Herniated Disc: Have any of you guys FULLY recovered?

[NorCalMike]

It was pretty terrible brah. The full scale didn't even set in until shortly after I got home. It hit me like a brick one day after I bent down to pick something up. It took them months to figure anything out because they must have thought I was some 19 year old drug-seeker and was only making it up. Once they finally did an MRI, needless to say they felt like idiots.

Lifting actually helped me a lot, after PT did next to nothing, and other assorted regimens/treatments. The level of pain decreased, as well as the frequency of pain, but it is still there and more often than I'd like. The initial injury caused a pinched nerve as well, that duo is terrible. Fortunately it's never caused me to pee/chit myself though..

Did you fall to the ground? How much pain were you in daily after that and did you need meds? Today, when do you have the most pain? Sitting, driving, waking up etc. etc.

Would have thought you would be recovered by now. That's why I ask how serious it was... sounds bad.

[NorCalMike]

bump

[machinegunjake]

Did you fall to the ground? How much pain were you in daily after that and did you need meds? Today, when do you have the most pain? Sitting, driving, waking up etc. etc.

Would have thought you would be recovered by now. That's why I ask how serious it was... sounds bad.

No, just had a terrible pain shoot down into my leg and into my foot, couldn't twist or turn or anything. It was a difficult process enough just having my gf take me to the hospital. For the most part, the disc has healed for the majority, but I still have the nerve problem, and all of that caused me to have (what seems like permanent) muscle spasms in my back. I was on meds for 2 years while seeing my normal doc, then a pain clinic and PT, and then a chiropractor. Standing for long periods, driving for certain lengths, sitting for certain periods, all tend to put a strain. I have to find a balance of sitting and standing throughout the day or I'll end up laying on a hard floor for some time haha.

[Brahizcool]

Great post. So you're basically fully recovered? When do you still get pain? Driving and getting out of the car is my biggest discomfort now. Literally cringe when getting out of the car sometimes and am stiff right after getting out. Even after just a 15 minute drive.



That sucks... how bad/painful was your initial herniation in 08?

Wouldn't call it fully recovered, disk injuries don't recover full as far as ik
But its much STRONGER.

Core strengthening is the key.

It still pains sometimes when I

1. Do cycling
2. Play football
3. Sit for longer duration or leg press really heavy.
Gotta bear it, I'm still in the process of getting stronger.

For almost a year I was in pain thinking its gonna heal cuz I'm young,
I joined the gym, back pained when doing hammer curls. :/
I was 19 years old and I cdnt play any sport properly nor build a good physique.

I decided to get stronger, left the gym for 2 months, did all kinds of light core exercise s to find what works. ICE became my best friend


So was YouTube

Check tmw hodgetwins life after lower back
Elliot hulse
Ct Fletcher

Durrah.

check this video.



These are the people who have looked pain right in the eye and fought to improve their lives and yeah they all have great physiques.

After those 2 months of core exercises, I found out what works for me and so I entered the gym.on 3rd Jan 2013, still had some pain, but I only wanted to get stronger.

Gotta take few risks
Gotta focus on what you want.
Gotta get stronger.

Only way to beat the pain. Period.

I highly recommend you to follow this

1. Sleep on the ground on a carpet+mat setting. Firm surface. (Sleep on the side which doesn't pain much)
2. Do stretches/light core exercises in the morning + ICE your lower back. On and off for 20 mins. Its gonna pain but it wont tear the skin. Bear it.
3. Repeat at night.^^^^
4. Stop sitting for longer duration.
5. Improve your posture.
6. Know that you can strenghten yourself and do whatever it takes to do it.
7. Do cardio+diet and reduce weight to a healthy weight range so that weight doesn't put unnecessary pressure on spine.

(Diet+exercises+mind and body streghthening +ice+multi+fish oil+sleep+good posture)

[NorCalMike]

Bump. Wanna hear more personal experiences

[pollywogpriest]

hey brahs this thread has made me kinda nervous...

i've been having a very stiff neck, and a crunching noise & sensation in my spine at the back of my neck. sometimes (rarely) a sharp pain radiates out through my entire torso. been having this for about a week now, doesn't seem to get better. sitting all day obviously doesn't help either. i don't remember doing anything that could have slipped a disc recently though.

should i get an mri ?

[NorCalMike]

hey brahs this thread has made me kinda nervous...

i've been having a very stiff neck, and a crunching noise & sensation in my spine at the back of my neck. sometimes (rarely) a sharp pain radiates out through my entire torso. been having this for about a week now, doesn't seem to get better. sitting all day obviously doesn't help either. i don't remember doing anything that could have slipped a disc recently though.

should i get an mri ?

