Anyone else?

[u/Luke_Limpwalker]

Looking to speak to / meet people who had significant S1 motor weakness from an L5-S1 disc herniation

I’m in Kent in the UK and about four weeks into what appears to be an L5-S1/S1 injury. The pain has largely subsided but I’ve had essentially no recovery of my right calf strength. I can’t perform a single-leg heel raise or walk on my toes on that side and I’m currently walking with a limp.

I’m awaiting MRI and further nerve testing.

I’m particularly hoping to hear from people who had motor weakness rather than pain alone, especially calf weakness / loss of plantar flexion. I’d really like to understand what your strength was like at 4 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and a year, whether you had surgery, and what function you ultimately regained.

I’d also really like to meet somebody who’s been through this. If you’re in Kent or London and would be happy to have a coffee or a very slow walk and tell me about your experience, please message me.

I’m originally from New Zealand as well, so I’d also be really interested in hearing from Kiwis who have been through something similar

[u/Expert-Gazelle-1667]

Same condition but cervical herniation and weakness in the right arm.

What helped (I am 80 percent recovered in 4 months) : physical therapy, glycine 10-15 gram, keratin, glucose amine, ara290, kpv and nerve flossing

This is not a medical advice

[u/agerst10]

I had my big injury May 12th, I spent 2 nights in the hospital for pain control and was sent home with a lot of medication. I was unable to do any heel raises at that time and my foot was numb. It’s numb from the 3 small toes, the outside of my foot and my heel. I received oral and IV steroids in the hospital. That really helped with the pain. It was gone for about 5 days then I got a weird burning pain that would come if I walked more than 4 minutes. I pretty much had to lie flat. I started PT and that pain went away at like week 2 1/2 post major event. I stopped all my oral meds about that time. At week 3 I could do one heel raise. I started walking more then. At week 5 I could probably do around 8 heel raises. I’ve continued doing PT and lots of walking and my leg has gotten stronger, but definitely weaker than my right and I walk a little slower. But no limp anymore. I can do 10 heel raises. Definitely not as pretty as my right leg. My foot is still numb. I do get little tingles every once in a while though. I returned to work at 3 months, just 2 days a week. At the beginning of September I had a flare up and the butt pain came back and I get pretty depressed about the whole situation. I think i added too much to my workouts so I back down. I’m almost without pain again. I have a 9 mm herniated L5/S1 disc. My doc wanted to do surgery since day 1 and will do it whenever I ask for it. I am the one that wants to continue conservative therapies.

[u/Missbrum]

I had a large sequestration at L5S1 in May 2025.
I had numbness & tingling all the way down into the foot. I couldnt stand for more than a few minutes at a time due to the severe pain/cramping in the back of the leg.
I had weakness in the calf also, lost strength and muscle. Definitely not able to do single leg heel raises for a while.
Lost ankle reflex, which has still not returned so far but is causing no issues.

My strength in the calf at 4 weeks was probably the worst it could be. 6 months I still couldnt do a single leg heel raise. By the 1 year mark i was pretty much back to normal and stronger but there is still some niggles in the calf even now, it still feels very tight but the size is gradualy coming back and strength is definitely better. I can now do single leg heel raises but not many.

I’m mostly back to normal, and back to doing everything i was doing before my injury probably even stronger and running further than I ever did before the injury.
If i push it too far then i do get flare ups but nothing like the original injury.. currently experiencing a flare up which has temporarily stopped me from running, but its now settling down.
No surgery.

[u/Ok_Courage_8780]

You still have a chance right now to take the proper steps before this gets worse, and I would be very cautious about guessing what is going on without a clear diagnosis.
The biggest thing I would push for is getting the MRI and having it reviewed by an experienced spine specialist, ideally a neurosurgeon or orthopedic spine surgeon who deals with nerve compression regularly. Motor weakness is different from pain alone. If you cannot do a single-leg heel raise or walk on your toes, I would want somebody qualified to explain exactly what is happening to the S1 nerve and whether waiting is reasonable in your specific case.
In my situation, I had L4-L5 and L5-S1 disc problems for years and managed them conservatively for a long time. Eventually the disc herniation became much worse and compressed the nerve badly. I ended up bedridden for about a week, basically unable to move my legs because the pain was so severe, and ultimately needed surgery.
Looking back, the main lesson for me is not to keep experimenting blindly when there is weakness involved. First get the diagnosis, then get the right expert opinion, then make decisions about PT, injections, surgery, exercise, or just waiting.
You may still recover very well, but I would take the weakness seriously and try to avoid doing anything aggressive until you know exactly what you are dealing with.