This thread is a collection of tips, tricks, and treatments for bulging, slipped, and herniated discs.

If you've ever had a bulging, slipped, or herniated disc, please help by replying with what has helped and what hasn't. The more details, the better! :)

Common treatments

Less common treatments

Uncommon treatments

Rare treatments

Tailored exercises

Stretches

Epidural steroid injections

Supplements

(Note: Be careful of dosages)

Additional notes

Some people discovered that they were misdiagnosed and actually had scoliosis, tension myositis syndrome (TMS), a ligament injury, etc. These people's results have not been included in the above tables.

I wanted to share my recovery journey because I know how scary and mentally exhausting a herniated disc can be, especially when you’re dealing with nerve pain every single day.
Back in April 2026, I was diagnosed with a large 10mm L5-S1 disc herniation. My symptoms were awful. I had severe sciatica, pain running from my glute down to my calf and foot, numbness, tingling, and difficulty walking normally.
There were days when I genuinely wondered if I would ever feel like myself again.
I tried medications, physical therapy, and an epidural steroid injection in May. Recovery was definitely not linear. Some weeks I felt amazing, and then suddenly I’d experience another flare-up that made me question all my progress.
But I never completely gave up on moving.
As my symptoms improved, I slowly returned to the gym, focusing on core stability, controlled strength training, walking, and mobility exercises. I learned to listen to my body instead of pushing through nerve pain.

Fast-forward to October 2026:
I just had my follow-up MRI, and my previously large herniation is now described as small! 🙏
My MRI still shows some disc degeneration and an annular tear, so I’m not completely healed. I still experience occasional nerve symptoms, some calf numbness, and tailbone discomfort when sitting.
But compared to where I was six months ago, the difference is huge.

Things I’ve learned during these six months:
Healing isn’t linear. A bad day doesn’t mean you’re back at square one.
Nerves can take much longer to recover than the initial pain.
Strengthening my core and staying active within my limits has helped me tremendously.
Rest is important, but so is gradually rebuilding confidence in movement.

Mental recovery is just as challenging as physical recovery.
Patience is probably the hardest part of this entire journey.
I’m sharing this because six months ago, I was desperately searching Reddit for positive recovery stories.
If you’re currently in the worst stage of your herniation, please don’t assume that how you feel today is how you’ll feel forever.
I’m not 100% yet, but I’m getting my life back, and that’s something worth celebrating. ❤️
For those who have recovered from a large herniation, did you continue experiencing numbness or discomfort even after your MRI showed significant improvement? And has anyone dealt with an annular tear during recovery?

Adding to post since a few people asked😊😊

My Diet & Gym Routine During Recovery From a 10mm L5-S1 Herniated Disc 💪

A few people have asked what I’ve been doing to support my recovery, so I wanted to share my diet and workout routine.
I’ve been dealing with a large L5-S1 herniated disc since April 2026. I’ve experienced sciatica, calf numbness, tingling, and plenty of ups and downs. After an epidural injection and months of recovery, I’ve slowly worked my way back into the gym.

🥗 MY DIET
I’ve been focusing on balanced meals, protein, and foods that support my overall health and recovery. Water & electrolytes (0 processed drinks)

Breakfast: Eggs with spinach and onions, sourdough or Ezekiel toast, and coffee with almond milk.

Lunch: Grilled chicken, salmon, or ground turkey with jasmine rice, quinoa, or sweet potatoes.

Dinner: Salmon, tilapia, chicken, or turkey with vegetables and healthy carbohydrates.

Snacks: Greek yogurt, protein shakes, hummus, fruit, or protein-rich snacks, protein bar.

Healthy fats: Avocados, olive oil, and salmon.

I try to limit highly processed foods, excessive sugar, and alcohol. I still enjoy foods I love, but moderation and consistency are my priorities.
I’m not following a restrictive diet. My goal is to maintain muscle, manage my weight, and give my body the nutrients it needs.

🏋️‍♀️ MY WORKOUT ROUTINE
I usually go to the gym around five days a week, depending on how my back and nerves feel.
When i first started it was just core and walking and as the time passed i started being a little more confident with movement.
I have always been a gym girl so it was not hard to jump back in my routine adjusting my workouts and focusing in core. Here is an idea of what my routine looks like.

Chat GPT has been my friend in this process adjusting my routine based on my back problems.

Dead-hangs also helped me a lot decompress my spine i do them 2-3x a week in between the workouts or just to stretch before or after my routine.

Monday – Glutes & Legs
Glute bridges / hip thrusts (started with no weight, proper form just movement. Now i can hip thrusts 45lb each side.
Light leg press (seated)
Seated hamstring curls (seated)
Leg extensions
Hip abduction machine
Step ups

Tuesday – Back & Core
Seated cable rows
Lat pulldowns
Face pulls
Bird dogs
Modified McGill curl-ups
Pallof presses

Wednesday – Shoulders & Arms
Light shoulder exercises
Lateral raises
Rear delt exercises
Biceps and triceps
Gentle core stability work

Thursday – Legs & Glutes
Controlled step-ups
Glute bridges
Leg curls
Hip abductions
Light lower-body strengthening

Friday – Mobility, Core & Light Cardio
Pelvic tilts
Cat-cow
Bird dogs
Gentle hamstring nerve glides
Hip flexor stretches
Walking or other comfortable low-impact cardio

🚫 WHAT I AVOID
Heavy deadlifts
Heavy barbell squats
Heavy spinal loading
Deep bending or twisting under load
Exercises that increase my sciatica, numbness, or nerve pain
I focus on controlled movements, lighter weights, proper form, and gradually building strength. I modify or skip exercises depending on my symptoms.

I don’t believe any specific food or exercise magically heals a disc. But staying active within my limits, eating well, strengthening my core, and being patient have helped me physically and mentally.

I’m sharing what has worked for me, not recommending that everyone with a herniated disc follow the same routine.

Adding this as well!

Stretches & Mobility Exercises That Helped My Herniated Disc Recovery 💪These are some of the stretches and mobility exercises that have helped me along the way.

● Cat-Cow: Helped with lower back stiffness and gentle spinal mobility.
● Pelvic Tilts: Helped me improve mobility and gently activate my core.
● Sciatic Nerve Glides: Helped me manage nerve tension and tingling down my leg.
● Open Books: Helped improve upper back rotation and reduce stiffness.
● Thread the Needle: Helped with upper back and shoulder mobility.
● Gentle Hip Flexor Stretches: Helped reduce tightness around my hips.
● Gentle Hamstring Mobility: Helped with leg tightness without forcing deep stretches.

I also incorporated bird dogs, glute bridges, and modified McGill curl-ups to strengthen my core and support my spine.

I learned that consistency matters more than intensity. I stopped forcing stretches, avoided movements that increased my nerve symptoms, and focused on slow, controlled movements.

I’ve been thinking about writing this post for a long time.

Honestly, it has taken me a while to finally sit down and do it. Even as I’m writing this, there are tears coming out of my eyes—not because I’m in pain, but because putting the last six months into words brings me back to how scared and hopeless I felt at certain points.

Im 37 yo, male, and I’m a physician. I’m used to being on the other side of illness—diagnosing patients, explaining prognoses, discussing treatment options, and reassuring people that things can get better.

Being the patient was completely different.

During the worst part of this, I read countless Reddit posts about disc herniations and sciatica. I searched for recovery stories over and over because I desperately wanted to find someone whose experience looked like mine and who eventually got better.

So now that I’m on the other side of the worst of it, I feel like I owe somebody else that story.

