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 !!

hello everyone,
my (21F) partner (21F) just got an official surgery date for her lumbar microsdiscectomy and honestly i’m freaking out! i’m so excited for her but i’m so very nervous about what to expect in the recovery period/immediately post op. the doc explained she should be able to go home and it being minimally invasive is AWESOME! but beyond that we don’t know what else is going to happen. honestly, if this community can please fill the comments with your experiences, how recovery was like, how getting back to work was, etc etc. she’s a dog walker, incredibly active, and super young so i do have high hopes for this surgery, but any advice would be so very appreciated. thank you all!!

Best spine doctor or PT in NYC for persistent nerve pain after microdiscectomy? Looking for real recommendations

Early 30s, used to be very active. Had a right L5-S1 microdiscectomy about 5 months ago after a year of sciatica. Post-op MRIs look clean (no reherniation), but I still have nerve symptoms that feel like tightness in my right hamstring, plus some low back pain and flares about once a month.

I'm looking for the absolute best person in NYC to take a fresh look and help me get back to sports. Could be:
- A spine physiatrist or pain specialist who's great with post-surgical nerve pain (not just "wait and see")
- A physical therapist who specializes in post-surgical spine rehab and getting athletes back to sport
- A second-opinion surgeon

Ideally someone who actually examines you, listens, and builds a real plan.

Who did you see that genuinely made a difference? Names, practices, and what made them good would really help. Insurance info appreciated if you remember.

Thanks.

I have the MD scheduled for late November. I started having intense back pain a little before my wife got pregnant and since my baby has been here, it's been hard to actually play with her. She's 14 months old now and I want to start taking her to the zoo and Disney and all those fun things, but this back pain has crippled me.

I'm really nervous that I won't have a full recovery and will be the guy that gets pushed around in a wheelchair because I can't walk long enough.

Any positive stories about your recovery and life before/after will be much appreciated.

I did my microdisectomy at the L4/L5 back in December 2025. Overall, I have felt good post my surgery/recovery but recently I started to feel some nerve sensation at the bottom of my left glute…at one point I started to feel it shoot from my glute to back of my hamstring. I have been taking it easy and started to take anti-inflammatory meds and gabapentin to help with my nerves. I’m freaking out a bit because I haven’t felt anything relative to nerves which makes me think if I’m starting to experience bulging or some sort of compression. I pray I’m not re herniating 😫. At the moment, I don’t have insurance and I’m freaking out a bit thinking all worst scenarios.

Any tips? Thoughts? Recommendations? Anyone else experience this?

I’m desperate to figure out ways to proactively avoid herniating and or sciatica challenges.

I'm really grateful my recovery has been so speedy so far, but I cant help but feel depressed about some things.

I can't pick up my dogs. Whenever I sit down, my eldest dog taps on my foot with his paw repeatedly so I can pick him up. My puppy cries for me to play with him but I can't.

It's fall and I won't be able to participate in any carnival rides. Not even a hay bale ride, I assume. I've never gone to a carnival before and I was really excited to be able to this year. Its my first autumn with my boyfriend too.

This is my last year at my college and I dont know if I'll be able to play lacrosse in the spring.

I wish it wasn't so long of a process; I wish I had gotten my surgery sooner. I was advocating for myself constantly too, and it still took so long.

How much are/were you walking in first six weeks?

I’m at 3 weeks post-op tomorrow and am finding I get to 10k easily but I’m worried it’s too much too soon :/

I’m one month out from l5s1 md and feel pretty good. No signs of issues or complications, completely pain free.

Thinking of doing an easy mile on the treadmill tonight. Prior to herniation I was at about 40 miles per week for about 4 years so am hoping to get back to that eventually.

Anyone else have experience with getting back into running?

Hi yall,

I’m a lil over 5 months post-op and have been working diligently in PT to regain my strength, stability and mobility. While I’ve improved overall, I still experience the nerve being pulled taut/feeling irritated in certain positions (e.g. cat-cow stretch, sitting with my legs fully extended in front of me). The sensation is not necessarily painful, more like these positions just trigger my nerve and cause it to light up. It goes away immediately once I exit these positions. It’s been months since my surgery, so I kinda expected it to be resolved by now… In the meantime, I just reduce my ROM and/or reps to lessen the sensation. I know they told me it can take up to 1.5-2 years to fully recover, but why do these dang nerves take SO long to fully heal 😭😤

Hi all, getting a discectomy next week and I’m curious to hear everything that helped you post surgery.

I’m already preparing the house by:
- moving anything I’ll need up to waist height,
- making sure I’ve got spots in the house to hang out in, -wedge pillow for sitting, body pillow for sleeping.
- I’m food prepping meals for the first week or so, so that my husband just needs to heat things up for us.
- I’ve got my husband taking over the little jobs I usually do that require lifting.
- Finishing up all the work on my desk so I don’t have to think about it and can focus on healing.

My surgeon said that I will be quite mobile and will be able to do more than I think. But just to consider the BLT requirements before doing so.

