Bulging disc will not heal - Any help at all appreciated

[wjb316]

Dunno what your situation is man, but sciatica doesn't necessarily mean it's fully herniated. I was diagnosed with a bulging disc a long time after developing sciatica.

Also, I was getting pissed about not being able to do legs. I'm back once again to doing light squats with full ROM - no problems. I am also able to do barbell hack squats to hit the quads. Very happy with my leg routine now. Really hoping this standing desk helps me heal quickly by limiting the time I spend sitting in a chair.

[Khryz]

Dunno what your situation is man, but sciatica doesn't necessarily mean it's fully herniated. I was diagnosed with a bulging disc a long time after developing sciatica.

Also, I was getting pissed about not being able to do legs. I'm back once again to doing light squats with full ROM - no problems. I am also able to do barbell hack squats to hit the quads. Very happy with my leg routine now. Really hoping this standing desk helps me heal quickly by limiting the time I spend sitting in a chair.

Thanks wjb.

I just got back from my chiro who said it seems like mild sciatica and localized, as only the straight leg raise aggravates it.

She claims I'll be fine in no time, maybe a couple visits. Just told me to continue to ice and doing some knees to chest exercises, pelvic tilts, glute raise bridges.

My actual pain at the disc site is GONE today which is really weird considering it was very bad just yesterday. I guess it all transferred to the sciatic nerve which she thinks is inflamed.


Keep ya posted.

[wjb316]

Thanks wjb.

I just got back from my chiro who said it seems like mild sciatica and localized, as only the straight leg raise aggravates it.

She claims I'll be fine in no time, maybe a couple visits. Just told me to continue to ice and doing some knees to chest exercises, pelvic tilts, glute raise bridges.

My actual pain at the disc site is GONE today which is really weird considering it was very bad just yesterday. I guess it all transferred to the sciatic nerve which she thinks is inflamed.


Keep ya posted.

That's great news. Be super careful right now dude and don't push anything. Mine started out like that, I ignored it for a few months and ended up worse off than if I would have taken a few weeks off the gym. Not to freak you out or anything, of course.

Good luck to you.

[Khryz]

That's great news. Be super careful right now dude and don't push anything. Mine started out like that, I ignored it for a few months and ended up worse off than if I would have taken a few weeks off the gym. Not to freak you out or anything, of course.

Good luck to you.

So you had mild sciatica and still did Squats, deadliest, etc? Yikes!

Yah no I'm stopping. Only might do some shoulder extensions to keep my rotator cuffs strong (had 2 shoulder surgeries).

[wjb316]

Yea, the pain came on so gradually that I didnt ask anyone about it or even connect it to my spine for quite a while. I thought something was wrong with my hamstring and needed to stretch more. I pretty much did the opposite of what I should have done from the beginning.

[georgiecasey]

Hey,

I've had a bulging or herniated disc since about August when I went way too hard on some deadlifts. The pain wasn't really that sore, more annoying. But I was getting sciatica down the legs every now and then.

Been resting on and off since but it's just not going away.

But lately I just cut a bit of fat, about 5kg and the pain and sciatica has nearly all gone. I started back on squats there on Monday and no pain/sciatica since. Can fat loss solve the problem or is it still there but just no pain now?

[VolsGoneWild]

I developed a bulged disc after a fall, this occured around 10 years ago. At first it just felt like a pulled muscle in my back (I believe I really did pull a muscle as well.) Then I started havind pain in my lower back on the left side, it gradually moved into my left glute, then over time all the way down my left leg.

I first tried a chiropractor, this helped for the first few weeks, then it didn't seem to make much difference. I stuck with it for 3 months. Next I did physical therapy along with oral steriods. Once again, it helped for a few weeks, then nothing. Stayed there for about 4 months.

The doc said he couldn't do the shots, the disc was too compressed to get a needle in there.

Finally couldn't deal with it any longer and had surgery. I can't remember the name for the surgery, but all they did was cut off the bulged part of the disc and notch the bone beside the nerve. Woke up from surgery and felt better than I had in over a year. They said most people don't notice much relief for a few weeks, but mine was instant. Over the next couple of weeks, the pain went away completely.

