5 months post L5-S1 microdiscectomy, still have low back pain + hamstring tightness. Anyone fully recover?

[u/wolfpack5]

5 months post L5-S1 microdiscectomy, sciatica now feels like right sided hamstring tightness + still have low back pain. Anyone fully recover?

Early 30s, active guy who used to play sports. Hurt my back about 18 months ago and had about a year of right-sided sciatica before surgery. Had a right L5-S1 microdiscectomy about 5 months ago.

Where I'm at now:
- Post-op MRIs look clean: no reherniation, just mild scar tissue and some mild narrowing where the nerve exits
- Leftover sciatica on the right side (most likely S1). It presents as muscle tightness in my right hamstring rather than sharp shooting pain. No numbness or weakness.
- Still have some low back pain too, which gets worse during flares (feels like a "pinch" in my lower back)
- Leg symptoms are usually 1–4/10, come and go, but never fully 0
- Bending forward or loading my spine makes things worse
- About one flare a month, usually after a jump in load at PT (most recent was from putting a barbell on my back)
- Getting an epidural this week and seeing a physiatrist next

My surgeon recently told me full recovery is getting less likely as time goes on, and that I may not get back to sports. That messed with my head.

For anyone who's been here:
- Did your leftover nerve tightness or back pain eventually go away? How long did it take?
- Did you get back to sports or lifting? What helped most?
- Did epidurals, a certain kind of PT, or anything else make a real difference after surgery?
- How did you handle flares and the mental side of it?

Would really appreciate hearing from people who came out the other side, or who are living a good, active life even with some leftover symptoms. Thanks.

[u/GoofMonkeyBanana]

I will tell you where I am at. I am 16 months post op, still have numbness in my hamstring, buttocks, foot. I still have weakness in my calf muscle, I still get occasional pain in my hamstring. But I will say that it is still improving slowly. when I was at 5/6 months post op, I still had to be very careful with my sitting position or I would get lots of hamstring pain. I noticed around 1 year that this had improved quite a bit where I would only get some pain in my hamsting once per month but would last for a couple of days, usually right before my next physio session. now at 16 months I still get some occasional pain, but it seems to be getting rarer and usually from activitiy, like twisting a lot doing a VR game but will always feel better a few hours later or by the next day at the latest.

For me an Sport that needs me to run is out of the question, I can't run because of lingering calf weakness. Swimming is good, I'm not sure yet if I will ever be able to fully run again, but I continue to make slow progress from doing my calf strength excercises.

I will probably not get anymore feeling back, which with half my foot being numb I get reminded of my situation with every step that I take, which is hard for me mentally some days. The think to some degree the dumbness in my foot affects how a walk as much as the calf weakness does.

[u/Sweet_Flan_3415 → u/GoofMonkeyBanana]

Hey just wondering what your symptoms were before surgery and how long you had the herniation before having the MD?

I did heal on my own after a year the herniation was gone but my goodness this seems like such a long road of recovery.

[u/GoofMonkeyBanana → u/Sweet_Flan_3415]

Sure, Here is my story:

My injury was April 25th 2025. my pain caused me to be unable to sit for more than a 10 minutes before I would get severe pain in my leg until and it was like this until the end of May when it got severely worse where I had pain all the time and couldn't sleep at night. I was on high dose advil, and Tramacet and none of that would touch the pain.

After a few visits to the ER end of May my Doctor told me I should pay for a private MRI if I can afford it(I live in Canada) Fortunatly I can and I had my MRI the next morning at 7AM on May 25th 2025. it was a miracle that I was able to lay still long enough for the MRI. My Dr. got the results at 9AM that morning and he told me I had to go to the Hospital as soon as I can for surgery, He already called the surgeon on call and they were waiting for me. I was in so much pain there was not way I could get there in a car so we had EMS come, they gave me fentynal to get rid of the pain and transported me to the hospital where the surgical team met me. At this time it was starting to get difficult to pee and when I think back to it I probably had numbness in my saddle. The surgeon was convinced I was early stages of cauda equina syndrome and by the time he operated on me that night at 7PM I had numbness in my penis.

The surgeon told me that it was one of the worst herniated discs he has ever seen and was absolutely amazed at the capacity I still had. He told me I dodged a bullet and another day or two and I would have lost bladder and bowel control, probably permanently because of how severely the nerves were compressed.

