[at-l] Hiking related health question

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

I know some on the list have also had back problems and a few have worked 
or do work in the medical field and this relates to my ability to hike so 
I'm looking for opinions.

About 3-4 years ago I had a mishap on my motorcycle (lost it on a curve) 
and ended up face down on the road. There weren't many places on my body 
that didn't hurt the first few minutes but most settled down quickly so 
that the two biggest pains were in my left ankle and right hip. By the time 
I went to the ER (I rode the bike home first) my hip didn't hurt so much 
and the only thing they x-rayed was my ankle which was sprained but not broken.

2 years ago I had a pain in my right hip after spending some time kneeling 
in the cold fixing some Christmas lights. When I went to the ER (on 
Christmas Eve) all they did was ask where it hurt, poke around and give me 
progressively stronger pain killers until I was able to stand and walk out. 
They "thought" it was probably a pinched sciatic nerve. My doctor later 
seconded that a few days after poking my hip and sent me to PT.

About 2 weeks ago I began having pain in the hip again. It peaked last 
week. Today the doctor said that it was a definitely a pinched nerve due to 
deterioration of the disks in my spine and that treatment is a matter of 
"pain management" not cure. He also said that hopefully it will get 
somewhat better as the weather gets warmer and I lose more weight. He told 
me to walk but don't walk uphill and if it gets worse he can refer me to a 
pain management clinic.

So here is the question: Is it actually possible to make such a diagnosis 
without ever taking one x-ray, CT scan or MRI? I don't want to call the guy 
a liar but I don't understand how he can diagnose deterioration of my 
spinal disks without ever looking at them.