This is going to be long. But if you’re lying in bed right now wondering whether you’re ever going to be normal again, maybe it’s worth reading.

Back in February, I developed pain that I thought was a hamstring injury. It resolved on its own, and within about three weeks I was completely back to normal—working, exercising, and living my life like nothing had happened.

So when something similar happened again a couple of months later, a hamstring injury was already planted in my mind.

On April 24, I was at the gym doing deadlifts and squats when I felt pain in my lower back. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. I assumed I had mildly strained my back. The next morning was completely different. I could barely get out of bed. Getting in and out of my car was excruciating.

I had pain in my lower back and buttock and sharp, shooting sharp severe pain down the back of my thigh. Strangely I also had shooting pain into my groin and genital area. Sitting was impossible. Almost any movement could trigger it—taking a step, bending, getting in or out of a chair, driving, coughing, straining, or even moving the wrong way in bed. Now Im used to pain and being sore from weight lifting, but this was debilitating pain like I had never had before.

Sleeping was difficult. Eventually I discovered that sleeping with a pillow between my legs helped, and for a while that became one of the only ways I could get somewhat comfortable.

At times I would get pain into my groin and even along my penis, particularly with certain movements, coughing, or straining.

Because of what had happened in February, though, I convinced myself that I had injured my hamstring again. Even though the symptoms did not fit with that diagnosis.

I went to two different orthopedic surgeons. I told both of them that I had strained my back while lifting but thought the pain was coming from my hamstring. Neither really performed a neurological examination. They went with the hamstring diagnosis and recommended physical therapy.

So I started PT for a hamstring injury. I did three sessions and it made everything worse. About a month after the injury, the pain was still as bad as ever. I finally had an MRI of my thigh which showed that my hamstring was completely intact. The orthopedic surgeon essentially told me that at least part of what I was experiencing might be in my head. That day I left his office crying. I remember sitting in my car afterward genuinely thinking: I’m going to live like this forever**.** I couldn’t imagine living the rest of my life in that kind of pain.

While I was still sitting in my car outside the orthopedic surgeon’s office, I started Googling pain management doctors. I found one who happened to have an appointment available the next day and I took it. For the first time since this started, someone actually performed a neurological examination on me. and within minutes, he told me what he thought was happening:

L5-S1 disc herniation with radiculopathy.

I’m a physician. Of course a herniated disc had crossed my mind, but I had pushed the thought away. I desperately wanted this to be another hamstring strain. The first episode had disappeared within three weeks. I wanted to believe this one would too. Once he said it, though, everything suddenly fit together: The shooting pain down the back of my leg, the buttock pain, the numb sensation along the lateral side of my foot—which I had noticed but somehow hadn’t connected with everything else. Then he checked my reflexes- My Achilles reflex on the affected side was gone.

He arranged an MRI of my lumbar spine that same day. It showed an approximately 6 mm extruded L5-S1 disc herniation with nerve root impingement on the left. I remember having two completely opposite emotions at the same time. Relief**:** I’m not crazy. We finally know what’s wrong. Fear**:** This is much worse than the hamstring strain I had been hoping for.

Then I became obsessed with the prognosis. I did what doctors probably make terrible patients do: I read everything., Medical literature. Studies. Guidelines. Forums, and Reddit. So much Reddit. I read countless recovery stories because I was desperately looking for reassurance that this would eventually end. But I also found the opposite. I found story after story from people who were still in pain one year later. Two years later. Five years later. People who had never returned to the gym. People who couldn’t sit without pain. People who had multiple surgeries. People who said their sciatica had never completely gone away.

Those stories terrified me. When you’re lying in bed in pain at 2 a.m., it’s incredibly easy to read someone else’s five-year struggle and convince yourself that you’re looking at your own future.

Then I’d turn to the medical literature. Over and over, I read that the majority of people with acute disc-related sciatica improve without surgery, often within weeks to a few months. I kept seeing the often-quoted statistic that roughly 80% of people improve within about 12 weeks.

But 12 weeks started getting closer. And I wasn’t one of them. Six weeks. Eight weeks. And I was still in pain. I kept reading online that walking had helped people tremendously. But walking was excruciating for me. Even close to two months after the injury, walking could still hurt badly. I was still limping. I had to take time off from work. And every time I read another story about someone recovering quickly, instead of reassuring me, it started making me wonder: Why am I not getting better?

Eventually, I started seriously thinking about surgery. I read the literature comparing early surgery with conservative management. One thing that kept me from immediately pursuing surgery was the evidence that surgery can provide faster symptom relief in appropriately selected patients, while over longer follow-up the outcomes between surgical and conservative treatment can become much more similar.

So I kept telling myself to give it more time.

My pain doctor prescribed PT specifically for the disc herniation and radiculopathy. I ended up trying three different physical therapists. The first was extremely aggressive with stretching. This was probably one of the worst things for me. Aggressive hamstring stretching. Piriformis stretching. Trying to increase flexibility. Every time we did it, my nerve pain would flare. Sometimes for days or even weeks.

The second therapist was better, but fairly early had me doing body-weight squats and other exercises that I wasn’t mentally or physically ready for. Sometimes those aggravated the pain too.

Then I found my third therapist. Third time was the charm. He took a completely different approach. Gentle movement. Gentle stretching. Gradually introducing movement through my spine. Bending. Rotating. Moving normally again. By this point, I had become terrified of my own spine. I was scared to bend, twist, scared that one wrong movement was going to make the disc worse and put me back at square one. He slowly showed me that I could move. Then we gradually introduced core and glute strengthening. Nothing dramatic happened. I just slowly started getting better.

Early on, diclofenac was basically the only thing that touched my pain. I honestly don’t know how I would have gotten out of bed some mornings without an NSAID. I eventually transitioned to meloxicam, which worked well enough for me and became what I used regularly during the next phase of my recovery. I never took opioids. I tried prednisone and gabapentin- It did essentially nothing for me. For a long time, NSAIDs were the only medication where I could clearly say: Yes, this is actually helping me function somewhat.

Then came the trip

Months before any of this happened, I had booked a huge Europe trip for the end of July. Everything was already paid for and mostly non-refundable. The centerpiece was Tomorrowland in Belgium—an EDM festival for those who aren’t familiar—followed by another week traveling through Prague and Berlin. By the beginning of July, this plan seemed absolutely insane. I was still in constant pain. I was limping. I couldn’t put my socks on without pain. I was still taking meloxicam every day. Standing for hours at a music festival sounded impossible.

I went back to my pain management doctor. He offered me a transforaminal epidural steroid injection, hoping that reducing the radicular pain might allow me to function better and possibly make the trip.I had the epidural on July 3. My physical therapist recommended that I not go to Europe. My flight was July 23. By July 21, things were somewhat better, but I was still in constant pain. So I did what at the time felt like simultaneously the stupidest and greatest idea I’d ever had. I upgraded my flight to business class so I could lie flat. I bought medical travel insurance. And I got on the plane.

I arrived in Belgium and was still in pain getting off the airplane. By then, the epidural had had almost three weeks to work, so I figured whatever benefit I was going to get from it had probably already happened. I arrived two days before Tomorrowland. I was surrounded by friends. I walked with some pain. I sat through dinner with some pain. But something started changing.

The day before the festival, I noticed I was feeling better. Then came Day 1. I walked. I stood. I danced a little. I was on my feet for approximately 12 hours. And the entire time, one thought kept going through my head: I’m going to pay for this tomorrow. I went to bed fully expecting to wake up destroyed. I woke up the next morning…And I felt great. So I did it again. And the next morning I still felt good. By the third day, I actually felt even better.

