Anyone with a similar experience? I’ve been on meds for it for about two weeks now, and my ortho gave me two more weeks’ worth of meds to take. I’m looking for tips on what to do moving forward. Would also be helpful to receive clinic/hospital recommendations in Hiroshima or in neighboring prefectures. I don’t want to rely on medicine as much as possible, and my doctor wasn’t very clear about what I can do to improve my condition. He just told me to continue taking meds and to “exercise” (without being clear as to what types of exercise would be beneficial or detrimental to my recovery). Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Did he prescribe and suggest a rehabilitation center? If not the next time you see him ask him to refer you to one who can help.
Step 1: don’t panic, most doctors will want to wait out your pain and only consider real treatment after.
Step 2: educate yourself, e.g. Mayo clinic has a ton of resources online; watch out for snake oil.
Step 3: if something happened to you recently, wait until you get to your baseline state, although nothing stops you from figuring out what doctor or hospital will be treating you and making the initial contact.
Step 4: work with a good doctor. they know this stuff.
You already are visiting the orthopedic so that’s gold. I also had one few years back and basically I got some med and told to do specific exercises, was told these are the one they’re doing for rehab anyway.
I was skeptical as it was really painful and was like wtf.. Exercise? Like whaaat? Are you kidding me doc?
After a few weeks I was in disbelief that I’m completely healed. Still amazed to this day.
Of course there are variation of lumbar hernia cases but point is if your doc “only” recommending exercises then chances are you don’t need surgery. I’d say stick with it and of course keep working with your doc. GL.
Having lived with 2 herniated lumbar discs for the last 15 years, the best things to do are:
Exercise to build up the core muscles in the back. As mentioned above there are good resources for what exercises to do; and
Get acupuncture with a good acupuncture clinic, especially for severe episodes of pain.
リハビリ is essential. Don’t let it heal without expert guidance. When I had mine I had to rest for two weeks and then did rehab 3x a week for two months and once a week thereafter
Look online at reviews and then go and see a good physiotherapist. They’ll be able to structure a plan to start mobility exercises and then adjust/ramp up as the inflammation and pain subsides.
I was also guilty of ignoring it, until I ended up in hospital for a week having several rounds of injections in my lower spine. That whole week was quite literally the worst and most constant pain I’ve ever experienced.
I went to see a spinal specialist afterwards and they always seem to be reluctant to recommend courses of action, but he basically told me you are at point A, and want to get to point B. Surgery and fusing the discs can get you there faster, but rehab etc can also get you there eventually. As I was only in my mid-20s I went for the latter option and started going to a 整骨院 3 times a week for about 3 months, then slowly down to 1 time a week.
At first it seemed like nothing was really helping and I was still in discomfort, but after a couple of weeks I started to notice improvement.
6 years on I think the hernia has pretty much retracted and now I only get pain from weak/tight muscles that were so used to compensating for the injury. I don’t ignore pain anymore though and make sure I stretch often and do exercises that open up the spine. No pain at all now, and still do all the sports I enjoy.
So yeah, seek professional help, stay committed to the exercises and don’t get down if the recovery isn’t instant – the degree of the injury will be the main factor for this.
Good luck!
It took me months to recover, and I was seeing a very nice bone & joint doctor. I think seeing a physiotherapist would have been far more beneficial.
Instead, I supplemented with Dr. YouTube. Bob & Brad videos on hernias gave me the trick for popping the nerve back into place (I know it doesn’t work that way, but it feels like it.) What works for me is a Cobra pose, but I’m off-center bending towards the bad side like a banana.
Also, walking regularly. David Mitchell, the British comedian, did this for his bad back, and it’s no joke. If you are cleared for exercise, walking is the best way to get back into things. Find a nicely air-conditioned Aeon, and stroll, stroll, stroll.
Yoga. I blew out three discs and crushed a vertebrae in a snowboarding accident. Yoga fixed me. Building up the surrounding muscle is the key. Too much rest causes the muscles to atrophy and makes it worse. Gotta keep it moving. You don’t have to get into the mumbo jumbo of it, it’s just a method of stretching and breathing. I can’t recommend it enough though for anyone suffering from back pain.
Edited to add: Stay away from chiropractors. Chiropractics was invented by a guy who claimed he learnt it from a ghost and has zero medical science behind it. You’re much more likely to end up with worse injuries than you started with.
A former colleague got a slipped disc staying at a zen temple. Not sure what treatment he got but I know it bothered him a fair bit, so definitely not something to take lightly.
Just be careful about any treatment you get afterwards. A lot of these places will try to get you to come in for weekly massages and/or accupuncture. Obviously massages can help for temporary relief, and there’s *some* evidence of accupuncture having some effectiveness, but neither of these are going to work to replace real rehabilitative exercise.
