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Herniated Disc in lower back

3,592 Views | 30 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by double aught
Señor Chang
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AG
I have a herniated disc that was confirmed by an MRI. Seeing a pain specialist on Tuesday who I was referred to by my primary care doctor. Does anyone who has dealt with this before have any recommendations on things to do to speed up the recovery time and avoid re-aggravating it in the future?
Hoosegow
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Reverse hypers for now plus Super Ds lower back protocol.

Get your core strong. I never had herniated disc issues but I used to have spasm issues. Once I started doing strongman work which forces you to have a strong core,I stopped having lower back issues
Class of '94
Macpappy99
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I have a herniation at L5/S1. As others have suggested, the core is really important. While exercises you get for therapy help you need to keep doing them or run the chance of reaggrivating the injury. I have found that yoga has helped me a lot with functional core strength as well. It also helps the loosen up the hamstrings which are a big issue for me. I've also dropped 25 pounds on the last 4 months and have noticed a huge difference is the way my back reacts to things.
dahouse
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I had two herniated and one that just bulged a long time ago.

Had surgery (nucleoplasty) to fix it, and was told in 15-20 years the disc would probably become degenerative.

Its been 18 years and my discs are degenerating, and its sore every single day.

But, no numbness or tingling or burning or anything, just dull ache and stiffness.

Get a TENS unit, I love mine. Losing weight helps more than anything, along with strong back muscles/core.
Cody
Fightin Texas Aggie c/o 04
culdeus
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After fighting symptoms on and off for 2 years now I have done a lot of research on the topic.

The #1 thing I learned is virtually everyone past age 40 has at least one disc that will show on an MRI as herniated, and US doctors are really quick to cut on you with outcomes that borderline on tragic for later quality of life.

This is more an alarmist writing on the topic, but it is well sourced and referenced with lots of peer reviewed studies.

https://www.painscience.com/articles/mri-and-x-ray-almost-useless-for-back-pain.php

I agree with the conclusion that short of literal numbness to the point you can't walk, a MRI is often premature.


Herniated discs/degenerated disks/stenosis are all symptoms of a bigger issue. As others have said core strength is a major factor. The way we sit all day long just leads to muscle imbalances up and down the spine.

Seeing a PT monthly has been a godsend. They are pretty spendy, so make sure insurance is on board.

PT can help diagnose weaker spots in core/back/shoulders and has me doing lots of movement patterns to keep things in check. I'm not 100% (and may never be) but I can see a world where I might be 100% by this summer.

Once you start with a PT they will either have you doing some variation of the McKinsey (Sue me if not spelled right) method if you can tolerate it or will have you doing lighter work to get you there.

I've started every single morning doing a 30s deadhangs and then band resisted press-ups followed by thoracic roll outs. It took me a while to get there. I do the PT core stuff now after any lifting probably 5x a week.

While not a Dr. or PT you have to understand that a disc issue doesn't just magically heal. It will take some active recovery because the discs do not have a high blood flow system to heal it.

Expect this to take at least 6 months, maybe 9 months to feel truly better.
SJEAg
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Not suggesting you should run to the knife without trying other options...but I had a L5/S1 herniated disc in my early-mid 30s. Tried PT, pain management, corticosteroids, etc. Problem just kept getting worse until I finally just got a discectomy done. Outpatient and I was up and walking around pain free within the hour.

Still sit in a desk 10 hours a day and began running marathons (although my doctor did not suggest doing this). I only regret not doing the surgery sooner as I lost a good 3-4 years of life being partially crippled. Again, everyone is different.


Nosh
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Did pain management and injections for 6 months. Had the surgery and wished I had done that first. Immediate relief
lb3
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Na Zdraví 87
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I have L4 L5. Done physical therapy, pain mgmt. injections, deep tissue massage, etc.... Nothing. Now my back dr is ordering a ct scan and EMG. I'm sick of this. Been going on for a year. My sciatica is bad now on both sides.
vic99
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https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/back-doctor-pain-relief/id1218493415?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Watkins.BackDoctor&hl=en_US

This is a free app...if you actually do the program and progress through the steps, it works.
The guys that developed it have worked on some very high profile athletes.
Obvious statement: Don't do it if it causes pain.
Jim01
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Well FML.

Hurt my back after a 2.5 hour trainer ride last October. Rested and never got better. Saw chiro because it was pointing to SI joint issue. 4-5 sessions and no huge improvement. Then last week things ramped up and he said it's time for MRI. Just got off the phone with him...

Herniated Discs:
1. L4-L5 13 mm left side (he said the second biggest he's seen in his 9 years as a chiro/pt
2. L5-S1 6mm left side
3. T12-L1 4.5mm bilateral

On top of that I have a bilateral stress fracture of L5.

Current hypothesis is that it started last summer at a friends lake house I slipped on a jet ski ramp, legs went out, and I basically landed straight on my tailbone on a 2x4. Felt like a deep bruise for a month afterward. Then really manifested as I ramped up 70.3 training for Oilman. Of course my lack of core strength probably didn't help. I've done 2 half and 2 full ironman's but never been big on the core work

I am down in Friendswood. Any one have a spine surgeon recommendation for me? He recommended a guy named Thomas Jones off 288. https://www.southeasttexasspine.com/

Right now still processing. I was kind of hoping to get in one more 70.3 and 140.6 before selling my bike for good and going to purely running. Now I don't know what the future holds...
Hoosegow
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Lesson learned...

It's always better to lift.

Man, that sucks.
Class of '94
Jim01
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lb3 said:

The second time I went to an Orthopedist instead of a neurosurgeon. He was a good guy. Worked in the VA, taught at Methodist, and moonlighted as the orthopedic surgeon for the Houston Ballet. If he can fix their hammer toes, my back should be a piece of cake.
Would you mind sharing his name?
lb3
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Jim01
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Awesome. Thanks for all the info.
Señor Chang
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I'm getting a steroid injection in the spine next Tuesday. Hoping that will help. I'm looking at back braces. Any recommendations on a good one? I'm guessing the inflatable ones on Amazon for ~50 will be more comfortable than the cheap ones at Walmart?
J. Walter Weatherman
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Just to add in more feedback because I remember how much this sucks and want to help, but I went through virtually the same thing. 2+ years in early 30s of mostly misery trying every fix in the book but surgery. Finally pulled the trigger on a discectomy and was more or less pain free walking out of the hospital that afternoon. Obviously everyone's situation is different but I know I definitely wish I hadn't waited that long.
FTA03
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Had herniated L5/S1. Got 3 injections that helped some with the pain, months of chiropractic care that helped as well. Best remedy that worked for me though was buying an inversion table. I used it twice a day 5-10 minutes at a time, and two aleve twice a day. Best $125 I ever spent. I still use it occasionally as needed.
Jim01
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I actually was about to pull the trigger on an inversion table off craigslist, but then saw my sports chiro at tee ball last night (he's also my son's coach) and he said NOPE! The stress fracture is his main concern there. He doesn't want me to do any bending or pulling to aggravate that because if that stress fracture goes FULL fracture then he said it's a "hardware in the back situation". Right now the goal is to handle the 13mm beast that's causing me pain, then rest and time and a solid diet of exercise that doesn't bend my trunk at all (planks and side planks). Then once that stress fracture is gone would be the time for inversion for the smaller herniation.

I have a Monday appointment with Dr. Alfonso Aldama that lb3 recommended and an appointment on April 17th with a doctor Prasarn that a fellow triathlete used last year. Turns out he is the Texas doc and did JJ Watts back surgery so I assume he's good and popular so the 17th was he soonest. Not sure I'll make it that long. Calling a few others today.
Jim01
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Yeah it doesn't appear Heggeness is around. Google makes it vague whether he is in Houston or relocated to Wichita, KS. The number listed for him in Houston went to a machine this morning with a different doctors name.
lb3
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Phat32
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Biggest thing for me was PT. Showing me what to stretch, teaching me how everything interacts, and working

Some of that PT were the hardest workouts I've ever done, but well worth it.
aggiederelict
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Anyone with experience with surgery that did not go well? I would always say try everything conservative before going into surgery. Back pain takes a long time to heal and people want to feel better today. Try PT/chirp, try injections, try prolo/PRP before going down that road.