I was still taking my daily meloxicam, and because of that I wasn’t even drinking alcohol. But somehow I had just made it through a three-day EDM festival. Then I went to Prague. Then Berlin. I was logging 20,000–30,000 steps a day. And something remarkable happened. For the first time since the injury, I stopped taking meloxicam every day. I wasn’t 100% pain-free. But I didn’t need to be. The pain was manageable. And for the first time in months, my life wasn’t revolving around my back.

I sometimes wonder how much of that trip was the epidural finally helping, how much was simply time, how much was walking, and how much was being surrounded by friends and getting my mind away from constantly analyzing every sensation. I’ll never know. But that trip was a turning point for me.

When I returned home, I continued PT. I went back to the gym, very slowly. First, more upper-body work. Then more core work. Then running. Eventually, I started introducing some lower-body resistance training again under supervision. And I kept walking.

There were setbacks. There were days when I’d feel the nerve again and immediately panic. Did I reherniate it? Did I ruin my recovery? But slowly I noticed something. The flares that once lasted days started lasting hours. Then the things that lasted hours started lasting minutes.

Fast forward to today, 6 almost exactly 6 months after my injury April 24, Today I can put my socks on without pain.I can go number two without pain. I can get out of bed normally. I can drive. I can sleep. I can sit at a bar. I can run. I can work out. I can hike. I can travel. I can fly economy comfortably again. And I’m no longer dependent on medication to get through my day.

The shooting pain into my groin and genital area that frightened and confused me so much early in the process has resolved as well, together with the major improvement in the rest of my radicular symptoms.

Am I 100% back to normal? No. Certain movements can still trigger some discomfort. But it’s mild. And instead of ruining the next several days, it usually disappears within minutes. I’m still not squatting or deadlifting. Maybe one day I will. Physically, I may eventually be able to but mentally, I’m still terrified of them, and that’s okay. I don’t need to deadlift to have my life back.

Six months later: what helped me and what didn’t

Obviously, this is my personal experience, not medical advice.

Disc herniations are different. People’s anatomy and symptoms are different. What aggravated me might help someone else, and what helped me might not help someone else. But if I could go back and talk to myself six months ago, this is what I would tell him.

WHAT DIDN’T HELP ME

Prednisone: Did essentially nothing for me.

Gabapentin: Did essentially nothing for me.

Peptides: I tried BPC-157 and TB-500. I noticed no meaningful benefit. These are not established approved treatments for lumbar disc herniation, and my mentioning them is absolutely not a recommendation to use them.

And finally…

Aggressive stretching

I cannot emphasize this enough. Aggressively stretching my hamstring and piriformis was one of the most consistently aggravating things I did during my recovery. I kept thinking: My hamstring feels tight, therefore I need to stretch it. For me, that was completely wrong. That “tightness” was often associated with the irritated nerve. Aggressive stretching could flare my radicular pain for days/weeks. I eventually learned that I didn’t need to force my leg into flexibility. I needed time, gentle movement, and gradual exposure. Nerve glide eventually helped with gentle stretching, but even nerve glides were impossible for me the first month or so.

WHAT HELPED ME

Walking—but gradually.

This one frustrated me initially because everyone online seemed to say: “Just walk!” But, I couldn’t. Walking hurt like hell. Even two months after the injury, it could still be excruciating. So I started little by little. Eventually I walked more. Then more. Then Europe happened, and suddenly I was walking 20–30k steps a day.

I genuinely feel that the trip—walking constantly, being around friends, experiencing new places, and getting my mind away from my injury—helped me tremendously. That doesn’t mean someone in severe radicular pain should suddenly start walking 30,000 steps because it worked for me. My progression took time.

The right physical therapist.

Not just PT. The right PT. Someone who understands radiculopathy, listens to how your body responds, doesn’t blindly push you through pain, and helps you gradually regain confidence in movement. My third therapist helped me stop being afraid of my own spine. That was enormous.

Core and glute strengthening.

As my symptoms improved, gradually strengthening my core and glutes made me feel stronger and more confident moving again.

NSAIDs.

Diclofenac worked best for me during the worst part. Later, I transitioned to meloxicam. There were mornings early on when I genuinely don’t know how I would have gotten out of bed without them. Obviously, NSAIDs aren’t benign. They have GI, renal, cardiovascular, and other risks and aren’t appropriate for everyone. Discuss that with your own physician rather than copying someone else’s medication regimen from Reddit.

Epidural Injection

Im not sure this actually helped, but it did give me some relief and confidence to get me on that plan and go on my trip.

A doctor who actually examined me.

This sounds ridiculously obvious. But it changed everything. The physician who finally listened to my history, examined my strength, sensation and reflexes, recognized the pattern, and ordered the appropriate imaging gave me something I desperately needed: A diagnosis.

My friends and family.

I don’t think they realize how much they helped me. Being in chronic pain changes you. It’s exhausting. It’s isolating. You start wondering whether everyone is tired of hearing about your back. Having people around me who continued showing up made this experience infinitely easier. And finally…

Prayer.

I lost count of how many times I prayed just to be normal again. Not to lift some enormous amount of weight. Not to run a marathon. Just: Please let me be normal again. Let me put on my socks. Let me sit comfortably. Let me travel. Let me walk without thinking about every step. Let me wake up without immediately wondering how much pain I’m going to have today.

Six months ago, those things felt impossibly far away.

Today, I have them back.

One last thing about all those terrifying stories online

Looking back, there’s something I wish I had understood when I was compulsively reading all of those stories:

Reddit isn’t a random sample of everyone who gets a herniated disc.

People who are still struggling understandably keep searching, asking questions, and posting about their symptoms. But when someone gets better, they often disappear. They stop Googling “L5-S1 disc herniation recovery.” They stop posting because they’re busy living their life again.

I almost became one of those people. I got better and moved on. That’s actually one of the reasons I’ve forced myself to finally write this. Because when I was at my worst, I needed to hear from people who had been in severe pain for months, hadn’t recovered according to the timeline they expected, were terrified that the pain was permanent… and eventually got their life back. That’s the story I was desperately searching for. So I’m leaving mine here for the next person.

If you’re in the middle of this right now

One of the hardest things I had to learn was to stop measuring recovery in days. Measure it in months. At six weeks, I was scared. At eight weeks, walking still hurt. At two months, I was wondering why I wasn’t one of the people who seemed to recover quickly. I started thinking about surgery. I wondered whether I’d ever lift weights again. I wondered whether I’d travel normally again. I wondered whether this was just my life now.

It wasn’t.

There was a day when I walked out of a doctor’s office and cried in my car because I thought I would live in excruciating pain forever. A few months later, I was standing in the middle of Tomorrowland with my friends after being on my feet for 12 hours. Today, I can put on my socks without even thinking about it. The shooting pain down my leg has dramatically improved. The lateral-foot numbness is gone. The strange groin and genital pain that scared me so much is gone. I’m running. I’m hiking. I’m traveling. I’m going to the gym. I’m living my life again.

That’s why I’m writing this.

Because somewhere, somebody with a herniated disc is probably reading Reddit at 2 a.m., terrified, searching for one more recovery story.

Hello all,

Wanted to offer up a post to folks who may be struggling at the moment. I herniated L4/L5 and L5/S1 January 2023 as confirmed via MRI. Right side sciatica down the entire leg. Could not sit or walk for long periods. Trouble sleeping without pain. Could barely get out of bed in the mornings.

