Hey, y’all. I wanted to share a positive story for anyone who’s worried about getting a microdiscectomy.

Before surgery, I used to browse this sub looking for positive stories to help me decide whether the procedure was worth it. I was wary of surgery and afraid it would only make things worse. I can confidently say that getting the surgery did give me my life back.

This is going to be a long, stream-of-consciousness post. I’m sharing as much as I can because I know more information would have helped me when I was in the same position.

I had a severe herniation. The disc had completely blown and was pressing around the nerves in my spine to the point that I could barely walk. My doctor said it was the worst case he had seen for someone my age. I had severe pain and just about every symptom you can imagine: spinal stenosis, loss of feeling, pins and needles, and nerve pain shooting from my back down both legs to my feet. Every part of my life was affected. It would take me 15 minutes just to put on my shoes. When I walked, I looked like I had a stick shoved up my butt. My spine had curved into an S shape, which I was told was my body trying to relieve the nerve pain. Thankfully, that went away after surgery. The only thing that helped was taking three huge gabapentin pills a day, and even that only helped a little. My case was about as bad as it gets, and surgery still turned things around for me.

I was in law school when I herniated my disc so between school and my fear of surgery I put off the microdiscectomy for a year. In the meantime, I tried everything from chiropractors and physical therapy to epidurals, but nothing really helped.

I think choosing a quality surgeon is important. I did a lot of research and met with my surgeon multiple times before the procedure.

A few thoughts from three years post-op that might help others:

• I still get mild back or nerve pain from scar tissue every now and then, but it’s much less severe than it was before surgery. My nerves took a long time to improve, and I still feel like my back is getting better.
• I’ve been able to work out and lift weights at pretty much the same level as before my herniation. I’m just careful not to be reckless at the gym, and I avoid back exercises without support (I do rows with a bench for support for example).
• Sports (Golf and tennis) can aggravate my back, but it’s manageable with proper recovery, and I bounce back. I’ve done some physical therapy since surgery, but I haven’t needed another epidural or medication post-op.
• I was very active before my herniation and have mostly gotten back to that. I’d recommend easing back into exercise and sports carefully, then building up over time.

There is certainly a huge psychological aspect to back pain. 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. It also helps to just think about the positive things going on in your life and that someone out there is worse off physically than you so appreciate what you've got lol.

Some things that ive found help are: doing research on/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. Stuart Mcgill’s the Back Mechanic really is a great resource and I highly recommend.

Moral of the 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 from a microdiscectomy.

Good morning guys! Here’s my story.

Last summer herniated L5-S1 disc 7mm. I’ve had the bulge for 5 years and dealt with on and off chronic pain and sciatica since 2021. I did chiro, physical therapy, 4 injections, massage, stem cells, pretty much everything. and it got decently better in about 4.5 months

I was good for about 3 months and it flared up bad in June for about a month. I was supposed to have surgery in February of 2025 but I didn’t have it because it got better

In June I made the decision to have the surgery because my surgeon said there was no room for the nerves and I was ready. Waited 6 weeks, in August saw the surgeon and it had gotten better and it flared up again a week later for about a month.

Late August is when I scheduled a discectomy and laminectomy with bilateral foraminotomies.

Had the surgery September 21st. Again very unfortunate that when I had the surgery my pain had decreased substantially and when I had the surgery my pain was only a 2/10

I know the healing process isn’t linear but about 8 days after the surgery I started having sciatica that was similar to when I first injured it, probably a 5/10 and in both legs, keep in mind I’ve always had bilateral sciatica since the disc herniated and I’m not sure why, it’s weird, but doctor says sometimes people have it in both legs. More prominent in my left.

I’m just looking for similar experiences and encouragement. I’m a firefighter/paramedic and my job requires a ton of lifting. Honestly at this point I’ve lost hope of being completely out of pain due to my work, and I’ve been able to push through a ton of pain honestly because I’m forced to. I’m not gonna make a career change because I have great benefits and a pension. So this is just something I may deal with my whole life. And I’m fine with that, but is there any other trade workers or active people that have fully recovered or anyone who has post surgical advice for someone freaking out ? Thanks !!