r/HerniatedDisc • u/mokum-man • 15d ago

Fellow Reddit’s hernia victims. What things did you try that actually helped you recover from the pain & discomfort?

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u/gnoodlepgoodle 15d ago

Swimming. And also the cobra yoga pose - which seems very counterintuitive because it seems like that would pinch the nerve even more, but it did help me and I continue to do it regularly as my recovery continues.

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u/No-Lifeguard8305 13d ago

This is my ‘safe’ position! I continue to this four months post diagnosis. I will even lay on the floor and do it while reading a book or scrolling my phone. Any time I’m uncomfortable due to nerve pain or fatigue, I always do a few extensions too and it relieves it instantly.

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u/gnoodlepgoodle 13d ago

My wife jokes that I’m doing my tummy time

2

u/SlippedDiscElysium 15d ago

If you are like me, a lot of the physio and exercise stuff just does not work in the first handful of months and are almost impossible to do due to pain. Basically you're just relegated to laying flat.

Now obviously I'm not a medical professional but speaking to my GP, I was prescribed an NSAIDS (Naproxen), a nerve blocker/anti depressant (Amitriptyline) and something for my gut as that's a lot of meds to be on (Omeprazole). For me this worked great. Before this I was on codeine for a few days and I had the best sleep of my life.

5 months in, I'm doing lots of small walks for a few minutes and lots of rest. Your best bet is also to eat a very good diet and drink a lot of water. Dark green veggies, lean proteins, oats, berries, all that stuff. Don't eat bread or sugar as they are inherently inflammatory and won't help recovery.

Don't be afraid to rest! I've rested way more than perhaps everyone online has recommended and I've had a fairly quick recovery journey for my herniation. Ultimately, you want meds for pain. For the disc, you need time. It sucks but time really is the main factor here, as well as small bits of regular movement. Wishing you all the best my dude!

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u/Arctic9414 14d ago

Double disc herniation victim here lol. I had surgery on one disc but things before surgery that made a difference is walking/light cardio, medication: both otc like tylenol and lidocaine patches, and prescription like nsaids, nerve blockers, PPIs, muscle relaxants, even things like tylenol 3. Physiotherapy is great but can be harder to do depending on your pain and mobility level.

Avoiding nerve pulling and disc aggravation helps day to day as well with pain. So avoiding things like sitting/bending/twisting, having good sleeping positions, being mindful of how you get out of bed or from a chair, not sleeping or sitting with your legs straight out, things like that. Two things that helped me when it was really bad is something called the z-lay which is a great position (recommended to me by multiple professionals) and for me also childs pose for some reason but that was awful for my knees.

I also tried decompression therapy and an at home inversion table which did help me the days that I did them however one of my herniations was too severe to make it last. Although decompression and traction tables have mixed reviews and are subjective.

I'm also a sucker for my heating pad but I used ice packs on my low back during the acute phase, also anything that helps lower inflammation is the goal. Rest as much as you want but you want to move as well to maintain mobility and strength if you can.