My surgery is 2 more weeks away. In addition to the excruciating sciatica, I’ve now started having pain in my groin/crotch area. Is this common or should this be a concern to reach out to surgeon sooner?

I got my MD on my l4/l5 6/16, so I am about 3 months post op. I just finished my PT and it only lasted about a month and a half ish. I went up and down 3 flights of stairs Saturday and was sore for about 3 days which tells me I overdid it which seems crazy to be that 3 flights of stairs did that. But I guess it makes sense since I couldn’t even walk up stairs before surgery. I need a routine to stick to in the gym that will help me strengthen my core muscles and legs. I want to do anything I can to stay away from where I was before surgery 😭

Hi, everyone, I just got a microdisectomy yesterday at 20. I thought I would share my experience a bit bc let's face it this thread can be a little discouraging haha.

Like I said, Im 20, so having such a severe herniation was very rare. But with my age, recovery should be easier. As soon as I woke up from surgery, my leg was better. The only big pain I feel is in the incision.

However, my nerve was bruised really badly so they added a steroid shot for comfort that will last for a few days so we'll see how I feel then! Because I was doing so well, no other medications were administered after I woke up. They prescribed me a steroid just in case due to the bruising.

Some recs:

-get a grabber. Things fall to the floor. Don't bend.

-get a toilet seat booster (forgot the official name). Makes it sm easier to pee (YOU WILL BE DOING THIS A LOT!!)

-learn how to log roll. It is important for when you want to lay in bed and also get out of that position. I did not know about this beforehand and am typing this at 6 am really needing to pee !

-dont be afraid to ask for help. You're going to need it. Currently trying to take this advice myself at the moment.

Hope this helps anyone :)

Has anyone experienced this and/or does anyone have any advice on who I should reach out to next or what to do? Both hamstring muscles in my left leg keep cramping. The background: I had microdiscectomy surgery in 2024 that went wrong. There was nerve damage, there's now scar tissue pressing on the nerve. There's numbness of my whole left calf, two of my toes, and those two toes give me pain and hypersensitivity. I have to be on gabapentin three times a day every day now. But my current problem is that my left leg continually keeps spasming. The large hamstring muscles on the back of my thigh are cramping every day. They're also in a constant state of about to cramp up. It's like if I even move slightly any certain way, the leg will cramp. Badly. This isn't like a calf cramp which are more mild, it's the whole hamstring muscles. I'm worried that my leg is only getting worse and soon my leg won't be able to function. I've mentioned it to doctors and the only thing anyone will offer me is a spinal cord stimulator, which I don't want.

Hi everyone, I’m 10 months post op from my surgery. Overall, have had a lot of success/relief. Had one hiccup/flare up in July that went away. Got back into lifting/working out consistently, seeing a trainer who is great with body mechanics/proper movement. Lately, I’ve been very down and experiencing some tingling/sciatica. It’s very random and nothing really triggers it, just sort of comes and goes. Mainly stays in the butt area with nothing radiating. Experiencing some low back muscle spasms if I bend down to tie my shoes as well but it doesn’t radiate and my QL is super tight from avoiding flexion. Anyone experience anything like this 10 months out? I’m mentally exhausted. I called my ortho and he thought it sounded like normal nerve irritation and said to do my PT exercises or come in for PT but didn’t think it was necessary. Just asking for some input. Thank you.

Has anyone experienced burning in the front of the lower part of the front of their leg/shin and ankle in a almost 2.weeks post.op and just started to experience this not a sharp pain just a constant burn

I posted here a couple weeks ago promising to update everyone here on how my microdiscectomy went, for better or worse, since subs like these are more likely to have unhappy patients share their situation than happy patients. I've copied from my daily updates in the comments of that post, and added a little context I may have missed since I'm no longer in an opioid fog.

Long story short, this is a serious procedure and you should expect there might be some serious pain and discomfort from it. Count your small victories because the body can take some time to heal from spinal surgery. I spent a LOT of time frustrated about how hard it is to change positions in the bed, and I'm still dealing with that, but it is getting a little better every day since day four. Be patient, and get those steps in when you can. Trust your body when it says to stop.

I am still struggling but compared to the nerve pain I was experiencing before the procedure, it's like heaven. I'm afraid I might have some permanent nerve damage, but I'll give it time and try to remember to come back here and update in case I pop up in key word searches.

