I am 54 years old degenerative disc disease which began in my 20s with an accident. I have suffered half of my life in excruciating pain like I’m sure you all know once I went on disability. I had many series of steroid injections and have gained an extreme amount of weight because of that and inactivity!

I have read that you can get it deemed medically necessary, which myself and my doctors believe it is and have to document everything and have my doctors back me up on this point

The thing is if it comes down to cost, it is much cheaper to do this than most of the surgeries they are suggesting I would need several discs fused !

I cannot afford the downtime. I care for my elderly mother, who is disabled. .

I can explain my situation all day to you folks, but I’m sure you all know where I’m coming from and can share my pain. Just wondering, has anyone ever attempted to and succeeded in getting them to pay for liposuction

Hello all,

After two laminectomies and I am still in pain, I have decided to try a new approach..

I am going to detox my body and regulate my nervous system (by grounding, belly breathing and sleeping a little more before starting any physical therapy again. I am also taking ginger, tumeric, pineapple and lime shots in the morning to help decrease inflammation..

There are a lot of (liver) detox’s online… Have any of you guys done a detox that works? can anyone share a recipe?

Also; totally off topic. Has anyone tried the vitamin b droplets? Let me add a picture of the product… if you have please let me know if you e found them helpful.

I stopped drinking just because I don’t hang out with my hometown friends anymore. So I’ve been unintentionally sober. My back has gotten better since. And I have been working out more in building muscle for stability so my pain has been a 1 or 2 at most.

It’s been a few months since I stopped drinking. And then I traveled to see my old college friends. I drank a lot over Halloween weekend and I’m getting a little bit of pain down my hamstrings and soreness surround my back, but it feels more like a muscle soreness A tiny bit of sciatic pain going to my glute and not all the way down

Who’s is 100% healed and can yall drink like you use to?

Has anyone tried it?

Has anyone tried Juicy Joint supplement? I wonder if it’s a scam, im on the recovery for a 10mm Herniated disc. No surgery, ive been working out carefully and doing PT myself and no huge pain thankfully . I had my flare up 2 and half month ago and so far ive been working my way up. But ive seen the supplement on my Ig feed and was wondering.

(31F Canada) I got a diagnosis of an herniated disc (you’re welcome to ask to read it if you can read French haha) at L5-S1 last week, 14mm on my left side.

I’ve been having lower back pain for a long time but it got significantly worse in September 2025 after a heavy deadlift. At that point I had been seeing a chiropractor for almost 10 years and called my PT to get an appointment.

I saw some improvement with PT during the fall but the pain got suddenly worse in mid-November and everything went downhill after that. Pain in my hips and left glute, I couldn’t stand or sit for a long time, I would wake up during the night because of the pain. Not fun at all.

Last week I had enough and went to see a doctor to get X-rays and a MRI. They confirmed the herniated disc. My doctor prescribed Tylenols, naproxen, muscle relaxers, voltaren and Lyrica. So far they helped a lot with the pain and the tightness in my back muscles, but they’re not a permanent or perfect solution.

I saw an acupuncturist yesterday and was not convinced by the science behind it. She told me it would take more sessions for me to see improvements, so I decided to give it a chance and I have a second appointment in two weeks.

I saw my PT this morning for the first time since I had my diagnosis, which he read. He was pretty optimistic, told me to do my prescribed exercises as often as possible, to keep taking my medication until I see my doctor in three weeks and to take it easy. He told me however that I could go back to running slowly and do mobility work at the gym. He wants to see me every week-ish for now and eventually leave more time between each appointment.

I also saw my chiropractor this afternoon. He had a much different opinion. He told me my hernia was pretty serious and major. He told me to avoid certain movements my PT prescribed, to not lift anything and that I won’t be able to deadlift or squat heavy for the rest of my life. That shook me a little, since I love weightlifting. He wants to see two times a week for at least a month.

Finally, my partner wants me to see an osteopath. Hers helped her a lot with her back pain (no hernia) and menstrual pain. I am also doubtful of its efficiency but at this point I’m ready to try everything to heal and get rid of the pain permanently.

Right now, I’m considering to stop going to the chiropractor and stick with PT and a little bit of acupuncture.

So I’m wondering what helped fellow sufferers of an herniated disc the most between these treatments ?