People can get herniated discs in their neck. I don't know much about those, they are less common then in the back. Do some research on the internet about symptoms and you could probably get a good idea if it's a herniated disc in your neck. Good luck

[hockeyd13]

I'm talking your back feels just like it did (or very close) prior to the herniation. And not having to do core exercises regularly to prevent pain from coming back. Basically can you go on with your life without being inconvenienced by your fukking back or it causing pain.

I feel and pray that this isn't something I'm gonna have to deal with the rest of my life. Please share your experience or knowledge guys. Thank you.

Nope. You typically never fully recover from this sort of injury either. It can go weeks and even months without any symptoms, and then at the most random time I'll tweak it and be sidelined with pain for days to a week.

That being said, core work and help improve stability and prevent a reinjury/flare-up.

[NorCalMike]

Nope. You typically never fully recover from this sort of injury either. I can go weeks and even months without any symptoms, and then at the most random time I'll tweak it and be sidelined with pain for days to a week. That being said, core work and help improve stability and prevent a reinjury/flare-up.

Thanks. But I've read that most do fully recover; it's a very individual injury.

[NorCalMike]

bump

[GreatOldOne]

Nope. You typically never fully recover from this sort of injury either. It can go weeks and even months without any symptoms, and then at the most random time I'll tweak it and be sidelined with pain for days to a week.

That being said, core work and help improve stability and prevent a reinjury/flare-up.

My understanding is also that you are likely for the rest of your life to have some increased chance of reinjury...and who knows what the chance actually is? I've been several years (honestly I can't remember at the moment, say 2-3 years) out now since mine, which included at least 6 months of constant, daily sciatica...

I've returned to lifting and sports including some fairly high impact sports like judo and bjj where you do 'get moved about' rather vigorously.

The closest I've come to really feeling bad again was following a move where I was lugging boxes all day and furniture...all hunched over and bearing weight with a somewhat flexed spine.

I got a pretty good tightness in my lower back which I could tell was about one step away from turning into a slight sciatica...but I went back to my original injured protocol (well, the one that worked for me) of doing 1) lots of NSAIDS, prescription strength 2) ceasing heavy lifting 3) McKenzie protocol/stretches 4) hanging from ab straps to provide some decompression.

I got out of that funk in about 2-3 days and have been ok since. But since the injury I always have done at least some daily McKenzie stretch and hang from the ab straps for at least some time. I don't know if it's physical and actually effective or just mental, but I always feel better after doing that.

[Bigbri73]

My understanding is also that you are likely for the rest of your life to have some increased chance of reinjury...and who knows what the chance actually is? I've been several years (honestly I can't remember at the moment, say 2-3 years) out now since mine, which included at least 6 months of constant, daily sciatica...

I've returned to lifting and sports including some fairly high impact sports like judo and bjj where you do 'get moved about' rather vigorously.

The closest I've come to really feeling bad again was following a move where I was lugging boxes all day and furniture...all hunched over and bearing weight with a somewhat flexed spine.

I got a pretty good tightness in my lower back which I could tell was about one step away from turning into a slight sciatica...but I went back to my original injured protocol (well, the one that worked for me) of doing 1) lots of NSAIDS, prescription strength 2) ceasing heavy lifting 3) McKenzie protocol/stretches 4) hanging from ab straps to provide some decompression.

I got out of that funk in about 2-3 days and have been ok since. But since the injury I always have done at least some daily McKenzie stretch and hang from the ab straps for at least some time. I don't know if it's physical and actually effective or just mental, but I always feel better after doing that.

i was told by my surgeon that 3 months after surgery my chances of re-herniating my disc are as good as someone who never herniated it


worst experience ive ever went through. as soon as i did it i couldn;t walk. i couldn't sleep, sneeze, put on socks or shoes, drive, anything.. my back would swell up so bad that it looked like i had a beachball under my ****... it was bad man. got my surgery and the next 4-5 months sucked bc of rehab and trying to gain my stength back. its now 4 years later and im 100%. my lower back isnt as strong but no pain

[machinegunjake]

I was just seen by a doc recently between posting in this thread and he seems to strongly believe that I have degenerative disc diseas that developed at some point. He was asking about family history and anyone with DDD, my mom has it. He said its very likely I've started to develop it, but it's not a bad stage yet (to where I can't lift or play sports, luckily I still can) but it might get there. Not to thrilled, momma dukes is in terrible pain daily at her stage with DDD and is taking prescription strength meds pretty much daily as well. I'm just going to keep at my normal day to day routine and hope I can slow it down.