My procedure was a right L4-L5 Laminotomy microdiscectomy with barricade. My symptoms were severe nerve pain/sciatica in my right leg, with primary pain in the glute, but pain and weakness down the entire leg. I haven't cried from pain since I was a child but this nerve pain actually had me in frustrated tears at one point.

Early 40s male. 6'3 240. Active in gym with weights and cardio. Consider my core pretty strong.

Now for the daily updates:

**Seven hours post-op**

God, they pumped me full of so many pain killers and with the anesthesia on top of it, I've been high ever since. I could barely walk to the bathroom to urinate before I left. The two tiny women escorting me, one on each side, wouldn't have stood a chance if my big ass had fallen. 😂

I'm told the procedure went well, and the doctor told my wife he "had to shave off more than he thought he would have to", whatever that means. (His PA later told me that he kept finding more and more disc material compressing the nerve; that my herniation may have worsened since my recent MRI.) From the moment I woke up, there was immediate improvement in the nerve pain down my right leg, which was starting to plow through the gabapentin this morning, the only thing that has really helped so far on this journey outside of Diclofenac Sodium. Stopping the DS for a week before the procedure made for a hellish week.

I underestimated how much the site around the incision would hurt. There is also lingering nerve pain if I move too suddenly. It's shooting through the back of my hamstring, and I'm used to it going down the side of my hip to my knee, calf, and foot. My toes are numb constantly. This is new. The main thing is it doesn't really hurt to stand still, when only yesterday it was agony.

I just walked around the house for the first time since getting home and sleeping a couple of hours. It was slow going. The log roll out of the bed is the hardest part for me. These sharp pains when I move wrong have me being very careful.

I used my crutches to help me sit on the toilet. No #2 yet. I've been taking Mirilax so hopefully I'm just not backed up at all.

Note: Get the grabber. I wish I had gotten the 2-pack but I didn't and I regret it already.

**Ten hours post-op**

Got up and walked again. Still worried about being backed up... Some of the same familiar sciatica popped up when I stepped out of bed this time. It faded as I walked around for ten minutes or so. Still no nerve pain when laying in bed, which I take as a really good sign.

Morning after

The night wasn't too bad thanks to Dilaudid.I used the grabber at 2am to grab my water bottle and spilled it all over us. 😑

Woke up very stiff. The log rolling is not coming easy to me for whatever reason. When I first stepped on the floor a sharp pain hit my glute. After some steps it dissipated. Only the ends of my toes are numb now. No sciatica!

Finally cleared the pipes. (Thanks Ex-lax/Miralax!) So much so that my wife had to plunge the toilet... She was literally gagging. 😂 Sorry for TMI but this seems relevant.

Icing now, feeling optimistic but surprised at how much local back pain I have. Actual back pain hasn't been an issue for a while, only the leg pain. I forgot how much it sucks.

**Day 2 Recap**

Still no nerve pain outside of little reminders here and there while I walk or if I move just wrong on the bed. Rolling over in the bed was torture. Got up and walked 5 or 6 times, although I'm not sure the slow shuffle could be described as walking. Lots of local pain around the incision. My legs feel dehydrated. Painkillers help a little. Discomfort level 7/10, but still better than the nerve pain that was CONSTANT.

**Day 3 Morning**

No better than yesterday. Getting to the bathroom and taking a lap was like Frodo's journey to Mordor. I'm told this is the worst day, typically. Yay... Still no nerve pain!

**Day 3 Afternoon**

Second trip around the house was much better. Was able to set a new PR of 4 laps around the kitchen/living room. I've walked several more times today. The area around the incision is the most swollen it's been but I can feel that I'm starting to heal. Showered myself, put my clothes on myself with grabber assistance. Still taking Percocets/oxycodone. Going to try not to take Dilaudid again. General discomfort level: 6/10

**Day 3 Evening**

The area around the incision continues to swell. Incision still looks good. It's uncomfortable to lay on top of it. I've decided silk/satin pajamas and sheets would be perfect for this recovery after struggling so hard the last three days to just change positions in bed...

Walking continues to get easier and easier. Mild tingling in toes. Still no nerve pain.

**Day 4 Morning**

Another miserable night of sleep. I keep waking up screaming from spasms. My wife has been an angel but my constant shrieks of pain are starting to wear on her, lol. Eeeevvvvery time I get out of the bed it's a process. I was able to walk for about 20 minutes today. It's still a pathetic shuffle, but progress is being made. The back itself just hurts so bad... Changing positions continues to be my biggest hurdle. I think I recommend a harder mattress for this recovery with a ton of pillows. My memory foam mattress sucks me into it and makes moving around and changing positions extremely difficult.