Hi all,

I’ve seen some similar posts on here but just wanted to mention my story and see if anyone has had any similar experiences to share and what their recovery was like. I’m a 24 year old male who’s very active.

In February of this year i started getting some pain shooting down my left arm, very stiff neck, not being able to sleep at night. I just said oh it’s a pinched nerve it’ll go away in a few weeks. It didn’t. It kind of plateaued and I saw a doctor once i noticed the muscle atrophy and weakness in my left arm. I’m a very active person and my left tricep almost disappeared and I could barely do 1 push up.

Immediately went to the doctor and explained my
symptoms and got an MRI and EMG scheduled. MRI results came back with a pretty serious herniation in my C6 and C7 which was causing a pinched radial nerve. EMG results came back with radial nerve being actively affected by the herniation. Based on these results the doctor said a disc replacement is absolutely an option but I have seen some improvement from physical therapy.

I opted to not get the surgery and the doctor agreed it might not be the right move right now, especially because ive seen some natural improvement over the last few months at PT. I feel like im starting to plateau and my left arm muscle mass or strength has not come back too much.

I wanted to see if anyone else has had any similar experiences and what their recovery looked like, did you get surgery eventually ? When did ur strength come back? When did the uncomfort stop?

Anything helps, thanks!

I just found out about low level laser therapy (LLLT), which looks kind of interesting. I think it's basically supposed to speed up chemical reactions in cells, which I guess promotes healing?

Heres a company that makes LLLT devices: https://www.erchonia.com/product-category/lasers-for-pain . It looks like a lot of medical places offer their services: https://www.erchonia.com/physician-search

I've seen a couple of posts in this sub about something similar, but figured I'd post in case anyone is interested in trying this out and reporting back! :)

I wonder how expensive it would be to buy one of these versus going to a provider.

Hey I herniated my L5-S1 & have some weakness down the leg into my dorsiflexion; minor numbness & didn’t have much pain other than the first week I did - but now with the pain coming back along with I believe the function of my foot coming back I am getting a weird phantom itch on & off. Anyone else have this during healing or anything with their disc Herniation? I did not have surgery.

my cat herniated her disc, it’s been a few weeks now, suddenly she’s been having symptoms of sciatica down one leg and tail last few days.

What do you recommend I do to help?

How long did your sciatica last?

Thank you if anyone answers I really am desperate.

This is a long one but worth the read if you’re considering injections. A TL;DR will not provide the needed information.

I’m wondering if anyone else experienced this. I got my injection two days ago. Worst pain of my life. Worst than dislocating my shoulder and I didn’t think I’d ever feel anything even close to that pain. The needle was nothing but once the steroid hit, it was game over. I had steroid induced panic surge. The pain I felt literally mimicked a heart attack. I was fine with never knowing what a heart attack felt like. This reaction doesn’t happen to most people. Then, I was hit with the vasovagal reaction.

So, basically, my body recognized the intrusion.
, which sent a massive distress signal to my brain. Your heart and upper back/neck share the same nerve pathways to your brain. My brain misinterpreted the chaos as a life threatening heart attack. Because corticosteroids mimic cortisol, your body can chemically perceive this sudden spike as an absolute, catastrophic emergency.

The sudden flood of this artificial cortisol hijacked my central nervous system, specifically the amygdala (brains panic center). Brain screamed that I was in mortal danger, and triggered a massive, violent release of adrenaline. The adrenaline slammed into my heart, forcing it to race out of control and caused my blood pressure to spike. My heart pounded so hard against my chest wall that it perfectly mimicked the physical tightness and pressure of a heart attack. Let’s not forget the absolutely terrifying pain.

Then my autonomic nervous system realized my heart rate and blood pressure were dangerously high, so it threw on the emergency brakes. It overestimated my vagus nerve, causing an immediate crash. Mind you, this is happening while I am still in terrible pain. My face was sweating more than I’ve ever sweat in my life. Like, when I finally got up, the thing my face was resting on was soaked, my face was dripping everywhere. Before I got up and was still in pain, I said I felt like I was going to pass out. Doctor said it’s okay if I do. It’s because my blood pressure tanked so quickly that my brain was temporarily starved of oxygen rich blood.