Now, the only time I ever have any back pain is when I get slack with my weight and develop a gut or, this is even stranger, if I don't sleep well, my left leg will hurt.

[thegymbum]

I've been unfortunate enough to have three separate bulging discs that act up from time to time. Hurt like hell, take a long time to heal, especially if you're still working out, but eventually go away own their own. Cortisone injections help some, but that can be detrimental to building up muscle in the area... I've had a few but try to avoid it unless it's really severe. Hope yours feels better asap!

[Khryz]

Yea, the pain came on so gradually that I didnt ask anyone about it or even connect it to my spine for quite a while. I thought something was wrong with my hamstring and needed to stretch more. I pretty much did the opposite of what I should have done from the beginning.

Oh yeah well I definitely could see how that could be confused. I feel like I need to stretch my hamstrings as well.

The sciatica I have is most likely not caused by a disc issue though which would be great. My chiro thinks Piriformis Syndrome that I gave myself when I sat on a tennis ball to do some myocarfascial release massaging on my Piriformis while my glute and low back was still chilled from icing it.

It was stupid and I most definitely went too hard and deep so I probably inflamed or injured my Piriformis which the sciatic nerve passes through or around.

There's a spot above my left glute that gets warm, tender, and sensitive when I aggravate the nerve and if I press on it I get the sensations down my leg.

[I.K9009]

You might consider a joint being the source too. I'm 99% sure that's what's been going on with me. One of my Z joints.

Yesterday was kind of brutal. Leg had that dull soreness all day, especially on the way home from work (got stuck in traffic and it was really irritating me).

But then I had a 2 hour 15 min workout (back/triceps/bit of cardio - only that long because I walk around after every set and feel up my back to see if there's any tenderness which has preceded pain for me) and it felt fine. Feel great today too. No soreness. I almost feel like working out helps it, but obviously it can also aggravate it (like it did last week).

I actually did my entire workout yesterday wearing an icy hot patch. I'm thinking I might do this all the time.

[wjb316]

Wish you all the best.

My POS back is not getting any better at all. Just took a two week break from lifting, have been using a stand-up desk and haven't sat in a chair for extended period of time for weeks. Not a damn thing has changed.

**** this ****. I'm scheduling surgery ASAP. I'm usually pretty calm and collected, but 8 months of constant BS is really starting to wear thin on me. I am about to try one last appointment with a new PT but they'll have to do some convincing for me to change my mind. Good news is these PT people actually work with professional athletes so hopefully they'll understand when I tell them I want to get back to serious lifting. My last PT was double booking me with other patients and basically spending as little time as possible. "Here take this exercise sheet, go lay on the traction machine for 20 and see you in two days."

If I'm shelling out money twice a week for this stuff, the PT should be right there working with me the full hour. Make sense?

[depravedsoul]

Yea, the pain came on so gradually that I didnt ask anyone about it or even connect it to my spine for quite a while. I thought something was wrong with my hamstring and needed to stretch more. I pretty much did the opposite of what I should have done from the beginning.

Oh yeah well I definitely could see how that could be confused. I feel like I need to stretch my hamstrings as well.

The sciatica I have is most likely not caused by a disc issue though which would be great. My chiro thinks Piriformis Syndrome that I gave myself when I sat on a tennis ball to do some myocarfascial release massaging on my Piriformis while my glute and low back was still chilled from icing it.

It was stupid and I most definitely went too hard and deep so I probably inflamed or injured my Piriformis which the sciatic nerve passes through or around.

There's a spot above my left glute that gets warm, tender, and sensitive when I aggravate the nerve and if I press on it I get the sensations down my leg.

Usually when you buldge/herniate a disk it takes a while to become fully injured. The pain usually increases slowly over time until it will start to heal.

