Can bursitis feel like lower back pain? Does being overweight cause it?!

Can bursitis feel like lower back pain? Does being overweight cause it?

My lower back has been hurting for about 4 months. I've gone to a chiropractor at my gym for help. Recently I experienced intense pain travelling down my right leg while I was on vacation so I went to the doctor in another country. He took xrays and said that one of my discs was touching another one (possible herniated disc) but when I came to America my regular doctor said that it may be bursitis and has scheduled me for an MRI and gave me muscle relaxers and steriods. I'm confused since the pain seemed to originate in my lower back and am wondering if being overweight brought this on to me. Any doctors or people out there who know what I'm talking about? Advice please.

You have not written your age, sex and occupation. All these are important for guessing an on-line diagnosis. Anyway, bursae are fluid filled small structures around our joints and bones which protect them. They function as ball-bearings or lubricants, facilitating joint movements. We have about a hundred bursae in our body. If frequent repetitive certain movements or exercises are done, these structures will be inflamed and more fluid accumulates in them. This is called bursitis. A lower back pain can be due to trochantric or ischial bursitis. Usually people who sit for a long time on a hard wooden chair develop ischial bursitis. The differential between discal problems and bursitis and other causes of low back pain can be done by a complete physical examination by an orthopedic surgeon and with imaging techniques like MRI or ultrasound. A good clinical test that you can do at home is to ask someone else to raise your leg slowly while you are lying down on your back and your knee is straight. He or she should look at the angle between your leg and horizon. If you have pain while he elevates your leg before 30 degrees, it can be a discal hernia. If the diagnosis is bursitis you should avoid repetitive motions of that area and you can take pain-killers and anti-inflammatory medications (if not contraindicated for you).