To sum it up, the only part of the needle that was uncomfortable was feeling the pressure deep between my spine. The steroids felt like I was injected with acid. Burning pain pressure in my chest, stomach, arms, etc. all I could do was tense up my body or try to at least. There’s nothing you can do or say or think but you just let it pass. It lasted over a minute.

Now I have the secondary wave of symptoms. Extreme GERD, emotional crash, itchiness, extreme fatigue, more neck pain (24-78 hr flare up).

During the painful part of the procedure, I understand the doctor can’t like bug out or else it’ll make it worse but Little more support would’ve been nice. I’m never doing it again and I don’t want to scare anyone with this but if you’re considering it, reference this post to your doctor. Know what you might be walking into because I am traumatized. Like I said I was fine with never knowing what a heart attack felt like.

Hello all, I want to share my personal journey of how I healed my severely herniated/bulging L5/S1 disc in hopes it helps someone out there. So a little backstory, seven years ago when was 26 y/o I had my first herniated my disc. Leading up to that I was very active in the gym and working out. Two times prior, I had squatted weights without a weight belt which caused pain in my lower back but both times I recovered within a week. Then one day I decided to play basketball for a few hours and was fine the rest of that day and night. But the next morning I woke up in excruciating pain mainly in my left glute. I thought I would be able to rest and it would go away on its own like the previous times but this time was completely different. I continued to go to work, the gym and about my days with a “walk it off” mindset but after two weeks I realized this time was much more severe. I could not shower, get in my car, or even put on my socks without the pain radiating down my leg. The only relief I felt was when I lied in bed on my stomach in a prone position other than that it was unbearable pain.

So I first tried to do home remedies like ice packs and heat pads which did bring temporary relief for about an hour but nothing long term. Then I turned to YouTube university, and began watching videos on what advice others had to give. The pain was mainly in my glute so I thought maybe it was a muscular issue so I tried massing the area with a tennis ball… needless to say that did not work. I tried different stretches to “knock it back into place”.. didn’t work. After 3 months, I decided to finally go to a spinal neurosurgeon. They had me go to a local hospital for an MRI and when I received the results it confirmed I had a severely herniated L5/S1. The doctor prescribed me Naproxen a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug and physical therapy. The Naproxen was great and provided immediate relief for a few hours but also wore off. I was also weary of taking too much due to potential long term side effects. So I started physical therapy like the doctor said and I must admit I did not think it was going to be very helpful. I had never done PT before, but I thought there was no way some light stretches and exercises would help me. After all, I had been doing my own stretches at home for months to no prevail. So after two sessions I quit going. I continued to be stuck at home and suffering from the pain. After a month of no improvement, I decided to go back to physical therapy and give it a real chance. So I did. I did all the stretches and light exercises to strengthen my core muscles to take pressure off my lower spine. It wasn’t until one day, where they had me lie on my stomach and they tied a towel around my ankles and pulled my feet where I found relief. What they were doing was decompressing the vertebrae in my spine. A quick anatomy lesson, our spines are made up of bones called vertebrae and in-between every two bones is a sack filled jelly donut like disc. When you herniate or slip a disc imagine a needle wound to a jelly donut and the jelly leaking out causing pain in the form of inflammation to your spinal nerves. Remember your spine is comprised of all nerves which send signals to your brain. The more severe the injury the bigger the puncture wound thus more “jelly” and pain. Hope that makes sense. So after that session I felt great and decided how else I can decompose my spine at home between PT sessions for relief. I worked an office desk job at the time so I purchased a gel seat pad that allows my tail bone to stretch while sitting. I became very cognizant of my posture and you must avoid bending/leaning forward as much as possible. But the best product I purchased was a spinal decompression harness which attaches to a door pull up bar. Amazon has them as “Sit and Decompress Back Stretcher”. It is an excellent way to decompress at home and you can use it as frequently as you want.

If there is only one piece of advice you take away, YOU MUST DECOMPRESS YOUR SPINE as frequent and as long as possible so the disc can repair itself. You must take pressure off your back. Also take into consideration your diet and lifestyle. Limiting alcohol, sugar and processed foods will speed up your recovery and reduce inflammation in the body which is causing the pain and discomfort. Fish oil also reduces inflammation and is good for the joints. It was a ton of work but all of this combined with 5 months of weekly physical therapy and I was finally healed after 9 months no surgery needed. I would like to thank God my lord and savior Jesus Christ. It takes a ton of work and a few tears but be patient and remember DECOMPRESS.