So maybe ask your doctor about his long-term plan, and if you get directed to a rehab center, make sure to go over it with them too. And consider(and consult about) lifestyle choices and how they effect it. Having poor flexibility etc may result in excessive stress on your spine in some sitting positions. The aforementioned colleague would sit for hours in positions he may not have been accustomed to which clearly contributed :/
Check out “McGills big three” exercises on YouTube
As soon as your pain isn’t debilitating, start moving as much and often as possible.
Walking is great, just walk, the more steps per day the better. The first few steps may be hell but the last few will be (almost) painless.
Never sit in the same position for more than 20 minutes (set a timer on your phone). It’s less about there being a perfect sitting position and more about changing often.
Drink 5L of water per day, this will keep you moving often 😉 and is also good for moving stuff around in the body
Acupressure and acupuncture can help too as well as physiotherapy.
For specific exercises, search YouTube for “NHS herniated disc exercises” or similar and do as many as you can. Try to stick to NHS or someone serious rather than cheerful chancers who have something to sell.
Make sure your bed/mattress is not too soft, worst case put a hard mattress on the floor
Meds are only for the days you’re in severe pain, don’t expect them to fix/improve the situation, in fact if they’re muscle relaxants, they can make things worse by further weakening the muscles you need to hold your discs in place, so take them sparingly.
Don’t be passive and expect Drs or others to fix you, look at them as helpers only, you are the one who cares most, take responsibility and be active in leading your recovery
Source had 2 herniated discs over the last 30 years, recovered
r/sciatica
I have the same condition, herniated disc on my lower back. Be prepared for the worst, theyre not “supposed” to get better. What helps for me is exercising every day(running/walking in the sun), keeping hydrated(it actually makes a difference on the pain),keeping correct posture while sitting, and bending with your knees when you pick something up, never with your back. A back brace is a godsend. It helps you keep correct posture when you’re doing activities that affects your back, like sitting for a long time or cooking. Honestly having a back brace is the only reason I’m not begging the doctor to do surgery on me
Edit: theres also a stretch where you lie on your stomach and lift the upper half of your body up with your arms(do not do this with your back). It helps a lot too. Looks kinda like o-/__
I blew out a disc many years ago. At first I went to a local clinic and they gave me nerve block shots which in the end didn’t work. The pain got worse and I eventually couldn’t walk normally any more so I got checked into a hospital, had surgery, and went through a quick rehab. This was all in my early 20s and the doctor said I was the youngest person he had ever operated on for a herniated disc.
My advice would be stretching and light exercise daily. Whatever you can do, don’t push yourself too hard. Build up your core muscles and if the hernia is still in an early stage you can repair it yourself. Don’t let it get out of hand like I did.
My only advice: please start lifting. I’ve seen 10+ cases with severe disk damage being able to overcome even their prime just by lifting. Now, it’s not about going to the gym and deadlift 500kg to make it worse. It’s about mindfull lifting thru the years. If you have begginer or no knolege get a PT that with the focus of growing all auxiliary muscles that help movement on the spine.
Spoiler, the first months will be hell, after that you will only wish that you stated sooner.
I had several years of sports depresion regarding a really back knee, once all that is auxiliary to the damaged parts stats getting strong 90% of the pain goes away.
This solution might not be fitting if you can’t spare 3h a week at the gym, but I’ve never seen a single person that regrets the choice of staring and enduring it.
Wish you the best
Step 1: educate yourself. Countless resources online. Bob & Brad on YouTube are amazing.
Step 2: Exercise. You need to stengthen your core and fix your posture. Don’t stay sitting for too long, get a standing desk if possible. WATCH OUT many many abdominal exercises are bad for your back, especially lower abs ones, see how you feel and inform yourself. Best exercise by far: swimming. If not possible then next best is Pilates, here you will learn what is a good posture. Complement both with core workouts, they are easily done at home.
Step 3: Chiropractor. I made some progress with steps 1 and 2 but at some point progress stopped. Going to a chiropractor literally saved my life, can’t recommend enough. He was able to tell me that my issue was that my hips were tilted with the right side up and my shoulders were tilted with the right side down, which was causing the squeezing of the disc on the right side. I could not believe the magic painless feeling after the first appointment. Again: it saved my life.
YMMY but in my experience physiotherapy didn’t help at all.
Dr McGill.
His books “The back mechanics” will give you pointers on the likely causes and the main exercises to do to remedy the situation and avoid surgery (which is very often avoidable).
The exercises to look for are “the big 3 McGill”: essentially will rebuild all the muscles that stabilise the spine which get weaker for many of us living sedentary lifestyles.
Purdue pharma has a good treatment for this. Not sure it’s available here though.