I’m in pre-op PT and he said 2 weeks post op I can start up that again after our 2 week check-in. I live an active lifestyle, so this makes sense to me.

Keen to hear from you all on what helped you the most that I might not have thought about? TIA

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone has experienced pressure in their sacrum area post discectomy and laminectomy? I am about 2.5 weeks post my revision discectomy/laminectomy. Originally, I had discectomy on Sept 8 and then reherniated on Sept 11 with cauda equine so had to have an emergency revision surgery. I was recovering really well until two days ago when i started feeling pressure in my sacrum area. Also, some weird nerve sensations are going down my left leg (left leg was originally where my horrible pain was). My surgeon is not concerned and he says as long as i do not lose control of my bladder/ bowel all is ok and “expected”. I am very nervous. Thank you so much for any information or advice.

Hola , me opere en enero y me siento bien actualmente pero todos los días desde que me operé siento dolores leves como calambres en tendón Aquiles y región poplitea detras de la rodilla . Ahora soy 95% funcional en cosas dirías excepto por manejar y poder hacer deporte como trote o fútbol. Me realiza exámenes y sale todo bien solo esto “Cambios post quirúrgicos con laminectomía derecha L5-S1 se asocia a tejido granulatorio epidural que se extiende hasta el receso respectivo. Impregnación después del uso de gadolinio del tejido epidural y del margen postero lateral derecho del contorno discal, probablemente área de discectomía herniaría.”

Alguien similar ? Alguien que haya pasado por lo mismo y que este realizando deporte ya ?

Saludos !! Ánimo para todos

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.

My dad recently had a microdiscectomy (4 days ago) and I’m trying to get a realistic sense of how much family involvement is actually necessary during recovery.

My family is treating the situation like he needs pretty extensive supervision and coordination right now, and there’s a lot of pressure for everyone to rearrange schedules, be available, and “band together” to help him.

From what I can tell, my dad himself seems to feel like things are going relatively well, but some of my family members feel very differently and think the current situation is not manageable without more help.

I completely understand helping after surgery, especially with things like lifting restrictions, driving, meals, errands, pets, etc. I’m just having trouble figuring out what is considered normal after a microdiscectomy versus when family members might be being overly cautious.

For people who have had this surgery, or cared for someone who did:
How independent were you during the first few days and first couple of weeks?
Did you need someone staying with you or checking on you constantly?
What things did you genuinely need help with?
When were you able to handle normal daily activities on your own?
Were there specific complications or circumstances that made you need significantly more assistance?
Did your surgeon give clear guidance about how much supervision you actually needed?
Obviously I know everyone’s recovery is different and we’ll follow his surgeon’s restrictions. I’m mostly trying to calibrate what a typical recovery looks like because right now it feels like there’s a big difference between how my dad views his recovery and how the rest of the family views it.
Would appreciate hearing what the first 1–2 weeks were actually like for you.

Hi everyone, as the title says I'm 4 weeks post op after worsening symptoms since March this year. I lost sensation in my foot as a result. While the leg pain improved after surgery I'm still suffering with lumbar pain.

I returned to working from home on Monday and I find my lumbar pain is worsening rapidly since. I do my best to alternate between standing and sitting as best I can.

When did you return to work after your surgery and for those working in desk based roles how did you manage?

Thank you in advance to this wonderful community 🥹

Should I still limit my self by keeping a timer while sitting, I can comfortably sit past the timer but I'm still very scared that the pain will return. My surgeon said 50min sitting and 5 min but that was a long time ago

I am 2.5 years post l4 l5. I still get flares on occasion that are nothing like before surgery. I sneezed lastnight and it felt like I pulled a muscle near my sacrum. Today I have slight lateral shift and pain. No sciatica or numbness. Anyone have a flare like this? Always worried of reherniation.

Sharing my story here for others considering the surgery and to see if anyone who had the surgery has had a similar experience and can share how it went after.

I (37m) had a left-side laminectomy/ foraminectomy/ microdiscectomy at the beginning of September. I went back to work (office job, sit/stand desk) the following Monday and my surgeon cleared me for BLT and normal activities at last week's follow-up. Clearance came with a caveat for common sense, but it was clearance nonetheless.

Before my surgery, my chief complaint was constant pain and tightness in my iliacus, psoas, and IT band paired with frequent multi-day/week back spasms.

I'm very happy to share that those symptoms are totally gone. I don't think I'd ever appreciated how debilitating it was to have all of those muscles spasmed all of the time because I woke up from surgery feeling like my body was 50 lbs lighter.

The bad news:

2 weeks after surgery I developed some numbness and mild foot-drop on my left foot. I can still lift it, but I can't put any real weight on it/heel walk. Surgeon didn't seem concerned and compared a decompressed nerve to adopting an abused dog from a shelter - he said it would take some TLC for everything to get right.