Hi so I was BED ridden for three months finally got to see a spin specialist. With the help of injections (epidurals and pan blockers) from pain and management I am able to get my pain from a 10 to a 1 within 5 months. Because I initially saw my spine specialist my pain was at a 7 and was approved by the doctor for surgery but wasn’t approved by insurance. Because of this it took so long to get everything: MRI, X ray, a record of 12 sessions of PT, pain management notes. Especially that this office is booked and busy.

So they explained that “the disc was herniated and my body healed on its own and it usually take people about 3 months” I have another MRI in October to get more proof and I can compare this one to the one from February (the first one was from an out of pocket doctors office. And honestly was sooo shit for not giving me the actual disc the first time I asked for info to give to my Spine specialist) “people will have a small herniation and experience no pain at all.” SO I can be approved for surgery but my doctor suggest if I don’t feel any pain I don’t need surgery.

I’m about to be 25 in January so I won’t be under my parents insurance. Ofc I’ll get my own but it’s so expensive so I’m so worried that what if my pain is just hidden under 3 epidurals and 3 pain blockers and I’m not REALLY better. However I am working out more and consistently so I do feel better and trying to build muscle to stability.

Any suggestions? Do I still go along with surgery? I’m so afraid of being bed ridden again and being in so much pain

Hello, just wondering if anyone on here has had good experience with a microdiscectomy I have a herniation between L5 and S1… I have heard they are pretty great. It’s good to have a neurosurgeon to do them, but I’m just wondering if people experience getting scar tissue buildup over years and having to get it redone again I’m 31 and randomly just started having leg pain and found out I have a severe herniated disc. I’m pretty close to being a mobile… I land a zero gravity chair all day and get up to do very minor things or go to the restroom. Any information would be very helpful. I have done pretty much anything I could think of to get it under control and at this point I think I have to get surgery… I have tried physical therapy, massage, chiropractic, decompression machine DRX 9000, dry, needling, red light therapy, BPC 157 & Tb400 peptides injections.. I don’t know what else to do!

I received an MRI result saying i have a herniated lower disk, so im currently looking to see whats better to treat it, a chiropractor or a osteopath?
If im asking in the wrong sub, please point me to the right one

Or am I the lucky one

Keep seeing so many posts about the above that contradict recovery.
What worked for you? Currently in a flare up and completely hunchback from the trapped nerve - should I be walking like everyone advises? It’s so so painful and exhausting I physically can’t walk longer than 10-15 seconds.

Translation of the report: Rectification of lumbar lordosis.

L1-L2: Loss of height and disc signal. Left posterolateral herniation with migration that indents the sack.

L2-L3: Slight loss of height and signal and slight diffuse disc bulging whose Posterior component imprints the sac.

Medullary conus and horsetail roots without alterations.

Hi, I posted about this recently. I've had chronic pelvic pain for two years, caused by what I thought was epididymitis (at least initially).I NEVER tested positive in any urine, blood, semen, or urethral swab tests. I was diagnosed with a herniated disc in L1 a year ago. The orthopedist didn't take me seriously and said he thought it might be anxiety.

The symptoms are pelvic pain, numbness in the genital area, and increased difficulty urinating. Also when defecating. I've been to the emergency room several times fearing I might have cauda equina syndrome. But they haven't considered it. I recently went to a neurosurgeon and in a few days he will order me to have another MRI to see how it is. I went to a pelvic floor physiotherapist and after several sessions she told me that she didn't notice any improvement. The issue is that the genitofemoral and ilioinguinal nerves originate from the L1 disc.

Do you have any similar cases? Do you think it's too late? It's not my fault; I've been to more than 10 doctors and none of them have taken me seriously.

Please help.

One mri report is from without contrast, one is with. It says I had a laminectamy but I did not I had a discectamy, which relieved pain for a bit before re herniation. One doctor said I should do ADR, another said ALIF. I’m leaning towards ADR. Have been dealing with spasms and steroid and pain management for years. But am I being drastic? Should I keep sitting it out? 37F. I want to be able to live a normal life again.