[ophelia53]

Damn, thank goodness for this thread, because I am literally up to HERE with being in pain every single damn day, it's so damn frustrating.
I have no idea how I injured my back, but I think it all started on deployment, wearing all that gear and everything. Anyway, I have been diagnosed with a bulging disc. I am a vet now, and have service connected disability for my back (thankfully) and have seen a PT. Getting my doc to do anything is like pulling teeth, though. My PT is cool, but she doesn't really get the heavy lifting thing. (God, I miss squats and deads SO much, I feel like my progress is so crappy now without them). I told my doc last year that I had some major back pain and I literally had to bug her like twice a month, and finally had to make her let me get an MRI, which is how I found out about the disc.
Anyway, this has been going on for about a year now, pain every day, and I've been doing PT and ice pak/hot baths, tylenol (which I'm not a fan of, at all, I hate medicine) and I'm wondering if surgery is the next best thing.
I would go to a different PT, but in MO, you have to have an actually perscription for a PT. So I'm pretty much stuck with the VA PT because I'm a MO resident.
I have been working my core and stretching, and the pain has gotten probably like 2% better at the most. Most days, I want to tell my back to F the hell off for screwing with me so much.
I'm sorry for all of you who have this pain. I totally understand.
If anyone has any other ideas, please, feel free to let me in on 'em.
I haven't been doing anything to aggravate my back (at least on purpose) lately.

[insatiablebulk]

As a physical therapist, my recommendation would be to find a PT who specializes in Mechanical Diagnosis and Treatment (MDT) AKA McKenzie. IMO, it's the best method for disc-related problems. You can essentially milk a disc back into place with movements/positions. However, with that said and how long your problem has been going on, it may be past that point where surgery is your best bet. Your activity following this problem may have made it worse pushing you past the point of where PT will fix the problem. Finding a good MDT therapist will help diagnose this problem and your prognosis. It is your right to ask questions when trying to find a PT. Ask how much one-on-one time they'll be spending with you, their years of experience with MDT, what courses they have taken in MDT (McKenzie). If possible, find someone who is MDT certified. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions b/c I will likely miss any responses in this thread as I'm not on too much. Good luck.

[wjb316]

Damn, thank goodness for this thread, because I am literally up to HERE with being in pain every single damn day, it's so damn frustrating.

(God, I miss squats and deads SO much, I feel like my progress is so crappy now without them).

I feel you 1,000% on these. I get so mad at my weak body failing me like this. It's one thing to keep your cool under stress, but the constant nagging and being held back for so long is driving me crazy.

Last year I was running 5Ks, 10Ks, lifting heavy, practicing brazilian jiu jitsu and thai boxing at an awesome gym. Felt like I was finally doing great things with life and then this absolute bullshiet comes out of nowhere and stops it all.

Try your best to stay cool and nag everyone you can for referrals or prescriptions to PT. If you decide on surgery, take your time to do your homework on every doctor in the area. It's annoying scheduling appointments with all these different people but your back is a pretty important and complex piece of machinery. Good news is the procedure for bulging discs is relatively minor. I'm giving this new PT one last shot and then if it doesn't work out, I'm getting knifed.

As a physical therapist, my recommendation would be to find a PT who specializes in Mechanical Diagnosis and Treatment (MDT) AKA McKenzie. IMO, it's the best method for disc-related problems. You can essentially milk a disc back into place with movements/positions. However, with that said and how long your problem has been going on, it may be past that point where surgery is your best bet. Your activity following this problem may have made it worse pushing you past the point of where PT will fix the problem. Finding a good MDT therapist will help diagnose this problem and your prognosis. It is your right to ask questions when trying to find a PT. Ask how much one-on-one time they'll be spending with you, their years of experience with MDT, what courses they have taken in MDT (McKenzie). If possible, find someone who is MDT certified. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions b/c I will likely miss any responses in this thread as I'm not on too much. Good luck.

Thank you for the post! I'll check them out. Here's the place I'm looking at next:

http://www.shcdenver.com/

[ophelia53]

I feel you 1,000% on these. I get so mad at my weak body failing me like this. It's one thing to keep your cool under stress, but the constant nagging and being held back for so long is driving me crazy.