[4Misc]

My dad actually burst his V3, so worse than herniation. Since then he has become a black belt in tang soo do, and play squash tournaments weekly.

[NorCalMike]

My understanding is also that you are likely for the rest of your life to have some increased chance of reinjury...and who knows what the chance actually is? I've been several years (honestly I can't remember at the moment, say 2-3 years) out now since mine, which included at least 6 months of constant, daily sciatica...

I've returned to lifting and sports including some fairly high impact sports like judo and bjj where you do 'get moved about' rather vigorously.

The closest I've come to really feeling bad again was following a move where I was lugging boxes all day and furniture...all hunched over and bearing weight with a somewhat flexed spine.

I got a pretty good tightness in my lower back which I could tell was about one step away from turning into a slight sciatica...but I went back to my original injured protocol (well, the one that worked for me) of doing 1) lots of NSAIDS, prescription strength 2) ceasing heavy lifting 3) McKenzie protocol/stretches 4) hanging from ab straps to provide some decompression.

I got out of that funk in about 2-3 days and have been ok since. But since the injury I always have done at least some daily McKenzie stretch and hang from the ab straps for at least some time. I don't know if it's physical and actually effective or just mental, but I always feel better after doing that.

How long after your injury (you said 2-3 years ago it happened) did you fully recover?

I feel like I'm making progress every day. Trying to lose weight (currently around 230lbs) and am feeling very optimistic that when I get closer to 200lbs this injury can be in the rear view mirror. We'll see. Biggest issue now is sitting in chairs and driving. I often cringe just getting out of the car after a even just driving 10 minutes.

i was told by my surgeon that 3 months after surgery my chances of re-herniating my disc are as good as someone who never herniated it


worst experience ive ever went through. as soon as i did it i couldn;t walk. i couldn't sleep, sneeze, put on socks or shoes, drive, anything.. my back would swell up so bad that it looked like i had a beachball under my ****... it was bad man. got my surgery and the next 4-5 months sucked bc of rehab and trying to gain my stength back. its now 4 years later and im 100%. my lower back isnt as strong but no pain

Did you feel like you needed surgery tho? Were you bed ridden? Only 10% of people need surgery. Congrats on the recovery tho

[aekest]

I'I have cracked a disk in my back 8 years ago deadlifting my own bodyweight with a rounded back, when I was starting out.


When that happened, I through if I do it in better form I will fix the back... the second deadlift made it even worse, to a point I was laying face down on the floor and couldn't move for 15 minutes out of the pure pain I was in.

Because I had no insurance, all I had was a crippling injury. So I spent the entire extended weekend hanging from a pullup bar, and doing so at any place I could. You could often see me hanging out from a door stop just to straighten out my back.

Eventually, after a couple months of doing it, the back progressively improved, and I started doing straight leg deadlifts to strengthen all the muscles in my lower back. I started off from 20 lbs, until I felt the muscles in my back and hamstrings tighten very tightly. Then progressively moved up in weight until my lower back was incredibly strong and could support a lot of weight. The increased muscle mass at the back had helped keep my back in shape enough to prevent any future pain or injuries.

Best of luck to any other brahs who have a success story of recovery!

[NorCalMike]

I was just seen by a doc recently between posting in this thread and he seems to strongly believe that I have degenerative disc diseas that developed at some point. He was asking about family history and anyone with DDD, my mom has it. He said its very likely I've started to develop it, but it's not a bad stage yet (to where I can't lift or play sports, luckily I still can) but it might get there. Not to thrilled, momma dukes is in terrible pain daily at her stage with DDD and is taking prescription strength meds pretty much daily as well. I'm just going to keep at my normal day to day routine and hope I can slow it down.

DDD is almost impossible to diagnose. And correct me if I'm wrong, but the "conservative treatment" is basically the same as someone with a herniated disc. They recommend a lot of stretching, walking, etc. So there's probably nothing that changes for you and I read you can definitely stop the degeneration by being active/stretching etc. In addition, it's natural for discs to degenerate over time as we age from regular wear and tear. This is for everyone.

I'm not a doctor but I wouldn't feel as if you're doomed to be on pain meds in the future.

My dad actually burst his V3, so worse than herniation. Since then he has become a black belt in tang soo do, and play squash tournaments weekly.

Where's the V3? Back, neck etc. Any more details you can share about what he did to recover.

