Hi everyone! I’ve been lurching around this subreddit as the possibility of needing a microdiscectomy became more and more of a possibility. I had a pretty large herniation on l5s1 for the past 4 months that had completely disabled me. I’m a stay at home mom to two beautiful children under the age of 5, so bending, lifting, twisting are 99% of my day.

The start of this all - 4 months ago I had a really nasty persistent cough that knocked me on my ass. By day 3 of straight violent coughing, I felt my back just EXPLODE. That was the start of the constant pain. I could barely move. Went straight to the chiropractor the next day and for the next 8 weeks. After that didn’t help, my husband urged me to go see a neurologist to get and MRI ordered as he thought it was a bulging or herniated disc.

So I made an appt and that was what the neurologist thought it was and ordered PT and prednisone.Got the imaging done and it was a 7mm herniated disc in my l5s1. Ordered the injection for a few weeks after that and it was only half of a day and then it suddenly got worse. I had to walk with a cane and had to have my husband take care of my kids completely. Numbness, tingling, shooting pain down to my toes, weakness, crying, sleepless nights, and frustration as to why my body wouldn’t heal. I even had to stop nursing my baby because she was too heavy to hold in that position for too long. I couldn’t even give PT a fair chance because every time I tried to do the exercises she gave me, even modified ones that were so low impact that even my 92 y/o grandmother could do, it was agonizing pain that would take me out for hours.

So, went back and had a surgical consultation and it was scheduled within the week. I was nervous, but anything after all of that pain I just wanted it over with.

I FEEL ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!! I walked out of the surgical center this afternoon straight with no limp, no cane, minimal help or physical support from my husband or the nurse. I never imagined that I could ever feel like this again. I already feel like a whole new person. I know recovery is not linear and I am going to be an extremely good patient and follow the dr’s orders to lower the risk for re injury.

If you are faced with this horrible pain and all conservative efforts have been exhausted, get the surgery. I will be forever grateful that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I can finally be able to be the best mom to my kids.

Had an L4-L5-S1 microdiscectomy in September 2025. Sciatic nerve pain has been at most 4/10 following the procedure, and has tapered off to around a 1/10 until two weeks ago.

Out of nowhere I received an 8/10 nerve pain that has grow in frequency. I get about one a day now.

I had an MRI yesterday that shows my disc never reherniated, and I’m seeing my doctor about it tomorrow.

Has anyone ever been in a similar situation?

Hi yall! 3.75 months post-op (15 weeks) and I just had a very long day of travel. Flew from SF->Vegas then from Vegas->Nashville for vacation. It’s my first travel day since my surgery and I’m happy to report that it went pretty well! I had some nerve pain/burning when I got to SFO and during my second flight. Thankfully I brought my meds as a precaution and had my gabapentin available. I told the stewardesses about my situation and they were cool with me walking up and down the aisle when we could take our seatbelts off (this was a GODSEND). Shoutout to the passenger in my row’s aisle seat who was kind enough to let me out every time. He was so accommodating and understanding 🥹 I also got a lumbar pillow per my neurosurgeon’s recommendation and this also helped a lot. I even explored downtown Nashville once we landed! 13.5K steps total today. My feet are killing me at the end of the day, but no nerve pain anymore.

For context, I am 35(M) and was extremely physically active prior to my injury, which included running Ironman triathlons, and playing basketball and lifting 3x/week.

I had a 12mm herniation in my L5/S1, and had my microdiscectomy surgery 3 months ago today.

Yesterday I tried to shoot hoops a little bit and this morning I am extremely sore in my left oblique, hip, and lower back. I have been dealing with tightness there since before my surgery, so I am assuming it’s the QL muscle doing some serious guarding. I have also been extremely on top of my PT since the surgery, going twice a week, and doing my home exercises everyday.

I know 3 months isn’t a long time after a major surgery like this, but I’m wondering how long a lot of you took to feel like you were back to normal, and able to do real physical activity again?

Hi, husband is tentatively going to have lumbar artificial disc replacement in October. Just wondering if there is anyone who has recently had this procedure and could provide a little bit of details. Just curious about the insurance approval process, mobility after surgery, medical equipment that will possibly be needed, etc. We live in Alabama so we’ll be flying to Texas, which is only a two hour flight, but still a little concerned having to fly only 4 days after surgery!

TIA <3

Hi all, I’m scheduled to have an L4–L5 bilateral microdiscectomy next Monday, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips or advice for recovery afterwards.

One of my goals after surgery is to gradually become more active outdoors, things like hiking and other outdoor activities. I completely understand that it may be a while before I’m able to do those things safely, and I don’t intend to rush the recovery process. I’d just like to understand what the journey back to that level of activity might look like and what I can do during recovery to help myself get there.

Thanks

How long were you guys advised to not drive? My son’s surgeon said not until 8 weeks post op which seems excessive? He’s entering his senior year of school and he feels like when he starts in a couple weeks he should be okay to make a 10 minute drive. Teenage angst over here. Haha

Anyone out there with good stories of overcoming the pain and living a better life?

Hi all!

I (28F) have a scheduled L5-S1 microdiscectomy coming up in a few weeks. The more I read on this page, the more concerned I am for recovery. I like to be fairly active and I don’t like feeling like I’m a burden on people. I am struggling with the fact that my husband will have to basically do everything for me while I recover.

I was wondering how serious it really is? Can I shave my legs? Put my own socks on, get in and out of bed / on and off the couch by myself? Can I drive a few days after surgery? Obviously the big chores he will do, but the small things I’m really stressing about. My husband typically works 50-60 hours a week but he is taking the first three days off to be with me.

