Subjects who agree to participate, will be assessed (assessments listed below) after the diagnosis and prior to surgery. The subject will then be assessed postop and they will continue with follow-up after surgery with a visit at 3 weeks postop. Both methods of discectomy will be discussed with the subject. Once the subject has consented to participate (and prior to surgery), subjects will be randomized with a 50/50 chance of being placed in the MD or OD groups. Subjects will be distributed into the MD group and the OD group using a block randomization method. The study will be single blinded. A longitudinal, within group, comparison will be made to assess the change in the measured parameters. Data involving the MD and OD groups will be accumulated in a cross-sectional fashion.