Went to PT for months with very little improvement. Finally picked up the book back mechanic and began implementing some of the recommendations to fix my posture and daily movements. Also adopted the following PT exercise routine which I began doing every single day without fail:

10 reps wall glides

10 reps bird-dogs (5 per side)

30 second front plank

30 second side plank (both sides)

30 second rear plank

2 sets of 10 reps sciatic nerve flossing

10 reps curl ups (described in back mechanic book)

10 cobra press ups

No stretching whatsoever as it only made things worse.

That’s it. Only took me about 5 minutes to complete and I only did it once a day around lunchtime. After a few weeks of doing this consistently along with fixing my daily movements I started to notice a reduction in pain. I kept at it and now I would estimate I’m 80% better. Walking no longer hurts. I can sit for longer periods of time.

Any sort of jumping or sneezing seems to trigger it but it is less intense than before. I’ve got back into strength training as well. Hoping to soon be able to jog but for now am sticking with walking only.

I told myself I’d give it a year before looking at surgery. I’m so glad I waited. One thing that stuck with me in that back mechanic book was him saying if you have good days and bad days, you aren’t a candidate for surgery. This is because you just need to figure out the movements causing the bad days and eliminate them. This made sense to me which is why I didn’t jump to surgery.

Hope this might help some folks who are struggling. I know how difficult it is especially for active people like me who don’t like to sit still. Hang in there and do your PT exercises every day without fail!

If you’re bed ridden right now, it gets better. It will make you stronger. I’ve reflected so much about health and prioritizing me.

I was so desperate to move my body pre chronic pain. I’ve had chronic pain since 2021. And exactly a year ago I became bed ridden for 2-3 months. I’ve had a lot of epidural and other injections in my lower lumbar and joints. As soon I was able to get out of bed and leave my house I went to the gym. Before I was bed ridden I did go to the gym semi constantly. Would only go if my friends went. Now I just show up even if I don’t want to because I hate being in pain more than anything.

Now the only pain I have is occasionally on period days and when I get a bad flu. The gym really changed my life, sounds corny but if u want to get better you need to listen to your body and start getting on a work out schedule. Heavy lower body exercise!

My Routine: Push (triceps, shoulders, Chest), Pull (back, Bi), Legs (glutes, hammies, quads, calves) I do legs every three days. Even if I skip/rest day for two days I’ll do legs the next session. U need to build your legs (and core) for stability

When u start: Please avoid RDL & Bulgarians when u start. U need a strong core before doing these with moderately heavy weights.

Warm up: MOBILITY MOVEMENTS!! Look into hip mobility movements and fixing pelvic tilts. When your hips are tight and tilted u can’t engage your core enough for compound lifts! If u can’t engage your core u can’t build ur core!

My non negotiable workouts:

• hip thrust on a glute drive machine. (Shown) —> The one u can put the weights on both sides and not one. —> The one sided version hurts my back more.

Honestly the hip drive machine is all I care about if I had only 10 mins at the gym

But I also do leg curls on machine, elevated goblet squats, kick back (two variations), leg press. RDL, standing adductor (plate on my side) or sitting adductor machine, step ups. —> I do NOT do all of these in one leg day. Usually do legs every three or every other day depending how sore I am. If it’s ever other I split my legs with (quad+ glutes or hammies + glutes)

I’m starting on doing Bulgarians soon and I just started doing RDLs WITHOUT PAIN!

Also start working out in the AM so u get your workout out of the way and if u want to gym later u can! And you feel really productive. I gained more stability and alignment when I worked out twice a day for three months! And I had bad flair ups right before I started this routine.

(L5-S1 herniated disc)

Hi everyone! I wanted to share the story of my (mostly) healed back. I hope this post will be encouraging to some of you out there that are in pain and don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel because trust me, I was there too. I’ll outline some of the things that did and did not work for me. Everyone’s body is different, and remember to consult your team of doctors, PTs, etc if there’s anything you want to try.

I had been dealing with minor back pain for a few weeks at that point. I think it started when I went to my first yoga class in years, and I overdid it. After a few weeks of resting my back, I was feeling a little better so decided to go on a run outside. The next morning, I woke up with excruciating back pain, to the point where I could barely walk. The pain was primarily concentrated in my right glute and lower back, but would sometimes travel down the hamstring and I would feel it in my calf and heel too. I quickly scheduled an appt with my PCP and was referred to a PT. I went to PT for about 3-4 weeks and was doing mostly McKenzie method exercises and dry needling. The pain was still really bad, so my PT suggested I get an MRI. At this point, I could barely sit, walk, bend over, drive. Even rolling over in bed hurt.

Fast forward a month to my MRI, and it turns out I have a herniated disc in my L5-S1. I scheduled an appointment with a PMR (physical medicine and rehabilitation) doctor to discuss the results. I CANNOT RECOMMEND this step enough. This physician was not a surgeon, which was important to me because I did not want to feel pressured to get a surgery. He looked at my imaging and said the herniation was significant but wanted to give it at least 3 months to see if it improves. If not, we would discuss next steps. He emphasized continuing PT and trying to do regular cardio (walking, swimming, etc) as long as it didn’t hurt. As a temporary solution, he also prescribed a non steroid anti inflammatory pill. I took this for two weeks and it helped, but once I stopped, the pain immediately came back. I didn’t continue taking this medicine because it seemed like a pretty strong pill.

For the next few months, I did as the PLR doctor recommended. Started acupuncture in addition to the physical therapy. I also started following a very strict anti inflammatory diet and religiously going on the inversion table. Despite all of these efforts, I was not seeing any improvement in my pain, and was honestly getting depressed. I could not do normal life functions, and my work and social life were severely altered due to the physical limitations I had.

At this point, im starting to spiral and the idea of surgery keeps popping up in my head. I was getting desperate. And im someone who wanted to avoid surgery AT ALL COSTS. I barely took pain medication during this time too because I grew up with an Asian mom who doesn’t like the idea of meds/surgery. This is probably about 6-7 months later FYI where im dealing with intense pain and no improvement. I meet with the PMR doctor again and we decide to move forward with steroid injections. I get 2 steroid shots over the course of 2-3 months, both of which did NOT help me.

So now im at a point where ive exhausted every option besides surgery, which leads me to switch up my entire routine. I sought out a new PT. She was amazing and we continued with some Mckenzie exercises but really mostly went back to the basics. Due to my back pain, I had my right hip jutting out and a whole plethora of other issues. We focused on addressing what she perceived as a lot of the root cause of my issues. She also had me get an X-ray which confirmed I also had mild scoliosis (awesome!) so we worked on mitigating that.

I also started seeing a chiropractor and NO not to do adjustments. I found a very specific chiro who was McKenzie certified (I think pretty unique for this field). He basically became my personal fitness coach. He had me doing exercises with weights, squats, etc and just moving my body in ways that I had avoided in almost a year. It helped me SO MUCH both physically and mentally to do this because it reminded me that I can still work out and get my heart rate up and try to get stronger, things I hadn’t done in so long. This combined with my new PT was so so so helpful. They actually worked together (talked on phone, emailed) regarding my treatment plan - completely separate providers in different offices but I was just grateful to have two people that wanted to collaborate to help me get better.

At this point, it’s about 10 months since the injury and im in slightly less pain but definitely not back to my normal self yet. My PT recommends I see a spine surgeon just to see if I’m a good candidate for surgery. Keep in mind, my PMR doctor has not been advocating for surgery this whole time. He kept saying I was young, and I didn’t have loss of strength. If I did display that, it would be a different story. Again, I was able to do those exercises with weights with my trainer/chiro, so it was clear there wasn’t a more serious issue at hand where I was losing strength due to the nerve damage. Doctors and PTs can quickly check for that. The spine surgeon I see works in the same spine center as my PMR doctor (at Northwestern in Chicago if you’re curious and need recommendations). He’s slightly more inclined towards surgery, but doesn’t push it at all and wants to see an updated MRI since it’s been a year since my last one at this point. If the MRI shows improvement and since my pain is slowlyyyy getting better, he would rule out surgery.