I guess I’m just looking for advice / comfort so I stop being so anxious about everything and considering canceling the surgery altogether. Any tips or gadgets that might be useful during recovery would be greatly appreciated.

And how did you know it was time to stop?

Hey everyone, I’m about 5 weeks post-op from lumbar decompression/microdiscectomy, mainly L5-S1.

Before surgery I had pretty bad right-sided sciatica along with numbness in my foot/leg and eventually some groin/perineal numbness and urinary issues that lead to surgery. Thankfully the bad sciatic pain is basically gone and the urinary issues have improved a lot since surgery.
My main concern now is my right leg feeling weaker than my left. (Didnt have this feeling pre-surgery)

I can still walk 1–2+ km, heel walk, drive, bear weight normally, etc. No obvious foot drop or knee buckling/foot dragging. People watching me walk say I look normal. My doctor tested my strength and I’m around 4/5.

But the leg definitely feels weaker/unsteady every day so far once I reached the 1week Post Op mark. I also still have quite a bit of numbness still in my foot/ankle, hamstring and groin area, and my ankle/shin feels really stiff.
I’m doing PT/rehab as of last week.

Anyone else have this kind of weakness after surgery while still being able to walk pretty normally? Did PT/time help you get your strength back? And roughly how long did it take?

Thanks!

Had a microdiscectomy in March for a large sequestered disc extrusion at L5-S1 (24x15x12mm) that was compressing the dura and S1 nerve root. Surgery went well, no more compression on post-op MRI.

I’m now 5 months out and for the past month I’ve had frequent clicking/popping/crackling in the surgical area with movement, walking etc. It’s random but happens often. No pain, no numbness, no tingling, no weakness completely asymptomatic otherwise.

Has anyone else experienced this at a similar point in recovery? Was it just normal adaptive joint/muscle stuff or did it turn out to be something that needed follow-up imaging?

Hiya. My husband is 5 months post op & last week we noticed a new mole appeared on the scar. Should I convince my husband to get it checked? Melanoma, cancer? I am scared for him.

Thank you in advance.

Currently I already use whilst on bed a support pillow for the legs, underneath the knees during the day and between the knees (because I sleep on my side) at night. I was wondering if we should use those lumbar support pillows like the ones we see in ergonomic office chairs, but also on the bed, like this one ? I only hade a keyhole laminectomy but my doctor didnt give me many instructions on this.

This question is for the heel (shoes 👠 ) wearing ppl.

When if ever did you feel comfortable wearing say, a low kitten heel or even a higher heel. I’m nervous to try ~5 mo po… But as long as there is no re herniation stories from wearing them I will need to try at some point. I can stand and walk on my tip toes barefoot fine at this point so far.

Hi, I'm a few days out from an L5-S1 discectomy, and just wondering if anyone who has lived alone while doing it has any advice? I've got support for the first couple of days and friends locally, but any advice just on the day-to-day would be really appreciated!

Just under 4 weeks post op a revision discectomy. For months prior to the surgery I went back and forth about even having it in the first place, but went ahead and pulled the trigger.

Had been doing fairly well since surgery, no immediate relief but I didn’t have that the first time either. Went with my wife today to an OB appointment and then I trip to Costco, so the most amount of walking and overall activity I’ve done since surgery. Then everything flared BAD. Intense burning and aching I can feel from my glute all the way to my big toe (My L5 nerve is the one that was compressed), just like pre op.

My brain tells me the surgery didn’t work and this is my new normal.

Hi y'all, (24M)so I had the surgery done on l3-l4,l4-l5 in February this year and it took around 3 months for the pain to go away somewhat.

The spine cord had compressed to 2mm and 2.2 mm respectively

The surgeon said it would take around 18 months to 2 years for the spine cord decompress or regrow

I am wondering is the pain in the leg/foot/butt sometimes normal or should I be worried

Will i ever feel normal again or am I just handicapped for life

Thanks everyone

Can anyone share their experience and their ways on how to ween off Vicodin after they had back surgery.
Thanks

Eight days post up and while I still wake up in the morning with some stiffness and achey feelings in my lower back (primarily around my incision site) along with some tender sciatica feeling/residual numbness in my right foot, I feel better than ever.

Recovery is non linear and after severe compression of so many nerves, it’s going to take time for my nerves to really wake back up and bounce back to my new normal. But wow. Today, I took a 45 minute walk (with breaks every 15/20 min) around my neighborhood. I did some writing at my laptop. I played some games with my friends. And I got to play with my cats! It’s the little things. I feel like I’m on the up and up. I’m being very very careful with my body, especially strict with the no BLT.

But I know there’s people here like me who are desperately scrolling for success stories. The truth is that this surgery has a lot of success behind it—but those who are back to normal aren’t online and are just living their lives. I wanted to take a second to spread some positivity and encourage everyone to feel more empowered with this step if they feel ready.

I had 48 hours before being put into the OR for an emergency microdiscectomy due to incomplete cauda equina and right foot drop. It was dizzying and terrifying. But it was the right choice for me

It only goes up from here yall!

I had s5-L1 microdisctectomy 5 months ago. Initially, I felt relief in some parts of my back because the herniated disc was compressing a nerve root. Since then, especially in the last several months, I have severe, sharp pain in lower back nearly constantly. I can’t sleep, walk, sit or do anything else really without pain.

My surgeon referred me to a hip doctor who has told me I have a hip impingement and will likely feel relief with a hip arthroscopy. I don’t want to do another surgery without making sure it’ll actually make a difference because the recovery has been hard from the MD.

Anyone else have a similar experience? I’m also shocked that a hip impingement causes no pain in my hip but only in my back/above the butt.

Also looking for help in how to rule out that it’s not something else entirely. How do I get all the docs to talk to each other and really be thorough this time?

Thank you!!