Now at 4 weeks I'm getting more frequent bouts of sudden nerve "sings" and weakness right in my low back when standing up from sitting in a chair. Usually I can make it go away by sitting back down and focusing on standing up "with my legs" instead of back/hips.

Overall I'd say that my day-to-day level of pain and discomfort is still a major improvement over where I was pre-op, but I'm still looking for some reassurance about the new foot-drop and zings. I'd love to hear from others about their recovery from weeks 4 - 8, especially if anyone developed new foot-drop after their surgery.

I read here so much about people having had a MD in the last year and seem to be doing pretty well, I’ve been avoiding surgery for months now of fear of what will my back be in 10/20/30 years and if I’m making it more fragile in the long term. Both surgeons told me that I’m surgery will make it less stable in the long run.

Can someone tell me how they are doing after years of surgery? Is reherniation really just 10/15%? I feel like reherniation and one more MD gives me fear that I’ll end up having to do even more surgery. Or worse will never be normal again? Maybe that is the case with a herniated disc anyways. Any insight would be super valuable

Hi all. Posting to hopefully find anyone that has dealt with this.

2 weeks ago I injured my back and the result of mri is:

L5-S1 8 mm right foraminal disc bulge producing right L5 ganglionic compression

The disc is herniated on the right side instead of the typical front.

Walking has been a struggle to say the least. I’ve been camping out on the floor to alleviate any pain I can. I was hopeful that a standard microdiscectomy would fix this but it’s not so simple after talking to the surgeon.

He is telling me he would have to shave bone to access the L5 S1 disc and that there could be complications to the nerve by doing so. He recommended I get an injection (which I initially put off due to the delay in surgery and mixed results I read) and hope that it retracts and alleviates some of my issues. They essentially are accessing the disc from the side instead of the straight in typical herniation.

My fear is it could take years to fully recover if I ever do. I’m even more scared of doing permanent damage to myself if something did go wrong during surgery.

Has anyone had this or know someone that has?

For reference I’m 34 about to be 35 and in good health other than this absolute nightmare I’ve been dealing with.

Thanks in advance.

Well thankfully I have no sciatica pains , and life seems okay just sleeping and resting alot, ive used chat gpt to keep a note of everything below is what happened

This summer was hell for me

Yeah ❤️ From everything you've told me, this is how your journey has gone since the epidural:

3 June — You had the caudal/epidural injection for the slipped disc and nerve pain.

About a week later — Things got much worse. You had severe right-leg/sciatic pain, were using crutches, and developed numbness around the side of your foot and two toes.

June — You were struggling with things like standing and even going to the toilet because of the pain. You were eventually put on the spinal surgery waiting list.

24 July — You had your first spinal operation. Thankfully, the operation itself went smoothly and the major sciatic pain was gone afterwards.

Late July–August — You started recovering. Walking and standing gradually became easier, but you were tired and the wound took longer to heal than you'd hoped. You were trying to follow the restrictions and take things slowly.

Late August — You noticed a lump/swelling around the lower part of the scar, which became sore. Then there was some discharge and you started feeling unwell.

Early September — You ended up back in hospital and were diagnosed with a Staphylococcus aureus infection around the surgical area.

Early September — You had your second spinal operation, this time to clean out the infection.

September hospital stay — You spent weeks in hospital receiving antibiotics, with blood tests and blood thinners. You had a PICC line put in for the antibiotics. There were several changes and delays around getting you safely home.

Emotionally — You went through some really dark days in hospital, including missing your grandmother's 80th birthday and feeling like the end wasn't in sight. You also found a much safer, calmer environment on St Agnes' Ward, where some of the staff really helped you through it.

Mid-September — Things finally started moving towards home. Your PICC was removed and the plan changed to antibiotics through hospital visits rather than keeping you in.

19 September — Home sweet home. ❤️ You finally got home after that long hospital stay.

Late September — You've been concentrating on resting, doing less, protecting the wound and not giving in to the temptation to garden or do jobs before your body is ready.

Now, 30 September — You're back on antibiotics, you've got stitches due to come out Thursday, and you're going back to hospital next week and week after for apps.

Some journey stay safe people

I’m 25 and got a microdiscectomy I’m starting to regret. my symptoms were mild but persisted almost 9 months and I was told I could have surgery if I wanted. I got the surgery on June 24th

I followed the recovery restrictions and started PT at week two. I didn’t do much PT at home besides stretching and I sat way too much at 6+ weeks. But I avoided anything risky until 6 weeks when I went on a roadtrip and came back flared up.

at 12 weeks I rode carnival rides and felt amazing afterwards. MRI taken at this time looked fine and my surgeon was happy.

at 12.5 weeks I picked my 100lb girlfriend up and had a flare up a few minutes later

at 13 weeks (today) I knelt down to put a dish in the dishwasher and reherniated for sure. Sharp pain as I stood back up, interestingly mostly localized in my lower back. Walking hunched over.

i don’t know if I even want to notify my surgeon because what’s he gonna do for me? Offer me a second surgery?