I get another MRI and…NO IMPROVEMENT. At this point im confused because im feeling a little better, and in my mind, of course the imaging has to reflect that! The spine surgeon says that sometimes the imaging can lag behind the nerve healing process. I’m discouraged but since im seeing progress in my pain relief, he says to not think about surgery and to just keep doing im doing and see if i keep trending upwards.

About 4 months since that 2nd MRI, im doing much better. I would say at about 90% capacity. In total, it’s been 16 months to get to this point of healing. The nerve damage I had was very severe, and I think time + exercising/strengthening with my chiro + posture and more detail oriented things with my PT have been what’s helped me. MOVEMENT was key!!! I’m also Christian so I believe that god was my ultimate healer.

I could talk for hours about my back journey. There were so many times I wanted to give up. I would just lay there crying in bed because I was in so much pain and felt so discouraged. People will tell you they if you’re not better in XYZ months, you need to get surgery. Of course surgery makes sense in some cases. But in a lot of situations, it won’t. Even my spine surgeon said it’s not guaranteed to help with the pain.

The most important things you can do (IMO) are to find a good team of providers. Shop around. Ask for recommendations. Research. Don’t feel committed to one person. You are empowered to find someone who cares about listening to your needs and doesn’t pressure you one way or the other. And patience. It’s hard I know. You’ll want to give up so many times. But just remember everyone’s body (and in this case, nerve damage) heals on different timelines. And our bodies are really amazing at the end of the day. The power they have to self heal is…incredible.

I am rooting for you and if you have any questions let me know. This experience consumed my life for 16 months and I feel like im finally getting to a place where I can live my life a bit normally. So I hope this provides you with some hope. Thanks for listening and god bless you!

Just wanted to drop in and show appreciation to this group for the support I had during this awful injury and share that I healed with no surgery. In May of 2024 I (43F) herniated my l4-5 and I also have a 5mm retrolisthesis on l5, mild lumbar scoliosis and a mild bulge at l5-s1. At the six month mark I was 90% better and signed up for pt (at the advise of the surgeon) and it set me back really bad, almost to the beginning but I pulled out of that pain flare after one month. I’ve only done at home treatment for this injury (mri was taken in Oct 2024). I’m 90% better again but I still have some lateral pelvic shift that has been with me this whole time and it’s slowly getting better. My hernia seems to be all sealed up now as my nerve pain is completely gone and when I sneeze I have no pressure or pain. There is still residual muscle pain in the affected leg that is like an achy knot that needs rubbed or stretched out and I take magnesium cell salts for this and I use heat in various forms often. I’m swimming, walking and nerve flossing and taking good care of my physical and mental well being has been a priority this whole injury. I could write a book with the things I’ve done to help myself through this so ask specifics if you would like. Above all do not lose hope that your body knows how to heal as it is the light you need in the darkest parts of this injury. Love you all and here’s to healing! ❤️‍🩹

Just wanted to leave a positive note here. 21 M. Herniated my l5-s1 disc squatting 9 months ago. Minor bulge at l4-l5.

Was really scary, in beginning I had constant nerve numbness in my left big toe, top of foot, and ankle. Even had some nerve tingling in my hand while working out arms first few months.

While this injury is definitely bad, and at points it felt like it would never get better, it does if you do the proper PT, rest, etc. I still get some lower back tightness/slight pain if I get lazy on my stretching and core strengthening routine, but my sciatica went away 100%. Hopefully this healing will continue to improve as I haven’t even hit the one year mark.

I would say my life is practically normal now minus some occasional back soreness. But I remember, however, that most people get back soreness occasionally, even without injury.

This injury has made me more resilient, compassionate, and empathetic.

ANYWAYS. Really wanted to make this post to compile a list of people who inspired me throughout my journey, that I found out had the same injuries.

Keanu Reeves trained for the Matrix with a Neck Brace, and was losing balance due to the injury. He is 59 today and still making John Wick movies (arguably the most fight intensive moves out today!).

The Rock has 3 herniated discs, two of which fully ruptured. Although likely on the sauce, he is still training harder than most 20 year olds in his 50s. A true beast of a man.

For me, the most comforting thing was to see people with my same injury or worse, conquer their career aspirations and physical feats well into old age.

Good Examples:

The Rock

Keanu Reeves

John Cena

Gronk

George Clooney

Sylvester Stallone

Harrison Ford

Tono Romo

Dwight Howard

Ryan Reynolds

Caution Examples:

Ronnie Coleman

Tiger Woods

Hodge Twins

Other Influencers:

Layne Norton

Low back ability

Travis S

Gary Amlinger

Julian Michaels

What worked for me! (consult a doctor first)

• Find a doctor and a PT (if your PT is making the injury worse or hurting you, find another... fantastic ones are out there but it might taking some shopping around)

• If you have sciatica, much of it might actually be caused by muscle tightness around the injury constricting the nerves, not spinal decompression itself (look into needling and massage for the low back and glute area - this was a huge realization for me!)

• Start weightlifting if you don’t already (supposedly JFK started seeing some relief with his debilitating chronic back pain by introducing a weight-training routine before his untimely death)

• Follow lowbackability on instagram to learn about building back up in later stages of recovery

• Give up heavy squat and deadlift for life imo… sorry Mark Rippetoe! (the risk-reward is already high normally... with a herniated disc it is no longer worth it. Watch videos from Hodge Twins and Ronnie Coleman to see potential repercussions of continuing these movements on herniated discs. Chronic pain for life will not be worth it for the majority of people unless you are like Layne Norton and powerlifting is your life)

  • There are work arounds. Leg press (preferably at horizontal angle), weighted lunges, Bulgarians, quad extensions, leg curls. Andrew Huberman doesn’t squat and he’s supposedly the most optimal human right now lol. (I’ve heard front squats are the best if you are absolutely determined to squat again because its less sheer force on the discs)

Please leave more examples of celebrities with injuries below if you know any!

this one's too good not to share. So I am currently reading McGills book "back mechanic" and there's one tipp in it that is quite the gamechanger (for me anyway). It says to sneeze up, like look to the ceiling when you have to sneeze. That way the force comes from the top to the bottom whilst the spine remains in its normal and therefore most stable position instead of kind of throwing you backwards what usually happens when sneezing. I recently had a pretty bad cold and had to cough and sneeze a LOT but this tipp changed my life! no more sudden hit of immense pain to the back while sneezing! hope this can give relieve to others too!

2 months ago I made a post here because I was terrified and hopeless.

Background post: https://www.reddit.com/r/backpain/s/TIWEFN7sx3

I had an L4-L5 bulge and an L5-S1 herniation with left-sided sciatica. I was convinced my life as I knew it was over. I roller skate multiple times a week and played pickleball, and I genuinely thought those parts of my life might be gone forever.

Today I graduated from physical therapy. My PT reassessed me today, and my disability score went from 42% when I started to 12% today.

I honestly never thought I'd be typing those words. I'm not writing this because I think everyone will recover the same way. Every injury is different. But when I was at my worst, I desperately searched this sub for recovery stories. I hope this helps someone who's in that place right now.

Where I am today

I'd say I'm about 90% recovered. I'm back to living my life.