Last year I was running 5Ks, 10Ks, lifting heavy, practicing brazilian jiu jitsu and thai boxing at an awesome gym. Felt like I was finally doing great things with life and then this absolute bullshiet comes out of nowhere and stops it all.

Try your best to stay cool and nag everyone you can for referrals or prescriptions to PT. If you decide on surgery, take your time to do your homework on every doctor in the area. It's annoying scheduling appointments with all these different people but your back is a pretty important and complex piece of machinery. Good news is the procedure for bulging discs is relatively minor. I'm giving this new PT one last shot and then if it doesn't work out, I'm getting knifed.



Thank you for the post! I'll check them out. Here's the place I'm looking at next:

http://www.shcdenver.com/

Dude, Thanks for the support. I'm calling the doc tomorrow. I just about gave up on the fools at the VA, but this is my livelihood we're talking about and I want to be pain free, dammit. I'm too young for this crap! It sucks the worst that we work out really well and eat right and we're injured....some sort of sick joke, dude.
Anyway, if you wind up having the surgery (I hope you don't need to go that route, but I'm leaning that way as well), let me know how it goes and all that jazz.
I'll see about finding a specialist that I can get a refferal for.
Just did a quick search and found this: http://www.midwest-chiropractic.com/DTSTherapy.html
Have you tried anything like this by chance? Or anyone else, for that matter.

[wjb316]

Thank you - I will come back here with updates.

DTS therapy, never heard of it but it sounds like they are talking about a traction machine. My PTs put me on the traction machine twice a week. Didn't help me personally but I'd be willing to give it a shot. Make sure you do a little research on these particular people before you sign up though.

[wjb316]

Also anyone reading, check out this thread and my reply:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...#post679853351

I have been doing a lot of reading lately and keep hearing that flexibility (in places you don't normally think about) is key to a healthy back. I'm going to be following this guy's video series and try to get back to a better spot.

Scheduled a PT session for next Friday so I'll be avoiding surgery for a bit longer. Usually ban myself from the computer when angry, but I was definitely mad yesterday.

[K Rock 12]

Question for anyone that has been to the chiro for a shifted vertebrae etc..i've been going since monday and my neck, back, hip all needed cracking..however i've had a migraine since tuesday night and was wondering if this could be related to built up pressure from the cracking? I told the chiro yesterday and he cracked my neck again but on the way home i felt like my head was going to explode..im currently waiting for him to call me back

[sssharpy]

I've been in a similar boat. Herniated my L5/S1 roughly 8 months ago. Been an agonising slow process but my sciatic pain is just starting to diminish slowly. I underwent dry needling on my lower back for 4-5 months in combination with spinal manipulation but I think the best thing was simply walking, stretching, having a 'good' upright posture and sitting as little as possible. It's a long process and i've heard of people taking in excess of 2 years to heal but don't worry there's a lot of us in the same situation. Hang in there and be patient.

[Khryz]

Also anyone reading, check out this thread and my reply:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...#post679853351

I have been doing a lot of reading lately and keep hearing that flexibility (in places you don't normally think about) is key to a healthy back. I'm going to be following this guy's video series and try to get back to a better spot.

Scheduled a PT session for next Friday so I'll be avoiding surgery for a bit longer. Usually ban myself from the computer when angry, but I was definitely mad yesterday.

I wish I could even do that stretch but it feels like I am stretching the nerve when it do it which hurts. Feels like a sharp pain.

My sciatica symptoms are still around. I'll feel better for a week or so then I'll do something to flare it up again like sit for too long on my couch watching TV and then my foot gets numb when I sit down.


It's getting annoying -- even though I have a fraction of what some of you have because I am in no pain, just numbness.

I went to a new chiropractor last week who is doing adjustments and A.R.T. on my left glute in case it is Piriformis Syndrome. Helped A LOT where I would go days without feeling anything but today it came back. Played video games for 3-4 hours which was a bad idea.

I feel like it may be a bulging disc and/or piriformis syndrome -- probably both.