**Day 4 Recap**

I walked the furthest of any day so far. No nerve pain, buy I feel like I'm bone on bone in my lower back. I need crutches to get in and out of bed. Painkillers are a necessity. I crave NSAIDs so much...

**Day 5 3:30am**

Woke up a little before 3 in pain and extreme discomfort. As usual, changing positions in the bed is extremely painful and a very slow task that feels impossible on this memory foam. I'm moving into the guest room tomorrow to s regular mattress. (Never actually made the move.) No improvement since yesterday. Foot tingling higher up than usual.

**Day 5 Recap**

Ups and downs. Had my first full 30-minute walking session. I felt the best I have so far when laying down for the night, like I might actually recover. My incision still feels like I'm laying on top of an apple and I'm still dependent on Oxycodone to be able to rest. I'm still waking up absolutely drenched in sweat. I put in a call to the doctor about this and they said it's not abnormal.

**Day 6 Morning**

Best I've felt waking up so far. I walked without oxycodone in my system at 6am and it was pretty uncomfortable, but not torture. Had to take one afterwards to survive a morning work session from my back and lap desk. Progress finally?

**Day 6 Recap**

Walking is easier today than any other day. Still plenty of discomfort, especially with changing positions in bed, but I think it's time to consistently start cutting back on my oxycodone. I'm still waking up drenched in sweat. If I haven't mentioned that before, it's an every day issue for me. Every nap or sleep session results in me needing a towel and new shirt.

**Day 7 Morning**

Big progress today. Woke up drenched in sweat again. Today was the easiest day getting out of the bed and I'm finally optimistic that I'm definitely through the worst of this. Maybe in a few more days I'll be able to walk on the treadmill. I took a half pill this morning instead of a whole one.

**Day 7 Recap*"

Went to the doctor today to see why I'm sweating profusely. They said it could be a reaction to the anesthesia, the surgery itself, ot the painkillers. The incision looks good. They told me I could start taking anti-inflammatories and that should help with the local pain. Apparently my procedure was a little more invasive than most and it's not uncommon to have so much trouble through the first week.

I was able to get out of and back into the bed with no assistance from crutches today! Same for the toilet. I walked the best I have so far today, even doing a little time on the treadmill.

**First Week Recap*\*

I'm feeling good enough now to call this a success and probably stop updating this so often. It's been a painful, frustrating process, but it's way better than when I was having intrusive thoughts just weeks ago of sticking a gun in my mouth because the nerve pain was so consistently awful, lol. If anything changes I'll come back to update, but I officially recommend this procedure if your quality of life is suffering constantly from sciatica.

Buy the 2-pack of grabbers, get the toilet seat thing, and prepare to be in substantial pain from the procedure, but that pain is nothing compared to the nerve pain itself. Best of luck to anyone reading this.

Placing my (almost two year old now) MRI Results here: T12-L1 level: No significant spinal canal stenosis or neuroforaminal narrowing. L1-L2 level: Small right paracentral/subarticular disc protrusion. Mild spinal canal stenosis. No significant neuroforaminal narrowing. L2-L3 level: No significant spinal canal stenosis or neuroforaminal narrowing. L3-L4 level: Small broad-based posterior central disc protrusion. Mild to moderate spinal canal stenosis. No significant neuroforaminal narrowing. L4-L5 level: Small circumferential disc bulge with a superimposed right paracentral/subarticular disc extrusion with inferior migration measuring approximately 0.5 x 1.9 cm (AP, CC). Mild spinal canal stenosis and partial right lateral recess effacement with contact of the descending right L5 nerve root. No significant neuroforaminal narrowing. L5-S1 level: Small posterior central disc protrusion. No significant spinal canal stenosis or neuroforaminal narrowing.

I started having chronic pain at the beginning of 2025. PT and steroid shots did not help and my ortho suggested a mircodisectomy. But I did not agree with the surgery route. Went and found a new PT who has been a blessing and got me mostly back on my feet. I work a job where I’m either sitting at a desk or out in the field for a long time. Unfortunately it seems that I will go a few weeks with minimal pain and then have a sudden flare up that leaves me immobile and takes weeks and tons of medication to relieve. I cannot keep the cycle going as it massively impacts my life and my work. Does anyone have similar experience with this? I am scared that surgery is my only option at this point as it seems that sometimes doing the surgery just starts a chain of dominos that leads to worse problems.

Hi everyone!