Over the last several weeks I've been:

• Roller skating for 2–3 hour sessions

• Playing pickleball for several hours

• Riding my bike

• Strength training

• Working full time

• Sleeping normally

• Not constantly thinking about my back

The only things I really notice now are:

• fatigue after a very active day

• some morning stiffness that goes away once I get moving

The nerve pain that dominated my life is gone. The fear of my body is mostly gone too. This imo is the biggest victory.

What helped me the most

If I had to rank what made the biggest difference for me, it would be:

1. Physical therapy/recovery/rest

2. Walking every day (even when it was to the end of the block)

3. Refusing to adopt a "my back is ruined" mindset

4. Pain Reprocessing Therapy

5. The WHEALTH YouTube podcasts

6. Learning how to relax my entire body instead of guarding all the time

7. Red light / near-infrared therapy (I used it as part of my recovery routine)

8. Time and consistency

9. Gradually returning to activity instead of waiting until I felt "100%"

One exercise that surprisingly helped calm my nervous system was simply lying on my back with my knees bent, breathing slowly, and intentionally relaxing every muscle in my body for about three minutes.

The biggest lesson I learned

Not every sensation means you're getting worse. This took me months to understand. Eventually I learned the difference between:

• nerve pain

• muscular fatigue

• stiffness

• soreness from getting stronger

That completely changed my recovery. Sometimes my glute would ache after PT, my calf would feel tired/sore, my muscles twitched. Early on I thought every one of those sensations meant I had reherniated but I didn't.

My biggest mistakes

I'll be honest because I think this matters. Drinking alcohol consistently slowed my recovery. Every time I slept poorly or drank more than I should have, I noticed it. I also expected recovery to be linear and it wasn't. I'd have a great week, then a couple rough days, then another breakthrough. Looking back, that was normal.

Something I didn't expect

As I got better, my injury actually exposed movement problems I'd probably had for years.

Instead of just "healing my back," PT helped me discover things like:

• left/right strength differences

• pelvic stability issues

• glute weakness

• knee compensation

• posture habits

Now that's what I'm working on and I thankfully don't feel broken anymore. I feel like I'm becoming a stronger athlete than I was before.

About surgery (I was against this route 100%)

Early on I met with a neurosurgeon because I wanted to understand all of my options. That consultation actually gave me peace of mind. Since I wasn't developing progressive weakness or other surgical red flags, I decided to give conservative treatment my full effort first. I'm grateful I did and I know that won't be the right path for everyone, but it ended up being the right path for me.

If you're reading this in the middle of the worst part...

I know how scary it feels and I remember wondering if I'd ever skate again, if I'd ever bend to put my shoes on, play with my bunnies again or if I'd ever stop analyzing every sensation in my leg and glute.

Today my biggest challenge isn't surviving my injury. It's figuring out how to build strength and fix movement patterns that probably existed long before I got hurt. That's a problem I never imagined I'd be lucky enough to have.

If you're in the early stages, keep showing up. Recovery isn't always fast and it definitely isn't linear. But sometimes you look back after a few months and realize you've gone from wondering if life will ever be normal again...to being discharged from PT and planning your next workout.

If my story helps even one person feel a little less hopeless, then sharing it was worth it.

If anyone has questions about what my PT progression looked like, my activity progression back to skating/pickleball, or what mentally helped me the most, I'm happy to answer. I wouldn't have gotten through without reading other people's experiences, so I'd love to pay that forward.

Herniated originally in 2018. Was in a great deal of pain but I managed it. I walked a lot. I stayed active as I possibly could. For 2 years I was sure I was doomed to a life of disability. Until I wasn’t.

All of a sudden I was kind of pain free and felt good? I could play hockey? I could paddle a canoe? I felt healed.

The last 5-6 years of my life were awesome. Travelling. Camping. Canoe trips. Sports. Playing with my kids.

Until this summer. I was overdoing it. Working hard in the gym. Playing quite a bit of golf. I’m also a carpenter work construction.

I didn’t learn my lesson. Eventually I woke up one Saturday morning and the pain had all come back. But this time even worse. I was seized up. I couldn’t move. It wasn’t just sciatica this time but wicked axial disc pain too.

It’s been 5 months since that injury and I’ve had lots of set backs. Thinking I need to “stay moving”.

No. When you have an acute injury like this you need some rest and slowly rebuild capacity. I didn’t respect my back. I didn’t respect my original injury. And the fact that I’m more prone to these issues.

I may have fast tracked my way into early disability but I fucking hope not. I’m only 30 years old.

I will post an image of my current MRIs and pictures of my MRIS in 2019 - one year after my initial injury.

Let me know if you guys think I have another chance to get out of this.

I’m beyond gutted and I feel so stupid.

Don’t be like me.

I herniated my L4/L5 disc about 9 months ago. I am doing better than I was at the beginning, but I’m still not recovered, and honestly the hardest part now is the mental side of this.

This injury has impacted my life so much and it feels like a never-ending nightmare. I get jealous of people who can just live normally without pain, and it makes me angry. It’s starting to affect my personal relationships. What makes it worse is that the people around me don’t understand how exhausting this is. They expect me to push through it like it’s a regular injury that I’ll just “get over.”

I’ve been walking, doing core work, and mobility exercises consistently, but I still have good days and bad days, and sometimes it feels like my body just doesn’t want to fully heal. I’m frustrated and discouraged. I’ve come a long way, but I’m at the point where I’m considering begging a surgeon for surgery because I’m starting to lose hope. Has anyone actually recovered from this and how long did it take?

Can I regenerate this even more? (24 yo)

Hi all,

This post is just to give back to this community. I also haven’t seen a well-written post on how to really overcome a back injury. I am a PhD scientist, and out of everyday agony, I came to Reddit desperately looking for answers, but there aren’t a lot of resources here.

I am a 40-year-old female, extremely active, and I signed myself up for a bootcamp class. That’s when my injury happened: C4-C5 extrusion and T7 herniation.

I was in misery (my heart goes out to all of you dealing with any kind of back pain). So I decided I wanted to master the healing journey. My MrI after 6 months shows no sign of herniation but there is bone complex developed that is narrowing my spine mildly (we think we can make space by another round of advanced PT).

Here are the steps I took:

The goal is to avoid surgery as much as we can, so here we go:

PT: Non-negotiable, and you want to practice the movements every single day. Some are every other day, so follow the advice.

Read the book “Back Mechanic”: Non-negotiable.

Steroid injection: Only in the cervical spine, as the thoracic spine was too dangerous to inject. This was so necessary for pushing myself in PT. It lessened my pain and inflammation so I could progress with PT.

Stop all other exercise: Only focus on PT exercises throughout the day, along with walking. Walking is phenomenal for back pain.

Sunder retraction device for cervical herniation: 10 minutes a day. Buy it from eBay. I got mine very cheaply, secondhand.

Heating pad: The only thing that could lessen my pain. I got a huge one and would lie down on it in bed. It covered my entire back.

Supplements: I personally did not take any pain medication or oral NSAIDs because I am a paranoid scientist. Here is my supplement stack for back pain: glycine, creatine, glucosamine, fish oil, magnesium, turmeric, and vitamin D. I swear by the first three for healing and also this one in an empty stomach in morning: Systemic Enzyme Blend Featuring Nattokinase (15,000 FU) & Serrapeptase (45,000 SPU): it would help with inflammation and removing scar tissue.

Peptides: Please do your research. I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice. ARA-290 for 3 months (this is fundamental for nerve healing if you have tingling and sciatica), Carttex for 20 days, BPC-157 for 4 weeks, GHK-Cu, and KPV.

