I herniated a disc over 2 YEARS ago trying to help a friend carry something way too heavy and he wasn't pulling his weight, and because I had a physical job the last year and a half, it's been hell.
I don't know why I kept the job (besides decent pay and benefits) because I think it's the sole reason the disc never healed.
I'm off the job, and sitting around all day, the pain and sciatica have returned (which left for a while but not completely).
I haven't bothered with MRI or surgery, but I've looked up my symptoms enough to know what's going on, roughly.
However, besides just back pain and sciatica, about a year ago I started noticing some erectile dysfunction as well as numbness in the urethra and anal sphincter... it's not total numbness, but sort of like the amount of feeling I used to have in both of these regions has essentially halved.
I looked at some scientific studies and it seems to be some kind of mild cauda equina syndrome, but not full blown like when people shit their pants or can't pee or whatever. It's very likely that what is going on now since it's been over a year is permanent nerve damage.
HOWEVER I wonder what the likelihood is for symptoms to WORSEN. I'm hoping if I double down on my efforts to keep the disc in place, never bend my back, AND never use chairs indefinitely if I can reverse things or at least never make things worse.
SO - since things are "relatively" extreme for me in terms of the usual symptoms of herniation, is it advisable for me to consider surgery, given what people say about full blown cauda equina, or should I just try to fix this all by myself, without injections, etc?
OP here - my doctor specifically told me to go to ER if I get numbness in feet/legs, or if I lose control of bladder/intestines... but until then, try to work it out
so yes i've seen my doctor about it several times as a side conversation to other reasons I came into the office
Joseph Rivera
Talk to your doctor about going on Lyrica (for nerve damage/ pain) and Meloxicam (to help stop in inflammation)
I've had disc problems and sciatica for a few years now and those to drugs worked really well for me.
William Reed
thanks, will consider
i really don't want to get surgery
Carter Sanders
also
what is your current experience? and what kind of nerve damage symptoms did you/do you still have?
thanks
Zachary Foster
Dubs and OP improves drastically in 2017.
Connor Perry
...
Jason Barnes
yeah surgery is a last resort and if you're going down that path i'd be having a look at stem cell injections the results and articles i've read are really positive.
Hunter Anderson
i have a herniated disc in my lumbar spine pressing on the sciatic nerve. as a result i have mild nerve damage down one of my legs. i was in severe pain for 6 month seeing a failure of a doctor, that just kept telling me to keep seeing the physio.
after 6 month i decide to see another doctor and he put me on Lycria and Meloxicam with in a few days to a week i noticed most of the pain was gone, within two weeks i was pretty much pain free. i also stopped going to the physio as i found that massaging was just aggregating it.
i took the meds for about a year, dropping the dosage been off them for about 3 months and and have mild pain every now and then.
alot of my problem was that the disc wouldnt heal due to inflammation in the area and the inflammation wouldnt go away because of the herniated disc leaking. the meloxicam helped that
Camden Murphy
see I think my situation is similar to yours, because of the nerves and the fact that i've never completely allowed the disc to lose inflammation due to the constant strain on my back at my old job... i think your comments have been the most helpful, thanks
also, random, can I get your age/height/weight?
Landon Evans
also there was an user in another thread (you can find his OP post) saying using a roller on his back really helped a lot
I'm kind of afraid of trying it since you have to be on your back rather than your belly, with gravity working towards the nerves rather than away from them
Jayden Brown
How far did u bulge or herniate it my dude? I bulged my L5-S1 2mm and fucked all the musculature in my back in 2011 and in 2013 I enlisted in the marine corps healthy as an ox and have been carrying shit on my back and lifting heavy ever since. Maybe an MRI would be good so you can consider your options better and know how severe the threat to your LONG TERM health is. Don't cripple yourself for life just to save a few bucks man. Hope the best for you hang in there
Benjamin Parker
what did you do as treatment? or did you just pray for 2 years and it just fixed itself?
Dominic Stewart
Work the stabilizers in your corps and lower back, hips etc to support your load and take the weight off your spine a little dude. Check out floor cobras, hip Bridges, the obvious one is planks too. You can do miracles with like 3 sets of 20 of each 3 times a day. Do them slow and methodically with a 2-3 second pause at the flexed part of the exercise and a 3 second negative returning to rest. I once had a client with severe sciatic pain and 3 fused vertebrae and these exercises helped to him greatly.not a physio or anything I was just a personal trainer who studied kinesiology, and of course if the exercises cause you pain (not soreness or fatigue, skeletomuscular pain) stop doing them and tweak them to where you do it pain free by like elevating your feet on a bench or your hips with a yoga ball etc.
After doing this with slow controlled static stretching and foam rolling of extremities you can foam roll your UPPER back while supporting your weight with your core and limbs. Don't forget to foam roll hips glutes hamstrings and lats too, uneven tension anywhere can fuck your posture and worsen things
Camden Reed
26/5'11"/89kg i have about 10kg of fat to lose, i don't attempt alot of lifts because of my back problems and go light on anything that would be compressing my spine.
like you, i use to work a physical job as a construction labour it fucked my back.
another thing i found helpful was Foundation Training from Dr. Eric Goodman, he has a bunch of youtube videos based around core/back strengthening aswell as stretching and flexibility
Brody Johnson
This is me, I did these exercises as well as light dumbell work (literally 2lbs to 5 max) and used elastic bands. I strengthened my entire bodys stabilizers for like 6 months while taking it easy in my day to day life and small doses of over the counter anti-inflammatories to help the muscles heal. Strengthening my trunk was the best decision I ever made it takes so much strain off your spine.
However, I was 21 years old and in really great shape and I guess to some extent my youth and toughness helped me heal on my own better than if I were a couch, potato. Also, 2mm is not a whole lot it didn't even depress the spinal formina yet, most of the damage was in the destroyed musculature. You should really REALLY get it professionally checked out dude. If it's pushing severely on the spinal nerves or causing horse than dude it's probably beyond my hippy remedies of working your core and hydrating and taking motrin
Jaxson Russell
I use a spiked massage ball (pic related), standing up and just roll it against a wall or door
kek, i didn't ask how much it costs, just how much it has helped you (the spiked ball)
Jordan Carter
Yea I know man but that's literally my favorite movie quote of all time I use 5 or 6 times a day. "Hey man how many sets u got left?" "More than you can afford pal. Ferrari" "W-what?"
But anywho dude it'll work the same as a foam roller. Google self myofascial release, that the science behind massage, foam roll and all that. U could also throw a hard lacrosse ball inside a tube sock and use that roll on your back up against the wall. You pull the sock higher or lower to place the ball exactly where u need it.
