg pain. The roots of Jason’s leg pain were in his back, and he received endoscopically-guided lumbar decompression surgery at L4/5. Following this minimally invasive spine surgery, Jason was able to do many of the things that most people take for granted — like walking unassisted or riding in a car — without any leg pain. Jason is now pain free, and thanks Dr. Solomon Kamson and the physicians and staff of the Spine Institute Northwest for helping him reach what once seemed an unattainable goal.

Hear Jason’s story, in his own words: