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  1. #1
    Registered User Zprime's Avatar
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    Herniated/Bulging Disc Support ( Cures )

    Hi Guys,

    I'm frustrated to see the amount of Body Builders with Herniated and Bulging Discs here.

    In the past Month I've gone from Healing, to worse than I was when I got the injury, to Healing again slowly.

    I figured I'd make this post so that we can share the bits of advice we have learned.

    I've learned a few things from

    healyourbulgingdisc.com

    &

    healyourbackpain.com

    as well as various Physios, Doctors, Rhematologists (sp?), Chiropractors ect.



    In a Nut shell I'm going to post ( for free ) What I've learned from these books and how to heal this bastard, at least to the best of its ability.


    1) STOP LIFTING, Stop doing anything, You need to rest for a few days first. This Step is usless without Step 2 So if you plan on resting and dont follow step 2 your not going anywhere fast.

    2) McKenzie Stretch, Every 2 hours do the Mckenzie stretch
    http://lighthousefamilymedicine.com/...pix%20only.bmp

    This is a vital part of your healing, Every 2 hours do 10 of those, What it does is gently pushes the Disc Gel back in where it's supposed to be, If you dont do this you wont heal, period.
    It's why so many people have this injury for ages and ages and never heal.
    After doing it for 2 days I had the Sciatica from my L5S1 Pain go from my big toe to my thigh, in 2 days time it might be in my buttock or lower back. You want it to stay in your lower back, not anywhere else, that means its healing, its in place and its where the injury is.

    3) Bounce a Therapy ball GENTLY, 5 mins in the morning, 5 mins in the evening.
    What this does is pumps the discs of your spine GENTLY , giving it the oxygen it needs to heal and pumping out all bad toxins. You should only do this gently, if it hurts stop.
    The muscles around the disc injury should feel a bit of pain, maybe 10% , this means the toxins are being pumped out and into nearby things ( muscles can get rid of them 100 times easier than discs can )

    4) March on a Mini trampolene for 5 mins every morning AFTER Therapy Ball.
    This makes the muscles around your core work and remember how they should be, Your entire muscle balance will change if you get a Disc injury, you will walk different, lean different and in general put stresses on other parts of your body.
    MARCH, As in Walk, dont jump.

    5) Matress , My Biggest mistake.
    I was almost healed, I went to a soft matress, and within 2 weeks I was in agony and had a fresh L4/L5 Disc injury.
    Firm Matress, Pillow inbetween knees when sleeping on site, or a pillow or two under your knees when your back. Your body only heals when you sleep, you want it to heal all bloody night and for this to happen the disc HAS to stay in place with a proper sleeping posture.

    6) Glucosamine, Chrondroitine Sulfate (sp?) , MSM.

    ( 800 Mg or the usual adult does , HAS to have all 3 of those ingredients , Dont take if allergic to shellfish )
    You need these 3 vitamins in a daily vitamin, this will restore the disc tissue faster, since taking them my healing has sped up 50% at least.


    7) Walking Not Running - Your discs need to gently heal, jogging, lifting is a big nono. For Me even walking hurts so It's difficult for me, but the majority of people walk just fine.


    8) Dont Belive everything you read on the internet.
    The whole ' rest for 2-3 days and resume normal activities ' is total bull****.
    IMO the disc takes at least 2-3 Days of Mckenzie stretches just to get it to slip back in, then it takes 4-6 weeks for the disc to heal enough to return to NORMAL actitivies.
    If you keep following what I've written within 2-5 years the disc should be fully healed according to new research.


    9) Muscle Imbalances, Chriopractors, Lasers ect - Im not convinced any of these work, All the muscle imbalance workouts Ive done have hurt me and left me in agony for days.

    Let Me explain a very important fact, At the moment my Right hip is twisted and leaning out, THIS ISNT A MUSCLE IMBALANCE.
    It is my body's way of trying to take stress off the injury, Clearly if I body built right now I'd be in ALOT of trouble, You might only have minor changes in your body, mine is fairly noticable.


    10) Stretch Stretch Stretch, Hamstrings, Quads, Daily, follow some from your local Physio or PM me for a list of the ones I did.

    11) Strengthen the hell out of your core, Only to be done after 2 weeks of doing mckenzie stretches and relaxing, Everytime you do a sit up, lean over , or twist the disc gets injured and pops out, meaning you have to do more mckenzie stretches to fix it.


    12) Good Days and Bad Days - Your going to have days where you think you are fully healed, dont be decieved. The Pain will subside alot quicker than the disc will heal.
    I made the mistake of thinking I was healing as I was pain free on the second week.
    I played a rather heavy game of tennis with my friends and boy did I regret it.

    Let your body heal, Im no doctor but I wouldnt lift at ALL for at least 6 - 12 months, if not 2 years to be safe.

    If you lift too soon your disc will have a weakness and that means next time you dead lift... POP.

    13) Yoga - Do some, trust me, Only 2 weeks after you've sustained the injury though, no sooner.


    14) Dont sit for more than 30 mins ( L4/L5, L5/S1 ) Disc bulges/herniations mainly.
    Get up and stretch every 30 mins, I havnt sat in a chair for nearly 4 weeks, everytime I do I get a sore big toe, achey legs and general sciatica, this means the nerves in my back are being pressed by a squished disc.

    * I also think Hydrotherapy is awesome if you can do some
    * Stretch frequently, anything that can de-compress your spine, you want as much room as you can in there to get the disc in.
    * Dont panic if you dont heal in 2 weeks like the internet says, I certainly didn't and I'm a 22 year old Healthy Male who's spent 2 weeks relaxing on a beach lying down.

    Anyways that's what I've learned from spending $1000's on Physios, Books that claim to heal bulging discs and yeah.
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  2. #2
    Registered User PieWheatley's Avatar
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    Hey mate, I am a physio and that is great advice. The only thing I would add is learn how to turn on your transversus abdominus and lumbar multifidus muscles-these are your 'core', and will help stabilise the spine and prevent reoccurence. Any core stability exercise is good, but start simple and go from there.
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    Registered User Logical95's Avatar
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    Hey guys,

    I have never heard of a herniated or bulging disc being able to "heal" or "slip back into place".....Once it is herniated and squishing out, I thought it was for life?

    As an aside, going through that right now, although my L5-S1 is not herniated, my MRI report said there is "desiccation" there and a minor protrusion that is still confined to the thecal sac....so i guess its the start of a bulge/herniation?

    PT has me doing all the things you said.....alot of core stuff.....stabilizing stuff....I start off with 15 min of hamstring and piriformis stretches, and do alot of kettle ball and medicine ball work....

    Things such as planks, side planks, supermans, very slow hyperextensions, balancing exercises with a kettleball, etc...

    They said a strong core will "stabilize" the muscles and the disc and keep it from slipping even more, but didnt say it can go back into place....

    Also taking ibuprofen, glucosamine and chondroitin, and vitamin C to stimulate collagen and elastin production.

    Very good post!
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  4. #4
    Registered User Zprime's Avatar
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    Discs Can Heal, Look up ' herniated disc ' in the body building forums.

    There's over 20 pages of search results, 100's of posts.

    Yet they continue to improve, body build.

    I belive they can heal, even though right now im suffering with terrible night sciatica.

    The body is an amazing machine, it has the ability to heal almost anything in it. People have beaten Cancer, People have beaten Brain Tumors, If a Doctor tells me a Disc cant be put back in place I just smirk at them.

    Dr Ron Daulton at healyourbulgingdisc.com has evidence they can heal, It takes 2-5 years.

    Alot of people stop trying to fix the problem after the pain heals.

    The Aim of healing a disc herniation or bulge is to get the disc to go back in place and then for the inner disc workings to actually regenerate and heal, this can only happen if the disc stays in place.

    I firmly belive in the mckenzie stretches, along with spinal decompression methods ( My Physio has me in a pool once a week with a ring around my arms, so im just dangling in the water ) Whenever I hop out my Sciatica is gone for at least a day, but each time its get a little better.

    My Uncle Fell off a roof 6 years ago, He herniated nearly EVERY disc in his spine. He couldn't afford surgery, so he took massive pain killers and went back to work.

    He's a 50 year old Opal Miner....

    Anyways it took him 6 years but he's pain free and fine ( either that or his brain isnt working anymore :P )

    Herniations can disolve, and fix up, you just have to do the right things.

    Bounce on that therapy ball gently, while sitting on it in an upright position!! This will pump the disc in 5 minutes with what usually takes 5 days for the body to achieve normally.

    Pump yourself full of vitamins, and dont let anxiety get the better of you.

    We can beat this together, and As a chronic sufferer right now I've seen myself get better, it takes time, and I made a mistake and it came back ( really badly ) But I'm dedicated to fixing it once more.

    Remember this key point - Spinal Discs dont get enough blood or oxygen.

    If you pull a muscle blood rushes there, oxygen rushes there, the body goes ' omg omg we have to heal this '.

    If you prolapse a disc, blood rushes there, oxygen rushes there, but it just cant get in fast enough, so it sits around the nerve and becomes inflamed ( Use lots of ice btw ).

    Pumping the disc will help you.
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    Below Me WibbleWabble's Avatar
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    ^ won't driving with an upright position also "pump the disc?" also, not to be the dark cloud of this thread, but the evidence I've seen has shown that herniations and bulges CAN heal, but it is very unlikely. perhaps the intensive therapy you suggest goes a long way in determining whether one does or not.

    I want to also add a word of caution about the McKenzie stretch. That is that it is only effective if the herniation or bulge is positioned in a posterior way. if it is anterior, the McKenzie stretch is counter-productive. Thus, it is imperative that the affected person understand whether the McKenzie is effective in THEIR PARTICULAR CASE.
    Last edited by WibbleWabble; 04-02-2010 at 10:10 AM.
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    Registered User Zprime's Avatar
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    Correct , The McKenzie stretch will only help if your disc bulge is facing towards your Sciatic nerve, It's the most common one.

    Discs that bulge the opposite direction ie toward your belly button I'm not sure how you fix. They are really unlikely though as the only way to usually get one is extremely bad posture or a huge accident of some kind that jolts your spine.
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    Registered User Zprime's Avatar
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    Just a Little update.

    I'm not out of the woods yet, but having just done the mc kenzie stretch every 2 hours I felt a slide down where my spine ends, kind of like a greasy thing was down there.

    The Pain is 90% Gone, Ive got a very very VERY slight tingling in my big toe, but thats it. If it keeps improving I'll let ya'll know.
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    Originally Posted by Zprime View Post
    Correct , The McKenzie stretch will only help if your disc bulge is facing towards your Sciatic nerve, It's the most common one.

    Discs that bulge the opposite direction ie toward your belly button I'm not sure how you fix. They are really unlikely though as the only way to usually get one is extremely bad posture or a huge accident of some kind that jolts your spine.
    pretty unusual injury, but generally you do the exact oppositve movement-a spinal flexion with a hip flex. Mckenzie back extension is real good for conventional bulges if done right...lay down flat on your stomach, let the disc sink down, after a minute or two press up with the arms only while keeping the hips flat.

    I've had more bulges and herniations than I care to remember, drop foot is a bitch but I've had it several times and you can definitely come back. Nerve damage is tough thouh...I'm down to 75% function in one of my calves...but have gotten much better with great attention paid to the problem.
    I know it sounds weird but shaving your body hair and injecting testicle shrinking substances into your butt actually makes you less of a man.
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    Originally Posted by WibbleWabble View Post
    ^ won't driving with an upright position also "pump the disc?" also, not to be the dark cloud of this thread, but the evidence I've seen has shown that herniations and bulges CAN heal, but it is very unlikely. perhaps the intensive therapy you suggest goes a long way in determining whether one does or not.

    I want to also add a word of caution about the McKenzie stretch. That is that it is only effective if the herniation or bulge is positioned in a posterior way. if it is anterior, the McKenzie stretch is counter-productive. Thus, it is imperative that the affected person understand whether the McKenzie is effective in THEIR PARTICULAR CASE.
    I have never heard of an anterior disc protrusion, and I really can't imagine it to be honest. The reason the disc protrudes poster-laterally is because this is where the pressure is placed when we lean forwards and bend, or sit with poor posture, or lift heavy loads with poor form. This is why 99% of disc protrusions are posterior.
    Mckenzie extension exercises are proven with lots of randomised controlled trials, research and systematic reviews to be effective in taking pressure off the posterior disc and positioning the nucleus pulposus (fluid) into the right spot, allowing the annulus fibrosis to heal.
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    Registered User Zprime's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by PieWheatley View Post
    I have never heard of an anterior disc protrusion, and I really can't imagine it to be honest. The reason the disc protrudes poster-laterally is because this is where the pressure is placed when we lean forwards and bend, or sit with poor posture, or lift heavy loads with poor form. This is why 99% of disc protrusions are posterior.
    Mckenzie extension exercises are proven with lots of randomised controlled trials, research and systematic reviews to be effective in taking pressure off the posterior disc and positioning the nucleus pulposus (fluid) into the right spot, allowing the annulus fibrosis to heal.
    I think the Anterior Disc Protrusion is more a result of a skiiing accident or a cad accident or usually a sudden jolt that's forceful enough to push the disc out in a weird direction.
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    when I do the mckenzie stretch, I get a sharp pain down my leg. I should mention, I do not know if I have a bad disc, but I "strained" my back squatting and after a few months, the pain left my lower back all together, and moved into my upper leg and calf. ALso using an inversion table my leg hurts the same way. Is it possible I do not have a bulged disc, or is the mckenzie stretch supposed to hurt at first?
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    Remember some things can mimic a disc herniation. And not that the original poster Zprime posted great info that helped him-it may not be the same for everyone. As he probably learned there is a lot of trial and error trying to figure out how best to treat the problem. Often a disc herniation is also accompanied with muscle imbalance issues and some scar tissue so a few visits to your local physiotherapists would be the best. Remember to be patient and DO YOUR EXERCISES!!!
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    McKenzie stretch isn't supposed to hurt, for me It's a gentle pressure.

    I want you to try two things for me.

    1) With the McKenzie Stretch, Dont go all the way up, Just go up to a point BEFORE there is Pain.
    If you are getting pain your squeezing something that doesnt want to be squeezed atm.

    So even if you are barely off the ground but you are arching your spine, do that, and eventually build up to the bigger one. It's not a strength issue its an issue with the injury.

    2)
    ( When you can go up all the way GENTLY and without Pain )
    With the Mc Kenzie Stretch, When you go up Inhale.

    Then Exhale, letting your Groin/Lower back drop ( But stay in the mc kenzie position ).

    Do it VERY Gently.

    If you are getting a shooting pain down your leg it could be the nerve is irritated, This is the safest stretch for discs, but you have to be careful, the stretch pushes the bulge and squeezes it back in, you could have a large one that is squeezing into the nerve as well.
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    Yes, if you are getting pain in your glutes or legs with the Mckenzie stretches, it probably is a herniated disc protruding on the nerve, and hence the sciatic pain.

    Luckily for me I never had pain in my glutes or legs, just localized in my lower back...

    What one of the other posters said is right also.....bulges and herniations, in addition to lifting heavy weight and poor form, are also the result of muscle imbalances....either your abs are too strong or your back muscles are too strong, creating an unnatural "tilt" toward one side....so its easier for the disc to slip out if one of the above mentioned things happens (lifting too heavy or poor posture)....

    My orthopedist told me a strong core is ESSENTIAL to healing the discs and getting a stronger lower back....
    He has me doing things like planks, side planks, supermans, kettle ball work and the like.....you want to strengthen the erector spinae and paraspinal muscles.
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    Swiss ball! it saved my life

    I had 3 herniated disc, and a twisted pelvis

    Could not walk for 6 months, drugged up to the eye balls on some heavy ****

    Crushed the nerves in lower back & have had no feeling in my quads for 2 years (numb)

    See some many people about it and none of them helped, was rushed in to A&E so many times.

    In the end i went to lose the back pain . com, there system really helped me but it was there free forum that really sorted me out.

    I got so many ideas there, in the end i lay over swiss ball for 2 weeks nearly non stop and slept on it lol and woke up one morning and could actually stand up and walk. Before that i was bent over to the side and could not straighten up.

    All free advice there guys, no need to pay for the system
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    Originally Posted by buzzin247 View Post
    Swiss ball! it saved my life

    I had 3 herniated disc, and a twisted pelvis

    Could not walk for 6 months, drugged up to the eye balls on some heavy ****

    Crushed the nerves in lower back & have had no feeling in my quads for 2 years (numb)

    See some many people about it and none of them helped, was rushed in to A&E so many times.

    In the end i went to lose the back pain . com, there system really helped me but it was there free forum that really sorted me out.

    I got so many ideas there, in the end i lay over swiss ball for 2 weeks nearly non stop and slept on it lol and woke up one morning and could actually stand up and walk. Before that i was bent over to the side and could not straighten up.

    All free advice there guys, no need to pay for the system
    I will never complain again!

    My Goodness mate, that sounds like a rough injury.

    My hip is twisted atm and im guessing it will fix itself once the injury subsides.

    I like losethebackpain, I just didnt have any muscle imbalances per say so I didnt get a whole lot out of it, but it is solid advice.

    How are you holding up now anywho?



    Progress Report - Day 4 of Mckenzie Stretches, Im pretty much pain free, at night time I flare up a TINY bit, not enough to even warant a pain killer, and I can fix it with more stretches, So im comfortable.

    I wish I could go back in time 6 weeks and start the mckenzie stretches sooner, i would of saved myself 6 misterable weeks of pain.
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    Originally Posted by MikeD4386 View Post
    when I do the mckenzie stretch, I get a sharp pain down my leg. I should mention, I do not know if I have a bad disc, but I "strained" my back squatting and after a few months, the pain left my lower back all together, and moved into my upper leg and calf. ALso using an inversion table my leg hurts the same way. Is it possible I do not have a bulged disc, or is the mckenzie stretch supposed to hurt at first?
    This should not happen if it is a posterior disc problem.
    The whole concept of Mckenzie is to 'centralise' the pain. Ie. take it away from the legs and move it centrally to the back..so if you have an increase in lower back pain and no leg pain when doing the stretch this is okay, as the pain has centralised. What is happening with your case is that the pain is 'peripheralising', it has spread distally to your leg and this is not what you want. I would think you don't have a disc problem...
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    Well Day 7 of Mckenzie, Back is STARTing to get more sore, as opposed to my legs all the time, which is what we want.

    It's a slow process so anyone else doing this dont give up.

    Use lots of ice and cold gel creams, Walk every 30 mins your sitting ect.

    Really force that disc back into its spot, or you'll never heal properly.
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    Originally Posted by Zprime View Post
    Well Day 7 of Mckenzie, Back is STARTing to get more sore, as opposed to my legs all the time, which is what we want.

    It's a slow process so anyone else doing this dont give up.

    Use lots of ice and cold gel creams, Walk every 30 mins your sitting ect.

    Really force that disc back into its spot, or you'll never heal properly.
    ive had an l5-s1 disc bulge for over a year now...sucks real bad

    and have been to chiros and sports medicine am looking into an endoscopic discectomy to fix the problem, alot of stretches that you get at chiros and sports md are bull**** but i will give this a try ...hell if it doesnt work for me its under the knife time anyway

    i can see the logic in almost everything in this post EXCEPT not lifting? i mean honestly i can say for me not lifting has increased my pain 10x.....lifting helped me stabilize my core and lower back but also stretched out some muscles that were squeezing my lower back....im not saying go balls to the wall here but im saying some excercise really helps some people
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    Kneeling chairs are great
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    Can you explain the "bounce a therapy ball gently" a little more clearly?

    Thanks
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    OP: If your hip is "twisted" then this indicates either a lateral shift or a twisted pelvis. If it is a lateral shirt, then you should be doing your McKenzie exercises with your hips shifted away from the painful side i.e. overcorrecting the lateral shift. If you have a twisted pelvis, this should be corrected first to prevent compression of the facet joints. This can be done via Muscle Energy techniques.

    McKenzie exercises can cause pain, however the 10 rep should be less painful than the first rep, and if the back pain gets worse whilst any leg pain gets better, then this is desirable!
    The science is out there!
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    Originally Posted by Cacophony View Post
    Can you explain the "bounce a therapy ball gently" a little more clearly?

    Thanks
    Sure.

    So Sit on a Therapy Ball as you would in a chair, with your legs on the ground, your arms at your side, sitting erect with a natural curve in your spine.

    Gently use your legs/hips to bounce up and down on the therapy ball, so your sitting on the ball gently bouncing up and down.

    The bouncing must be gently, as if you were on a balloon and not trying to pop it.

    Do this for 5 minutes, make sure you are sitting in a good posture.
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    Think long and hard.

    Office, kitchen and high back executive chairs are not the optimal chair shape. They are the cheap simple, harder to break manufactured type chair.

    The Scandinavian invetors are the rich socialist people who have all the time to come up with BS ideas in their spare time while Americans have to work all their lives.

    Kneeling chairs and saddle chairs are best. I dont even think you can find any that cost more than $300. They vary from $40-300

    The only problem is the 250lb guys might break a kneeling chair if they sit on it.

    If you cant find a good saddle or kneeling chair. Get some sort of short stool or strong wood box and use foam or rubber to cushion. Sit as you would doing a wide stance squat.

    You need to get your computer screen at least the height of your eyes when you sit up straight. Get a second hand lcd computer screen. If you use crt you will strain your eyes and hunch over.

    You dont need a big soft back support for your chair. You should be using your shins, legs and butt to support your body all day long in your chair. They are the strong support the body muscles.
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    Question about McKenzie stretch

    I have had severe sciatica down my right leg for over 1 month. Injured back lifting, got better, injured again, got better, etc. Last time, lower back did not hurt...turned into severe sciatica from my buttock down to my ankle. Have been on 800mg Ibuprofen 3 times per day which barely takes away pain. Precription for Vocodin helps when pain gets really severe. Cannot sit on right buttock, cannot find comfortable position in bed to sleep (wake up several times at night in severe pain), cannot lay flat on back and cannot lay flat on stomach. When sitting for longer periods, I get sharp pains on the left and right side of the spine towards the outside of my back. Doctor says he thinks it is a bulging disc. Finally sent me to get an x-ray (have not received results yet) and I start physical therapy next week.

    I have tried lots of stretches including the Piriformis stretch. When I first injured my back, I was able to do the McKenzie stretches all the way up. Now, I cannot even lay flat on my stomach to even TRY to do the stretches. When I am medicated, I can get into the low position (on my elbows) but I have shooting pain down entire leg. Should I keep trying to do these with the pain with hopes that it will slowly improve?
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    Originally Posted by srh69ca View Post
    I have had severe sciatica down my right leg for over 1 month. Injured back lifting, got better, injured again, got better, etc. Last time, lower back did not hurt...turned into severe sciatica from my buttock down to my ankle. Have been on 800mg Ibuprofen 3 times per day which barely takes away pain. Precription for Vocodin helps when pain gets really severe. Cannot sit on right buttock, cannot find comfortable position in bed to sleep (wake up several times at night in severe pain), cannot lay flat on back and cannot lay flat on stomach. When sitting for longer periods, I get sharp pains on the left and right side of the spine towards the outside of my back. Doctor says he thinks it is a bulging disc. Finally sent me to get an x-ray (have not received results yet) and I start physical therapy next week.

    I have tried lots of stretches including the Piriformis stretch. When I first injured my back, I was able to do the McKenzie stretches all the way up. Now, I cannot even lay flat on my stomach to even TRY to do the stretches. When I am medicated, I can get into the low position (on my elbows) but I have shooting pain down entire leg. Should I keep trying to do these with the pain with hopes that it will slowly improve?
    If you have right leg pain, you need to do the McKenzie exercises with your hips / pelvis moved to the left before you start the exercise. If doing the exercises helps the leg pain, even if the back pain gets worse, you should continue on with the exercises..
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    Great stuff in this post...
    I'm another victim of herniated discs L4/L5 and bulged disc L5/S1.
    Zprime - How exactly did you hurt your back???
    I injured mine about 5-8 years ago... playing basketball, then again squatting and deadlifting.
    I've come to learn so much about this ailment, but there's always more to learn.
    It's been only 2 months since I actually got an MRI and was diagnosed with the above, this was after hurting it pretty bad while squatting.
    Dr. told me to take it easy for at least six months. I do all kinds of stretches, always keep good posture and will now include the McKenzie Stretch to see how it goes.
    I've made the mistake of being a little careless when I "FELT" like I was 100%. Actually this past weekend I played a very friendly game of football at the beach and I felt it in my lower back. It happened when I went to catch the football which was thrown ahead and low.
    But from now on I'm gonna be really careful with my back. I would love to squat again even if it takes 2 yrs. I would love to get another MRI 2 yrs from now and have them find nothing. As for now... I hit the gym about 3-4 times a week staying away from squats, DL and anything that puts stress on my lower back.

    Thanks to all for this post.

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    Originally Posted by WibbleWabble View Post
    ^I want to also add a word of caution about the McKenzie stretch. That is that it is only effective if the herniation or bulge is positioned in a posterior way. if it is anterior, the McKenzie stretch is counter-productive. Thus, it is imperative that the affected person understand whether the McKenzie is effective in THEIR PARTICULAR CASE.
    I meant to ask about this before.
    I understand why the McKenzie stretch would be counter-productive if the herniation was positioned in an anterior way.
    Does this mean that bending forward is counter-productive for us who have the most common type of herniation (posterior)??? I usually stretch by standing straight and bending down to the floor. I can put both palms on the floor w/o bending my knees. I like this stretch, it works on my hams pretty good. I also perform this same stretch sitting on the floor with both legs straight in front of me.
    I just want to make sure that I'm not hurting my lower back (herniated disc) by doing this.

    Please advise,

    maguirre
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    ^ yes, bending forward in an extreme way and rounding the back (as in doing a standing hamstring stretch) is not good for this condition. a better way to stretch hamstrings is to lay down and put your straight leg in the air, then pull it back to stretch.
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    Is it possible to perform a variation of the "McKenzie stretch" standing up???
    I've seen it done bending backwards up against a desk or kitchen cabinet.
    It would be very convenient if this stretch could be done while standing.

    maguirre
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