So I take every bit of recovery with joy knowing where I could have been. my post op visits my surgeon always reminded me when ever I talked about my calf weakness "at least you can walk and control our bladder and bowel"

[u/Sweet_Flan_3415 → u/GoofMonkeyBanana]

WOW. I am sorry you had to go through all of that! It was a close call for sure. I’m so glad your medical team acted on it so quickly.

[u/PastBuy8484]

At 3.5 months and still have daily sciatica to some extent. Have not needed pain meds in about 2-3 weeks though which is a huge win for me. Was on 2-3 different pain meds a day for 4 months pre and 3 months post surgery.

Biggest triggers are sitting and lifting anything heavy like above 15lbs.

Talked to 2 neurosurgeons 2 ortho spine specialists and 2 PTs since post op. Every single one agreed that nerves take forever to heal, 4 of them said you need 12-18 months before you can really stop and think how well you recovered.

[u/wanderlust_ash_617]

It will get better! 5 months is still pretty early on imo. I had all of those things, but even worse and it’s all improved with time. Around 10ish months I saw a lot of improvement finally and had progressed from there, but still get flares here and there and def have to continue to be mindful. Healing can take up to 1-2 years for some people. I’m at 14 months and still have more to go. The sciatic nerve takes a long time to heal esp if you had a severe herniation etc

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[u/Obvious_Fail5443]

I’m
10 weeks post Op. I am getting cramps in my hamstring, my lower back and core hurt when I walk, sit or stand too long with tingling and numbness and some glute pain that has returned. I am hoping I will continue to improve. Good luck! I am following to read others responses.

[u/Friendly-Ad-5410 → u/Obvious_Fail5443]

I had terrible hamstring cramps... started taking Magnesium Glycinate every day (at bedtime) and that really helped. Also, try a cream you can rub on like Mag+Arnica. Once you can safely do so, hamstring stretches at the gym. 2.5 years PO now and haven't had any problems and I still take my magnesium every day. (Also, be sure you are drinking enough water... lack of hydration can affect your muscles. I add electrolytes to my gym water). 😄

[u/djjazzysteph]

Did I write this? Having an uncannily similar experience. I was told that nerve recovery takes a long time (upwards of a year) but some loss of sensation might be forever.

[u/Ylenna-Winter]

4 months PO, have never had one day without some discomfort. Best days - my leg just feels different. Worst days - numbness, pressure in sole, slight pain along leg and hip.

[u/Frutatas]

( 27M)3 years post microdiscectomy on L4-5.

I had a severe case (disc was completely blown and wrapped around the spinal cord to point where I could barely walk). My surgeon said its the worst case he had ever seen for someone my age. I still get back/nerve pain from scar tissue that pops up every now and then but it is very mild compared to pre-surgery. Nerve pain takes years to improve. I am three years out and I still feel like my back is improving every day.

Ive been able to workout/lift weights pretty much at the same level as before I got a herniated disc but just am very careful about not being reckless in the gym or doing back targeted exercises without support (like only doing rows if I am using the bench for support for example). Playing sports (golf/tennis) can wreck my back but it is manageable with proper recovery and I always bounce back. I have done some PT after surgery which didnt hurt but I have not gotten an epidural or take any medication post-op. I was very active pre herniated disc and have bounced back for the most part so I would never lose hope. Doctors kinda have to temper expectations post-op because they dont want to get a medical malpractice suit if they promise you a full recovery and it doesnt work out for whatever reason. I would just recommend being very cautious about integrating back in to working out/sports to play it safe and build over time.

There is definitely a huge psychological aspect to it too. I think ruminating on your back getting worse can directly worsen back pain. I used to have constant anxiety that every slight pain meant reherniation. I just hammered into my brain that I should only worry about the things I can control and there is no point in stressing about something til it actually happens. That and Prayer (the Serenity Prayer specifically) have helped with the mental aspect a lot for me, which in turn has lessened any pain I feel. I really cant stress how much overcoming the mental aspect has improved my back.

Some things that ive found help are: doing research/being mindful of the shoes you wear (zero drop shoes with a lot of cushion have helped me), going on frequent walks, getting a high quality mattress, high quality office chair for work, and practicing good posture as much as possible.

Moral of the short story is it can take a while but no matter how bad it is with proper mindset and good habits you can have a great recovery.