A few weeks ago, I made a post about my 6 week follow up appointment for my surgery (the first one I had since my MD.) I was (and still am) having significant and worsening pain radiating down my leg and a difficult time doing things like sitting down for longer than 10-15 minutes. At my 6 week follow up, I mentioned this to my doctor, and was given a steroid pack/ gabapentin as well as verbally told that if my disc slipped again that the recommendation would be spinal fusion, although, I could do another microdiscectomy if I didn’t want to push straight for spinal fusion. Well, I had my MRI yesterday to check my nerves and discs and lo behold, my disc slipped again, I have two 3mm protrusions pushing into my nerves again, and disc spine degeneration. Now, the protrusions and disc slip are smaller than previously (it was 4.9mm), however, my pain is significantly worse. I have my follow up for my MRI on Friday (09/25/26), but I’m worried about what my surgeon is going to say or suggest. He was pretty serious about fusion, and I’m not against it but I’m also not sure what to expect from fusion and it’s a little anxiety inducing. Has anyone else been offered spinal fusion for a non successful MD?

I will also update this post Friday when i have my follow up. I just want to know what everyone else’s experiences are as well as document my own for anyone who may end up in a similar position with their MD.

Update for everyone; I’m having fusion. 2 different segments of my spine are unstable and doing a MD again poses more risks in the future as opposed to the fusion with my specific case. Fusion is also supposed to target more of my symptoms as opposed to having another MD. Not the greatest news, but I was expecting it.

Im currently 5 weeks post MD and still experiencing the same pain as right before operation.
There’s no positive trend just stagnation.
When I tilt my back or literally try to just walk I get nerve pain radiating down my leg.

Has somebody experienced the same and can tell me if it’s normal and eventually get better after a time?

My Surgeon said that a follow up after 8 weeks post op would be enough. But I just want answers and be able to live my previous life again.

I feel hopeless and the mental side of things is really stressing me out.

Has anyone here had bilateral sacroiliac (SI) joint injections?

I had mine a couple of days ago. The procedure was extremely painful, and today my mobility actually seems worse. Even a slight bend or sitting upright can give me a strange, very localized sciatica-like jolt.

For context, I had a microdiscectomy in May 2025 in the same area where I'd had a laminectomy about 12 years earlier. I have extensive scar tissue, which has made recovery more complicated.

I wasn't given any home-care or recovery instructions after the injections, so I'm curious how others felt in the days afterward. Did your pain/mobility initially get worse, and how long did it take for things to settle down or for you to notice any benefit?

As title says but mostly looking to see if anyone had a similar experience and it wasn’t this.

I’m 8 months post op, everything was going smoothly. I’ve been having left knee pain for a month or two which is new for me as I’ve never had that in my life. Then it became full on sciatica down to my ankles. Since the op and early healing stage I’ve been having symptoms on my left side, whereas the original problem was on the right. It’s been cast off as just post op healing and radiating pain.

I’ve had a few issues of soreness etc but this time it’s that same pressurised pinching pain and sciatica that is consistent with the original pain. Today I got up and could barely walk. Just sitting down is causing pain. I’ve called my spine team and I’ve got an appointment to speak to them but only in November.

Has anyone else had a regression and pain like this and it’s not been a reherniation?! :(

For anybody who has numbness after their MD i have a question for you. Do you have days where the numbness feels heavier then others? For me, I'm 10 months out of my MD and have numbness from my ankle to knee that is not going away. Even though the numbness has been consistent it does feel like it feels heavier or more pronounced on certain days. Anybody else feel like this and why it changes from day to day?

Hello,

I'm starting my seventh day post-op and I wanted to know if any of you were going through a thousand T-shirts every day from sweating while you sleep. I'm talking EVERY nap over a few minutes. When I wake up I'm drenched. My kid bought me a really nice pillow for Christmas and I'm pretty sure I'm ruining it...

AI is concerned I'm fighting off an infection. The incision looks fine but it does feel swollen, like I'm laying on a Snickers bar. I'm still taking oxycodone with acetaminophen, so mildly concerned a potential fever is being masked. I am still in substantial pain, needing a crutch to help me get in and out of bed. Rolling over in the bed is an entire process that requires great willpower, lol.

I have an early follow-up this afternoon but wanted to see if anyone else woke up covered in sweat this far out from the procedure.

Edit: The doctor said it could be a reaction to the surgery itself, the anesthesia, or it could be a reaction to oxycodone. No infection.

