Injury prevents me from working out; I've lost all my gains

[balancs]

A few months ago, I herniated one of my lumbar discs and bulged another lumbar disc (I'm 16). After I got an MRI, it was discovered that I also have arthritis in my lumbar or pelvis area (I forget). It hurts so much to work out because of my back spasms and the pain of lifting a weight. I've tried the chiropractor, physical therapy, osteopath, everything. My doctor said there's not much else he can try to do for me since the herniations aren't big enough for surgery. Not to mention, I have hip pain in both hips which is from the same injury as the herniations (stupidly leg pressing too much and going too far down). I'm losing gains and can't workout because of the pain; I'm becoming beyond depressed. Any suggestions please?

[dandyrandy1]

A few months ago, I herniated one of my lumbar discs and bulged another lumbar disc (I'm 16). After I got an MRI, it was discovered that I also have arthritis in my lumbar or pelvis area (I forget). It hurts so much to work out because of my back spasms and the pain of lifting a weight. I've tried the chiropractor, physical therapy, osteopath, everything. My doctor said there's not much else he can try to do for me since the herniations aren't big enough for surgery. Not to mention, I have hip pain in both hips which is from the same injury as the herniations (stupidly leg pressing too much and going too far down). I'm losing gains and can't workout because of the pain; I'm becoming beyond depressed. Any suggestions please?

Im 35 and going through a similar situation from a car accident but I would need more details. How did you herniate your disc? Back injuries are very hard to deal with. Most of my injured military comrades that had back injuries it took a very long time to get 100%. Mostly because the human body does not get much blood flow in the spine area and the body is slow to heal in that area. The worse thing you could do is make the situation worse. Also dont listen to some meat head jock physical trainer in any town gym. They may know a lot about workouts and getting buff but they are NOT experts at tailoring specific workouts to specific injuries on people. Find your self a good medically qualified and doctor approved physical therapist.

[mike6467]

The good news is you have lots of reasons to stay positive. The biggest of which is that you're 16, aside from that, lots of people have disk problems and still lift and make good progress.

The bad news is back injuries are a b**** and can take a lot of time and effort to deal with. A drunk driver totaled my car in 2011, and it was a good 2 years before I felt normal again. I still have a bulging disc though, so I still have to watch it. With that said, I was 28, so recovery does happen. Do all your physical therapy stuff religiously (it helped me a lot at least) and be patient. I know that sucks to hear, but if you can, use the time to focus on improving other things in your life. Give yourself something to work towards and something to keep you occupied when you would've been lifting.

So stay positive and stay on top of treatment. It will get better! When it does, keep this whole occurrence in mind when you get back in the gym. Nail down your form and ease your way into it; make sure you're not on here in another year talking about how you really messed up and need a major back surgery (this is a thing I've seen happen, that guy was 19 at the time and he's still not the same 12 years later).