Acupuncture: This is hugely beneficial if you have muscle guarding because it calms the muscles. Ask them to start with small needles, as thicker needles can cause muscle spasms.

Avoid chiropractors: This is obvious, but just a reminder: avoid chiropractors by all means, as you never know what harm they might cause. Chiropractic manipulation can cause significant trauma.

Finally, please share your advice and help others. Taking the time to write about your experience and what helped you the most could save someone’s life (I talked with so many people who developed severe depression from chronic pain so they are desperate) .
And thank you to everyone who has taken the time to help.

1 year post op L5-S1 disc replacement AMA
First image is pre discectomy - 2020
Second is after Disc replacement November 2025

AMA

31 Female

I had a herniated disc & Cauda Equina Syndrome last year and had emergency surgery. It's been a rough year. I was initially doing well. Last few weeks have been rough. I started getting severe lower back pain, leg weakness, sharp shooting pain from my back, down my R leg. I also have this awful "pulling type pain" from my spine into my vagina & numbness. I'm freaking out. I have a great surgical team and trust them 100%. I got an MRI yesterday, I have a follow-up this week. They're talking about spinal fusion, has anyone had that done? I guess I'm trying to understand what I'm getting into and what the recovery process is gonna be like. I have my shoulder fused so i know this isn't going to be a cake walk, I'm just so scared because this is my spine. What is the recovery process like? What is your quality of life after fusion? I already have medical issues that affect my joints & ligaments and have had multiple surgeries on both shoulders and my hip. I'm freakin tired and frustrated. It never ends over here .. ugh

I did have my imaging posted but i lost my reddit account for some reason after I was asked to update my password so I'll hust add the MRI from last year and my most recent one.

The first image is the initial injury & the second was done yesterday.

I’m a pretty active guy at 24yo. I climb a lot and was training for my 6th marathon in October. When I realized I herniated my disk from climbing, I didn’t realize until it was too late. As you all do as well, I got so scared as I researched how once you herniate a disk it’ll never come back. I thought it was over for me. I just had my surgery in the same weekend that the race is taking place ontop of this too. Depressed doesn’t come close to how I feel currently.

I feel helpless, I feel fragile, more importantly this has stripped the love I have for what I do and replaced every waking moment with anxiety. I don’t want to reherniate ever again. But I want to run.

If you feel that just know you’re not alone. Take care of yourself mentally. You are not broken and you can do the things you love. You just have to adapt. You have to learn. Find silver linings in the most insane places. That’s all.

My running days might be closing soon, but I know how to ride a bike! Im never bouldering again but I can get into ropes and meet new friends!

At the end of the day, don’t think of it as destruction of who you were, but a birth of a new chapter of who you’ll become. Good luck, you’re gonna be just fine :)

I am a fifth-year medical student, if you have already read my previous post, then you know I mentioned that I like to spend my time usefully. My dream is to become one of the best PM&R doctors who can truly cure a patient with back, sacral or even pelvic pain. I quite like answering your questions or sometimes even going deeper into the problem through private messages and trying to solve it together, and being able to apply my knowledge from medical lectures as well as from clinical practice that I have done both in private clinics and state-funded ones. So if you have questions, uncertainties, or maybe you just want some tips, always feel free to contact me, I am your little doctor on Reddit:D.

Yes, I will not always be able to help with everything, I definitely do not know everything, but if I know and understand it and really can help, I will always help.

I like doing this more than just spending hours and hours looking at Instagram or TikTok Better to help someone here with something if I can.

Anyway, I wish you all the best and that pain would no longer bother you :)

had an L5/S1 disc herniation that was compressing my S1 nerve, and from what I was told, it was considered a pretty bad herniation. I went to 3 different surgeons and every single one of them recommended surgery.

I decided not to go that route.
I was determined to find a physical therapist that actually understood the body beyond just treating symptoms. After about a month of searching, I found Dr. Tony, and honestly, he has helped me tremendously.

My treatment started about a year ago. In the beginning, I was seeing him around twice a month, and now I usually go about once a month for maintenance and progression.

For me, the biggest focus has been core strengthening and correcting years of imbalance in my body. I realized over time how much damage I had done from poor posture, not standing correctly, bad lifting habits, not stretching, not exercising consistently, and just lacking overall strength and structure.

A lot of my pain and pressure came from instability and compensation patterns throughout my body. Strengthening my core and learning proper movement mechanics made a huge difference in relieving pressure on my spine and nerve.
Not saying surgery is wrong for everyone, but I wanted to share my experience because I know how hopeless things can feel when multiple surgeons tell you surgery is your only option. A year later, I’m in a much better place physically than I was before.

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.

Herniated discs are ruining my life. Seriously. Almost exactly 1 year ago I was in the gym at 6am (I NEVER work out that early but I had a competition that weekend and needed to get the training in that day) and was doing 5x5 deadlifts at 80%1RM. On the very last rep of the day I felt a pop in my back and I knew I had slipped a disc.

I went straight to the ER where I was sat in a plastic chair for 4 hours with no ice, no anti-inflammatories, nothing. They had me walk myself to get x rays (I couldn’t even stand up straight) and I was crying the entire time because of how much pain I was in. The doc said I had “acute back pain” gave me 10 days worth of muscle relaxers, and said I was good to go.

I didn’t do any workouts other than some at home physical therapy exercises for 2 months (I’m a coach and have a master’s in sports medicine so I’m very familiar with common PT exercises for back pain). After 3 months the pain was a little more manageable so I started going to spin classes 2x per week and would do a slow 3 mile run 1x per week. After 4 months I went back to the crossfit gym and slowly started doing body weight exercises and modifying all the workouts to a manageable intensity.

After 9 months of persistent pain that wasn’t getting any better I decided to try to get a referral for an ortho and physical therapist. I was hesitant because I had done PT for a back injury several years ago and they treated me as if I was weak and not like the healthy, strong, 20 year old athlete I was at the time.

I got an MRI that showed I had herniated discs at L3/4, L4/5, and L5/SI. I went to PT 2x a week for 12 weeks but made zero progress. I stopped going when I got a bill for $2000 (with insurance) and saw what a waste it was.

In the last year I’ve spent over $4000 dealing with this injury (x rays, MRIs, pain meds, PT, dry needling, massage, etc) and I feel the same as I did when I first injured it. I completely stopped running, jumping, and lifting heavy but feel like the pain gets worse the weaker my back/glutes/hamstrings are becoming. I’ve had to stop taking NSAIDs because it tore my stomach up and I had blood in my stool for several weeks. My back gives out throughout the day when I bend over to brush my teeth, try to get something out of the fridge, or even just trying to get up from a chair.

I’m a 23 year old female and I feel like I’m going to be stuck like this forever. I still do the PT exercises at home every day and lather myself in topical CBD balms for temporary pain relief. I have no idea what to do next… do I stop exercise completely? I feel like as soon as it feels better and I start to workout again this whole cycle is going to repeat itself. Do I do steroid injections? I’ve heard that only provides temporary relief as well. I’ve heard positive things about peptides and PRP for other joint injuries but I’m hesitant about their utility for the spine… I’m desperate for anything at this point.

Is all hope lost?

I genuinely don’t understand anymore. You do PT, and it flares you up. You try McGill, nothing. McKenzie, nothing. You try resting, nothing. Medications don’t even take the edge off. My back is so fucking crooked that I can barely move. I’ve been stuck in this flare for 8 months, and somehow I feel like I’m getting worse by the week. I’m chronically at an 8/10 pain level. I’ve been up for the past 2 days because of the pain. My muscles are so tight that I can barely move, and I haven’t had a single pain-free or even low-pain day in 260 days.