I am still under my huge $2,000 deductible for the year but feel like I need to get an MRI just because I want to see what I am dealing with. It'll cost me a crapload of money but whatever.

[ophelia53]

Khryz, I'd definitely say it's worth the money to find out exactly what's up with your back. My doctor inisisted it was just muscle pain. I finally demanded she give me the MRI, which is what showed the bulging disc. You just don't know until you see it for sure.
I called and made an appointment with my doc at VA. I think I'll call the PT on Monday and see if I can meet with her and tell her exactly what's been going on the last few weeks. Maybe she can see me 2 or 3 times a week.
Anyway...back is still sucking. lol. But, on the upside, I had a sick "leg" workout HIT style.

[I.K9009]

So I'm 5 months in and STILL having mild, radiating pain from time to time in my thigh or foot (original injury was some kind of damage to a Z joint at the very base of the back that caused sciatica).

I'll go days without feeling anything (even with long periods of sitting at work) then at some other point I'll be sitting and I'll feel it.

Thankfully I'm now lifting more than I was when I was injured and I'm back to doing cardio on off days (bike and eliptical) and working out legs (though with relatively low weight).

I'm still very careful with certain exercises (overhead presses) and I'm still not pushing the weight that I know I could be in those exercises but that's not a small price to pay for being able to workout my entire body.

[arXael]

this thread is a miracle. sorry to revive an old post. but hopefully, it'll help someone else as well..

[wjb316]

Hai guise.

I should've posted back in this thread a long time ago but I forgot about it after the last crazy year.

I finally had a microdiscectomy on August 3rd of 2011. I stayed out of the gym for 3 months after that then slowly got back into weight lifting. I was very conservative and started out with light weights. Did all my cardio on the bike and then slowly added the elliptical and now I run occasionally.

Today, I feel 100% better. I now bench more than I ever did at my peak before this all came down on me. However, I did give up deadlifting unfortunately. I gave up squats for a while, but couldn't quit altogether. I am now slowly back to squatting and just repping out big sets of 135. I don't think I'll ever push myself too hard on squatting, but I'll be happy as long as I can keep my lower body from becoming completely embarrassing. It's pretty bad that I can bench twice as much as I can squat, but that's life. I combine squats with kettle step-ups and it's good enough for now.

I can't promise the same for you, but I feel so, so much better. I can't even tell you how much my life turned around. 2011 was one of the ****tiest years ever. I ended up missing the gym for 6 months, couldn't even drive anywhere, didn't see family for like a year, had to send my girlfriend away to her home country after surgery and... damn it was lame. But keep your head up and keep fighting brahs. I am in a 10000% better place now.

Ask me any questions. I'll try to pop back in with more details. I'm just writing this all off the top of my head for now.

Cliffs:

-Surgery was a huge success
-I am now more conservative in regards to injuries
-No more deadlifts
-Happy and healthy

[Farley1324]

Awesome.

[ROBO916]

We can't give that advice. I would say you should go to the doctor man

[Farley1324]

We can't give that advice. I would say you should go to the doctor man

Next time read the damn thread before you reply.

[Juggertha]

OP, I've been in the same boat as you for the past 8+ years. A nicely herniated disk has really made certain things in life hard.

I stayed away from lifting for years... hoping it might get better if I didn't stress it. But eventually, every three months or so I'd be in some decent pain, and at least once a year, I'd be immobilized for a few days.

However, this year I decided to get back in the gym and change things up. I'm careful as heck, and spend half of my workout stretching, but it's gotten lot's better. Building my core muscles, and stretching out everything (not just my back), has really changed how I feel about my body and life

Good luck, man.

[pablopicante]

Inversion table can work and an anti inflammatory diet. I have a masticating juicer so I can juice leafy greens. Axathanthin might help. Bone broth too from organic sources and I have a pressure cooker to save time and energy. Physical therapy or myofascial(hipflexor/psoas etc.) release could help. Other joint supplements too. I don't want prescription meds or shots because I can't tell if I'm using proper biomechanics. Good luck and health