[Grevl]

ive started to feel a strange, pinched nerve kinda pain in my lower back, and im pretty sure it was from squats. When i was squatting i was going too deep, my flexibility is chit and i was getting bad buttwink at the bottom

this started last wednesday. what should i do?
just avoid squats and deads until the pain goes away? will it go away?
Working on fixing my hamstring, quad and hip flexor flexibility everyday now

[NorCalMike]

I'I have cracked a disk in my back 8 years ago deadlifting my own bodyweight with a rounded back, when I was starting out.


When that happened, I through if I do it in better form I will fix the back... the second deadlift made it even worse, to a point I was laying face down on the floor and couldn't move for 15 minutes out of the pure pain I was in.

Because I had no insurance, all I had was a crippling injury. So I spent the entire extended weekend hanging from a pullup bar, and doing so at any place I could. You could often see me hanging out from a door stop just to straighten out my back.

Eventually, after a couple months of doing it, the back progressively improved, and I started doing straight leg deadlifts to strengthen all the muscles in my lower back. I started off from 20 lbs, until I felt the muscles in my back and hamstrings tighten very tightly. Then progressively moved up in weight until my lower back was incredibly strong and could support a lot of weight. The increased muscle mass at the back had helped keep my back in shape enough to prevent any future pain or injuries.

Best of luck to any other brahs who have a success story of recovery!

Thanks for sharing man. You pretty sure it was a herniated disc tho? Just d-lifting the bar your form must have been off. Did you have pain sneezing, sitting down, tying your shoes etc etc.? Or pain shooting down into your feet.

Crazy how young some of you guys injure your back . You were frigging 14 that's insane

ive started to feel a strange, pinched nerve kinda pain in my lower back, and im pretty sure it was from squats. When i was squatting i was going too deep, my flexibility is chit and i was getting bad buttwink at the bottom

this started last wednesday. what should i do?
just avoid squats and deads until the pain goes away? will it go away?
Working on fixing my hamstring, quad and hip flexor flexibility everyday now

Any other symptoms?

Common initial symptoms of a herniated disc are radiating pain down from your back to your butt or legs. Pain when sneezing, this is almost a dead giveaway. You can't bend over to tie your shoes or put socks on. And sitting in a car etc. is painful.

[natedog89]

Had a bad disc. Heard test and deca mite help it so i said fuk it ill try anything.
i feel as good as i ever did after them. Stuff worked great worth a try if you have no other choices.
Im back squating and deadlifting as i was before never thoutht id ever do them again.

[DavidJr74]

Stopping to say that fellas to keep your head up with this annoying fuking injury. Its a true mind fuk. you feel as if you're disabled sometimes but its not....don't let it bring your life down. I have been playing full on Tennis and getting back in the gym lately and yea I get pain but I'm not gonna let this stop me from doing the things I love.

[NorCalMike]

Had a bad disc. Heard test and deca mite help it so i said fuk it ill try anything.
i feel as good as i ever did after them. Stuff worked great worth a try if you have no other choices.
Im back squating and deadlifting as i was before never thoutht id ever do them again.

Ya not gonna jump on that stuff. Congrats on your successful recovery tho. It was a herniated disc correct? When did it happen and your have no issues today? Did you do a lot of strentching/cardio too? Explain how treated yourself without surgery please.

[nmballa]

Yes, I had to have months of adjustments but I am back to normal. Has happened three times in my neck.

[Benny_Lava]

herniated discs are bad news man GL, people have definitely fully recovered, but for many that chit haunts them for life.

i don't personally know anyone that has recovered from it. damn i sound negative.


ON THE BRIGHT SIDE BRO, you're young in 2013. odds are they're gonna be able to fix that chit right up somewhere soon down the road.

[NorCalMike]

Stopping to say that fellas to keep your head up with this annoying fuking injury. Its a true mind fuk. you feel as if you're disabled sometimes but its not....don't let it bring your life down. I have been playing full on Tennis and getting back in the gym lately and yea I get pain but I'm not gonna let this stop me from doing the things I love.

That's a good attitude. We're not disabled by any means.. most of us here can do just about anything we did before. Although I think you should change your sig eventually... I wouldn't say you'll have it for life. You may or may not.

[Epervier]

I've had constant lower back pain for the past year, can't stand or walk more than 10 mins, it becomes excessively stiff. The MRI showed no disc herniation or bulging (was worried about it), but only facet arthritis at L5-S1... I still can't believe I have this at my age.