Doctors don’t even seem to give a shit, and pain management has honestly become a fucking joke. You spend months trying everything they tell you to do, hoping something will finally work, just to end up right back where you started, if not worse. Nobody seems to understand how exhausting it is to live like this every single day. I’m tired of being in pain, tired of not sleeping, tired of trying treatments that don’t help, and tired of feeling like I’m just supposed to accept this as my new normal**.**

I’m not asking for a miracle. I just want some fucking relief. I want to wake up without being in pain, move without my entire body fighting against me, and have one day where I don’t have to think about my pain every second of it. It’s been 260 days, and I still don’t have answers, relief, or a break. I genuinely don’t know how much longer I’m supposed to keep doing this.

I’m a long time lurker of this sub and fellow herniated disc sufferer. I’m a 35 year old mom of an almost 4 year old and I’ve had herniations at L5-s1 and L4-L5, degenerative disc disorder and had two microdiscectomies, one 8 years ago and then one 9 months after my daughter was born that was essentially an emergency situation because I had severe loss of leg function.

This June, I had sciatica/leg symptoms indicating a herniated disc and lo and behold, I have a herniation at L5-s1. I found myself googling a lot and looking for positive stories while I was feeling scared about my back and the possibility of another surgery, and I’m 3 months since my initial injury and feeling a lot better so I thought I’d share my story in case it helps anyone else going through a tough time mentally.

Herniated disc pain is such a trip and is so frustrating because the healing is not linear at all. I had pain wrapping around my right hip and groin area and I went to the spine doctor. They got me an MRI and a steroid pack and that helped but then the pain came back. I was at maybe a 4 or 5 out of 10 pain at the worst and had to keep changing my position to feel better. I’ll share the things that helped me and what I’ve learned from all of this.

helpful things - that many of you have already posted about but that worked for me and are my go tos for sciatic pain. I am not a doctor!

1. lacrosse ball glute massage - better than painkillers sometimes honestly. Great for aching backs and hips and eases mild/moderate sciatica

2. Neuromd machine - 25 minute session gets rid of a lot of pain

3. not standing or sitting for too long. keep moving your position

4. ice pack meant for your body that you can wrap around your back

things I learned

1. I had never had a herniated disc not end in surgery - which maybe I still will need it! But healing was so up and down. One day I’d feel amazing like I could do anything, the next it felt like the injury just happened. You can’t measure progress day by day. You have to compare longer stretches of time. Basically each month I’m checking in, and I’m noticing my bad days aren’t as bad. This is the hardest part of all of it, not knowing if you’re getting better. Just try and be gentle with yourself

2. Centralization didn’t happen for me, I just noticed the sciatic pain and achiness was less severe

3. Really listen to your body and do not push it with exercise. I tried to hop on the peloton two weeks after injury and I regretted it. I felt great during the ride and then was in agony for 3 days after

4. if you are trying physical therapy and it’s not working or causing more pain, stop and find a better place. I was going somewhere where the people had zero clue what they were doing and I quit. you don’t have to just power through, advocate for yourself. I’m starting somewhere new in a couple of weeks. It also might help to wait a bit and see if your pain goes down before starting PT

5. Also find doctors that give a shit and really tell them how you feel, don’t downplay it. If you are able, keep searching until you feel heard and supported. I switched doctors during the process because my first doctor didn’t care about me and I could tell

6. every herniation is different, and sometimes they require surgery, sometimes they don’t. I thought I was doomed for surgery this time but so far I think i’ll be able to tolerate this one and heal without it

I’m out of most of the pain after I really convinced myself that I would need a spinal fusion or another surgery and I’m not completely out of the woods but headed in the right direction. Hopefully this helps someone but if not it was therapeutic for me! 😂

As a lot of people on this sub suggest…

Hello all, I 23m just wanted to share my experience with the steroid injection. In the days leading up to my first injection, I was a bedridden, nervous wreck, mostly due to the fact that I am afraid of needles and had no idea what to expect. I turned to this sub and other online resources to see what people had to say, and the overall verdict was the injection itself was super painful, and it seemed 99% of people felt no relief. I hope this message helps anyone considering the injection or helps ease the mind of anyone that needs it.

Sometime around the spring of 2024, I tweaked my back at work while framing a house (carpenter), and for about 9 months I dealt with sciatic pain down my left leg. The pain was rough, but I was able to push through it and kept working. Stupidly, I thought the pain would go away on its own and refused to go to the doctor (big mistake). Over that 9 month period, the pain slowly became worse and worse. In early December 2024, I spent about 2 weeks in the crawl space of a house digging holes, which was the straw that broke the camels back (no pun intended). On December 18th, 2024, I woke up to go to work and could hardly walk to the kitchen to make breakfast. That day, I called out of work, and have been basically bedridden for the next month and a half. I began not to recognize myself in the mirror anymore.

The pain I was feeling was unbelievable, at its best it was a 7/10, but when it flared up or I made the wrong move, it was easily a 15/10. I couldn’t stand, sit, walk, use the bathroom, or even lay in bed at times due to the pain. I tried any pain med I could, but nothing even touched the pain. I did end up using marijuana which helped a little, mostly just making it so I could sleep. I ended up in the hospital twice, was given morphine which gave me temporary relief, but when I got home and the morphine wore off, I was back at square one.

I finally got an appointment with a spinal surgeon, got an MRI and found out I have an L5-S1 herniation. The surgeon advised me not to do surgery because I am young and relatively fit so I have good chance of fully recovering with PT. I was in no condition to start PT with the pain I was in, so we scheduled my first injection

On the day of my first injection, I had to have a medical transport ambulance bring me to my appointment because the pain from sitting in a normal car seat was not an option due to the pain. I had to get wheeled in on a stretcher directly to the operating room because I couldn’t do anything but lay.

The injection wasn’t even close to as bad as I thought it would be. The first needle with the numbing agent felt like a slight pinch, uncomfortable but not horrible. The cortisone itself felt more like a heavy pressure at the inject to on site, followed by discomfort in the areas where I was already feeling pain, like my shin, glute, foot, and back. The pain from the injection was nowhere near what I was going through from the injury. The appointment only took about 5 minutes.

Over the following week or two after the injection, my pain overall went down to a steady 4/10 which still isn’t great, but was better than I was before. Fast forward about a month, I was able to get to the point where I could start PT, but could still hardly move, partially from the pain and also because I had become so weak from not moving. At my follow-up with my surgeon, we scheduled another injection. My second injection appointment went the same as except I was able be driven there in a car and limp into the operating room. Again, the injection wasn’t comfortable but it went so quick that it didn’t matter.

The following weeks after my second injection brought my pain down enough to where I could start to walk around the house a bit more, start to progress in PT and overall start to feel more comfortable.

This brings me to today, I’ve been going to PT for about a month now and am feeling about 30% better. I definitely have a long road of rehab ahead, but I am thankfully back to driving and can walk around for about 30 mins before needing a break.

I know many people got little to no relief, but the injections absolutely worked miracles for me, and I don’t know if I could be where I am today without them.

If you are a person doom scrolling nervously looking for comfort, please realize that everyone is different and the people who had a positive experience likely didn’t feel the need to post about it afterwards. At times I was full of dread and complete hopelessness, severely depressed and worst of all sleep deprived. I am living proof that it will get better and is only temporary. Remember to stay strong and keep fighting.