There is no going back once you cut. But if you are having serious symptoms down both legs, issues with bowel and bladder control, or noticeable unexpalined weight loss, then you need to see a specialists right away. That warrants further investigation.

Back is the number one issue I see in my PT clinic and it presents very differently. Correlating imaging to your symptoms is quite difficult from what we know in the literature.

If a surgeon can get you in right away without trying a more conservative route and you don't having red flags in your history, you need leave that office quickly.
Jim01
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The fun continues. So this morning I was tossing and turning in bed with pain, then I got up and it really hit. Cold sweat, nauseous, pain. I immediately felt like I needed to lay down. Laid with an ice pack on the verge of tears and told my wife "You're staying home from work today."

Was at Memorial Hermann urgent care when the doors opened. Got a shot of anti-inflammatory in the tuckus, and five days of prednisone and Tylenol with Codeiene to get me through the weekend.

Monday I've got docs all day. One ortho and two neuros. My guess is all three say I need that hernia snipped and it will be done early in the week.

All I know is that this morning if there was a surgeon in my living room I would have said "Cut me. Now!!!"
lb3
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aggiebrad94
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Quote:

The fun continues. So this morning I was tossing and turning in bed with pain, then I got up and it really hit. Cold sweat, nauseous, pain. I immediately felt like I needed to lay down. Laid with an ice pack on the verge of tears and told my wife "You're staying home from work today."

Statements like this will end up in some woman's meme joking about how men & women treat pain differently. The wife will have gotten up, made breakfast, changed a flat tire, and gone to work as a jackhammer operator.
aggiebrad94
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Quote:

Reverse hypers for now plus Super Ds lower back protocol.

How would you do Super D's protocol at home?
MooreTrucker
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I just found out I'm in the same boat, but early in the process. I've had pain for a while but it's recently gotten bad enough to do something about it. The doc said it looks like several bulging discs and degenerative disc disease (which upon internet investigation merely means I'm' old (just turned 60) and gonna hurt).

But she wants me to have an MRI to make sure it's not something worse. Problem is, I HATE the thought of an MRI. I'm fidgety, probably ADD, and claustrophobic. And on top of that, I had a nurse friend tell a story of a woman that was having an MRI but very nervous, so the nurse gave her something to relax her. Except the nurse (despite MANY protocols that she ignored) gave the woman a paralytic and she basically suffocated to death in the tube unable to let anyone know what was happening.

So yeah, not really thrilled about that MRI thing.
03_Aggie
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There are open versions if it bothers you that much. But I think the imaging is not as good as closed.

If it is your lower back then they might be able to slide you in feet first so you head can stay out of the tube.
Jim01
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Just to follow up on mine. I had a microdisectomy on April 19th by Dr. Prasarn. Went smooth. Ending up taking out a 3.5 cm long herniation. Recovery has been smooth. Strength returning and numbness fading. Had my follow up this past Wednesday and was cleared to start low impact cardio and core exercises. Went to the gym yesterday and did 15 min on elliptical, some pull ups and lots of planks/clamshells/etc. Felt good.

On the road back and definitely glad I did surgery once the foot drop came into play.

Highly recommend Dr. Prasarn. He's been fantastic.
zip04
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In 2012 I herniated 1 disc in my lower back and had 2 more that were bulging. I took a break from working out (other than physical therapy) for a few months. Mobic helped a lot as well.

Since then, it will get aggravated occasionally. I trained for and completed a full Ironman race and only had it lock up on me twice in about 8 months. Once when taking off my wetsuit and the other time while I was at my house just laying in bed.

Work your core, stretch it out a lot, and ease back into working out once the pain is gone for a bit. If you enjoy lifting weights, use a hex (trap) bar down the road when you start lifting again.
double aught
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I got hurt at work and had to go through all sorts of ineffective workers comp mandated treatments before it was decided that surgery was needed. I had L5S1 laminectomy/discectomy surgery in '15, and life has been great ever since.

As an aside, my doc cut on Tiger Woods two years later, so he must be pretty good.
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