Tried lots of stretches until my PT told me I had short and tight psoas, which is bringing my lumbar spine forward, makes sense because when I try to touch my Psoas I scream in pain. But I am happy I isolated the problem, I am going to see a specialist in Active release technique tomorrow for my first treatment, any one did ART? does it really work?

[NorCalMike]

Yes, I had to have months of adjustments but I am back to normal. Has happened three times in my neck.

How did it happen in your neck?

herniated discs are bad news man GL, people have definitely fully recovered, but for many that chit haunts them for life.

i don't personally know anyone that has recovered from it. damn i sound negative.


ON THE BRIGHT SIDE BRO, you're young in 2013. odds are they're gonna be able to fix that chit right up somewhere soon down the road.

Thanks man. Most of use are gonna make it. I believe with what someone else ITT said, if you're initial injury wasn't "too bad" then you'll be alright eventually. I think by "too bad" would mean the pain was so unbearable you were completely bed ridden (couln't even limp around or make it to he gym) and you needed pain meds to sleep etc.

I've had constant lower back pain for the past year, can't stand or walk more than 10 mins, it becomes excessively stiff. The MRI showed no disc herniation or bulding (was worried about it), but only facet arthritis at L5-S1... I still can't believe I have this at my age.

Tried lots of stretches until my PT told me I had short and tight psoas, which is bringing my lumbar spine forward, makes sense because when I try to touch my Psoas I scream in pain. But I am happy I isolated the problem, I am going to see a specialist in Active release technique tomorrow for my first treatment, any one did ART? does it really work?

Yours is definitely a different condition and treatment. You can sit for long periods of time/normally?

It's like the opposite of mine. I walk 2 miles on treadmill everyday fine. But sitting can be painful at times. I'm gonna look into how people get facet arthritis, def sounds like something older folks would be most likely to have. Good luck

[aekest]

Thanks for sharing man. You pretty sure it was a herniated disc tho? Just d-lifting the bar your form must have been off. Did you have pain sneezing, sitting down, tying your shoes etc etc.? Or pain shooting down into your feet.

Crazy how young some of you guys injure your back . You were frigging 14 that's insane

I do not recall sneezing, but sitting down was painful and I would lie on my stomach while at home just to negate some of the pain. Moving in any direction just show a lightning of nerve pain throughout the body that would bring tears to your eyes. It not an experience I ever want again. But as I mentioned, strengthening the muscles around the injury was actually one of the only things I had going for me.

Now, the pain stuck around with me for a few years of course on and off, until I finally strengthened my back through training to a point that it supported the burden of the injury. Now I am up to dead-lifting x2.5 of my body weight, so definitely doing it right... The only downside/upside to be honest is that I have to keep lifting for the rest of my life

Otherwise when I start taking breaks, I can slowly feel the pain coming back, and at one point I couldn't stand up straight from my office chair because it felt as if someone stuck an icepick into my lower back.

[DavidJr74]

That's a good attitude. We're not disabled by any means.. most of us here can do just about anything we did before. Although I think you should change your sig eventually... I wouldn't say you'll have it for life. You may or may not.

I had surgery at 19 and still have sciatica after almost 4 years coming up. I have accepted it lol.

[mikeditka]

I see lots of good advice in this thread. I try not to misc about it (my profession) often (misc is for the lulz, not trying to be immature then have to be professional)

But, I am a chiropractor and I help people with HNP every day. In fact, I just had a teacher not long ago with FOUR lumbar disc herniations and 3 in the neck as well (car accident.) She didn't miss a day of work after coming to me.

You have to be realistic about some things. (I imagine most miscers who actually lift fall into the category of re-injury due to trying to get back in heavy lifting mode too early...this happens a lot.) But, you CAN fully recover.
For some reason chiropractic is a really hot topic with people it seems (kind of lulzy to me as it's so simple/makes sense to me.) But, peoples opinions often vary WIDELY:
I could (was going to) write out all the stereotypes of camps people fall into...but I'm trying to get ready to watch this Heat game nom sayin?

Basically,
Elite athletes know, Arnold knew, Dorian knows, it works. Some chiros suck...they might make muscles spasms worse. What happens when doctors who drug/cut/poison/burn suck? See my point?

I have friends/family that are MD/PT/OT and am cool with them and respect what they do and vice versa. I've also met snooty people in those same professions who tell the general public to never step in my door as I will eat their children and paralyze them. These are the people who say to take pain meds and stretch for low back pain.

CLIFFS
Chiropractic works for low back pain
Most doctors are HORRIBLE at treating low back pain
It made such a difference with me I became one
If you have HNP, find a good chiro and aware yourself on Flexion-Distraction technique
/thread