Herniated/Bulge Disc

[406flyfish]

After weeks of severe Lower back pain and sciatic running Down my leg, I reached out to a doctor. I just got my MRI results back stating it’s a L5-S1 protrusion. He recommended a epidural and continuous PT for the time being based off my age (30’s).

I’ve started PT twice a week. Continuing my daily sauna & stretching routine. Currently taking Gabipen and some other “natural” supplements to ease the pain. Just started acupuncture, a little too early to tell if it’s helping or not..

I’m at the point where I can sleep thought out the night. However, it’s still painful when I wake up in the morning and taking light walks through out the day.

Anyone else out there with a herniated or bulged disc with tips or advice?

Has anyone returned to hiking/hunting to near full capacity ?

 

[Ross]

7/18 severe extrusion in same area. The sciatic pain would never shut off and unless you have had that electric pain you have no idea. 5 weeks later had discectomy. Pain immediately gone after surgery. Had a couple of hiccups the first two years, currently no issues with it for 3 yrs. I’m 62 so good deal older. Biggest advise, be super diligent on posture, both sitting, standing and lifting. Work any and all muscles that support everything. When you can walk a lot, drop any extra weight around the torso, build more muscle on the posterior chain and work core. Lighter loads, more trips. Surgery to remove the extrusion and pressure on the nerve can be a life saver. Good luck it sucks.

Edit. I see below the comment on foot flop. Yes, that can be a Big issue. A friend waited too long to address his issue. Ended up with foot flop from extended time dealing with the nerve issue and it never resolved itself. Imagine trying to sidehill and you can’t get your foot to plant solidly and hold its position. This is where the discectomy may prevent this issue.

 

[handwerk]

I had same thing a couple years ago, I messed up and just dealt with the pain too long and ended up with concrete like leg and foot flop. I should have gone straight in for the discectomy. It's a bit better now that part of the disc has likely dried up and retracted a bit. Being self employed I missed a lot of work because of delaying. Take the issue seriously.

 

[TaperPin]

I had one that the doc said will probably recover, but no guarantees. I thought it was career ending and did light weight work for a year before it stopped bothering me. Hasn’t bothered me the decade since, but at least in my case it just took time.

 

[Bubblehide]

I have 2 collapsed and herniated discs. one in my low back, one in my neck. My typical treatment when one acts up is Toradol, a powerful short term anti-inflammatory, a steroid to help healing, and methocarbamol a muscle relaxer (it will knock you out, so limit the prescription, or only take before bed).

You need to stretch daily. You should stretch for about 20 to 30 minutes every morning and evening, with short 1 to 5 minute stretching sessions during the day. You need to build your core strength and endurance. Lastly, if you need to lose weight, do it; excess weight is a major factor in exacerbating disc issues.

 

[Yoder]

I'm surprised he didn't do a steroid injection. Maybe that's what he meant by epidural? My wife and I both had pretty good results from that. It wasn't fun. The one in my neck, he had to attempt a couple times to get the needle in place, since it was so inflamed. I was in a full sweat by the time he was done.

 

[BullsDeep]

In my 30s, have been dealing with this issue for the last 2 years.(bulging l4, stress fractured l5, degenerative disc disease and arthritis) Basically what everyone else has already said. Stretching and mobility. Ask your doctor or google search drx9000 and see if you can spend some time in one. It helped me but not cured. Also invest in a inversion table and use for 6-7 minutes 2 or 3 times a day. These are all things my doctor had me doing. Lastly, when mine gets real bad I take a steroid pack to reduce the inflammation and it really helps with the pain

 

[mtnbiker208]

going thru it right now. See a doc in a week.
the pain sucks.

 

[naked wombats]

I have 3 herniated disc's due to someone running a red light 2 years.

Stick with the PT, do the homework they give you. It will help.

Maybe look at your sleep setup as well.

I was struggling to sleep through the night until I went on vacation and ended up sleeping on a thin foam pad on plywood with what appeared to be the worst pillow ever made in a rented van. But after 2 nights of that setup, I suddenly wasn't in pain at night or in the morning. Made some immediate changes when I got home that truly improved my healing.

 

[Rich M]

Get a microdiscectomy and out of pain. They go in w lazer and cut away the disc where it hits the nerves. Good for about 20 yrs.

My wife had one and about 20 yrs later a second one. Big diff w the pain. Scars are 1/2 inch apart.

Other option is chiropractor figure on a couple years for frequent visits and then just maintenance after that. Btdt

 

[Bubblehide]

If you get an epidural, have them put you under. if you don't have them put you under, the odds are they will be unable to get the medicines, in the optimal location, and any benefit will be nothing to limited.

 

[2Stamp]

I had a L5-S1 and L3-L4 two years ago. Took about year and half to have no pain. About 6 months of PT (then continued the same exercises on my own for another 3-4 months), did two injections which did not help at all. I had stock in Aleve, Ibuprofen, Tylenol. I have a TENs unit I use intermittently. I'm more conscious of how I bend down to pick up something. Do some specific yoga type stretches most mornings. Certain exercises I don't do anymore, not worth it.

Then back in Sept bent over to take out the trash and screwed the lower one again (just before heading out on a 10 day elk hunt). Point is, everyone seems to be different. I'm 50.

 

[mb6355]

Watch this. Helped solve my issues.

 

[pacoalcracker]

I slipped a disc in my lower back about 7 years ago doing real heavy pulls on a lat machine at the gym....300 pounds. At 58 it was a dumb move. Sciatic pain all weekend. I figured if I slipped it out by stretching my spine, I can slip it back in. After work on Monday, straight to the gym. Loaded that machine to 300 again an pulled it repeatedly in an effort to undo the damage. After each pull, I got up and walked around to see if the pain was gone...and thankfully after about 12 pulls, it worked. Never had an issue since, but I'm never pulling more than 200 since either. I got extremely lucky. Who would have thunk it? I agree, it's a bitch suffering with that constant sciatic nerve pain. I still have a disc issue for about 10 years about the middle of my spine ..not sure what vertebrae ID that is, but it's just a slight discomfort, enough to remind me it's there and does not stop me from doing anything. Got that from doing super heavy machine shoulder shrugs and leaning too far forward. Sometimes you are not smarter when you get older.

 

[Jpsmith1]

L4-5. I had surgery at 15 years old in 1990 and again in 2016. Had a big flareup like 4 years ago where I spent 8-10 weeks sleeping on the floor because I simply couldn't bear to be in a bed.

Steroid injections in my spine helped this last time but had no lasting effect on the 2016 issue and weren't an option in 90 as far as I can remember.

Continual stretching and flexibility work are the maintenance.

 

[downthepipe]

This past summer I had 1.5 months of pain until I went to DOC who called it a herniated disc after seeing nothing on the xray. Prednisone round, PT, and chiropractor and thankfully it went away. I don’t think it was too severe, but prior the oral steroid it was horribly debilitating. I actually credit pretty forceful chiropractor work to getting me back in a good spot.

 

[sierracharlie338]

PT was a huge help for my herniated disc. I got lazy and lacked off the stretches/exercises and started having issues again. As long as I stay semi active and mindful about how I treat my back I’ve been able to keep from having back surgery.

 

[TaperPin]

Bob and Tom have some good videos.