Bulging disc will not heal - Any help at all appreciated

[bsunderl]

I love this post. I’m in similar situation with suspect disc bulge which keeps flaring up. I guess I should take a brake for a few months but I didn’t want to do that. Rather I wanted find specific exercises to avoid vs stop all.

Does anyone have list of exercises they avoid for lumbar disc bulge?
I find squat and military press are worst for me. But many others affect too.

Good luck all!!!

[jab2199]

Cliffs:

1. How did you fix your bulging disc / learn to live with it?
2. Anyone know any top notch specialists in the Denver, CO area?

Full version:

I've been dealing with a bulging disc in lumbar region and sciatica for about 8 months now. Did some research on the forums and found a few old threads but not a whole lot recent. I've been seeing a physical therapist but nothing has helped.

1. Dr. tried oral steroids first
2. Physical therapy ever since

I have not tried injections yet. I hear those are just a temporary relief and do not address the underlying problem.

It feels severe, but MRI shows that this really isn't a severe bulging disc. A spine doctor told me that he wasn't ready to do surgery yet but that if we did do surgery, it would be pretty minor. I'm really starting to lean in that direction.

If anyone has any experience with a bulging disc, can you tell me what you did to get better? This is really starting to become depressing. It's affecting gym, work, social life, everything. Cannot extend my right leg and get tingling sensations on top of foot on a regular basis. I told two doctors about this: general practitioner was very concerned, spine specialist was not too worried.

A few people have told me that if conservative treatment doesn't bring relief within 8-16 weeks, it's time for surgery. It's been 8 months now so I'm definitely beyond that timeline.

However, I'm willing to give a good sports medicine physical therapist one last try. I feel like I didn't get very much individualized attention at my last PT and may have missed out on actual treatment.

Also - will I ever get back to deads and squats? I have a minor curvature in my spine which probably doesn't help. Is it a bad idea to put heavy loads on a curved back? Doesn't everyone have a curved spine to some degree? Either way, I'm willing to get creative with leg and back lifts, but I will not ever completely stop lifting no matter what. It's too much a good part of my life to ever quit.

Anyways, sorry for the novel. Anything you have to say at all is much appreciated. This sucks more than I can explain in words.

Go see a good Chiropractor always worked for me faster recovery than the old MD outlook. If the Chiropractor can not help you or your not getting anything out of it they should refer you then to your last possible scenario a Neuro surgeon, but after all options are done. Back issue suck I know hope it gets to feeling better

[Farley1324]

Go see a good Chiropractor always worked for me faster recovery than the old MD outlook. If the Chiropractor can not help you or your not getting anything out of it they should refer you then to your last possible scenario a Neuro surgeon, but after all options are done. Back issue suck I know hope it gets to feeling better

You just quoted a post from 2011, made by a guy who that hasn't posted on the forum since 2013.

[chrisshelby]

I've had three bouts of slipped discs (eight in total) over ten years, and the only person that's fixed me is myself. It took four years to recover from my first bout, around two for my second, and a year for my third (so far). I don't lift really heavy weights like you guys do, but whilst your healing, you shouldn't really be lifting any at all (even my 1kg dumbells were too much!). The simple fact is, until your discs have healed, your going to have to do other things (I turned to punching). I decided to write a book all about my third bout : 'slipped disc help - through hell and back' (amazon).

[Dolpns13]

I herniated my L5S1 which caused excruciating sciatic nerve pain. I did 6 months of PT and stretching and worked through the pain! Never got the shot as it disintegrates the cartilage around the disc making the gap wider. It's a short teek solution with long term issues. After a while my disc went back to normal and not really any issues since. That said i stopped doing strenuous leg exercises. Just keep with the PT (so long as your disc isn't mildly bulging like mine was). It takes a very long time but the stretching, heat and ice eventually will fix the issue, again depending on severity

[Dolpns13]

I love this post. I’m in similar situation with suspect disc bulge which keeps flaring up. I guess I should take a brake for a few months but I didn’t want to do that. Rather I wanted find specific exercises to avoid vs stop all.

Does anyone have list of exercises they avoid for lumbar disc bulge?
I find squat and military press are worst for me. But many others affect too.

Good luck all!!!

You can probably do military press but with the equivalent of your body weight or less. My PT had me doing wall sits as part of my PT when I herniated my L5S1. It's good now but did flare up for 2 months when I was moving dirt in a wheelbarrow for 2 days. I'd stay away from squats.