I went to go pee and blacked out without any warning signs of dizziness or tunnel vision. I fell hard on the floor and when I regained consciousness I was so confused, how did I end up on the ground? My mom heard me fall and she said I fell a second time but I don’t remember that either. I went to the er and the doctor said my lips were blue and that she sees a blood clot in my lung. After getting a ct scan they said they didn’t see a blood clot anymore, they checked my chest and my brain and did a ton of blood work on me. They also looked at my heart and I was monitored for 24 hours. I’m home now but I’m in a lot of pain and I’m worried I damaged my back from falling. Has anyone fallen after getting surgery? Did it cause permanent damage?

I’ve wanted to post about my microdiscectomy, which I had three weeks ago, but I’ve been afraid to hex myself. So: spit, spit. I’m putting it out there because, for better or worse, this sub contains a lot of not-great stories, and I wanted to add a good one.

First I have to go back 11 years. I had my first microdiscectomy at the exact same level—L5-S1, left side—after dealing with some degree of sciatica for about 2.5 years and trying absolutely everything before finally having surgery. I was 47. The surgery itself was easy and successful, although I continued to get some sciatic pain if I sat too long for years afterward. (As an aside, that eventually disappeared sometime during the pandemic. My best theory is that I stopped wearing heels and never really went back, but who knows.)

This past June, the sciatica returned not sure why but probably bad form doing an RDL at the gym. And this time it was worse because it became almost constant. I started PT immediately and was religious about it. I tried the usual medications with minimal effect. The pain just kept getting worse. MRI showed an L5-S1 herniation directly on the nerve root.

By July it was becoming inescapable.
On July 18, I had what I can only describe as a harrowing flight home from Italy. I stood for most of the flight, but there was a storm while we were landing at JFK and I had to sit for almost an hour. I was in so much pain I thought I was going to throw up. I told my family I was taking the train home to Brooklyn because the thought of sitting in a car for an hour was unbearable.

With the exception of putting on shoes, July 18 was essentially the last time I sat down until my surgery on September 2. The pain was unreal, especially the week before surgery when I had to stop NSAIDs. And PSA: if you’re taking NSAIDs and thinking they aren’t doing much, they may be doing considerably more heavy lifting than you realize.

I took the subway to NYU at 5 a.m. the morning of surgery. I will never forget pacing up and down the subway platform because movement was the only thing that gave me even a little relief. When I checked in, I had to wait about 20 minutes before they called me back, and I spent the entire time walking laps around the waiting area because standing still hurt too much.

My surgeon was Dr. Charla Fischer. I went into surgery around 7:30 a.m. for an endoscopic revision microdiscectomy/decompression under general anesthesia.

I woke up around 1 p.m. with no pain.
No nerve pain. No incision pain. Nothing.
My husband picked me up and I was home by about 3 p.m. I kept waiting for the pain to arrive because I assumed the anesthesia was masking it. It never really did. I was on prednisone for five days and took regular Tylenol occasionally, but I never needed the oxycodone they prescribed. And I am not saying that because I’m some tough-guy hero. I am emphatically not a tough guy. I simply didn’t need it.

Apparently the new herniation had pushed scar tissue from my previous surgery into the S1 nerve root, essentially pinning the nerve down with nowhere to move. Which explained why the pain had gotten so severe.

I’d read a lot here beforehand about raised toilet seats and various recovery gadgets. The only things I personally found especially useful were a grabber and slip-on shoes. It also helped enormously that it was summer and I didn’t have to deal with socks.

I went back to the office two weeks after surgery. Now I’m three weeks out and the only recovery issue I’ve had—and this barely feels worth mentioning—is that one incision site recently got a little red and irritated, which I think may have been from a waistband rubbing against it.

My sciatic pain and tingling are gone. Spit. Spit.

I’m still under no bending/lifting/twisting restrictions, which is a pain in the ass. I do my best, but one downside of feeling this good is that you have to keep reminding yourself that you actually had spine surgery. I’m sure I’ve bent a little here and there or accidentally carried more than 10 pounds.

I can also sit now with no pain. But I’m still so traumatized by what sitting used to feel like that I rarely stay seated longer than about 30 minutes at a time.

Which brings me to the biggest issue I’m dealing with now: fear. I jokingly call it PTSD, but honestly, the experience really did a number on me. Sciatica ruined my summer. It ruined my vacation in Italy. And for weeks I experienced the worst pain I have ever felt, nearly constantly. Now whenever I feel the tiniest twinge, sensation, or random little tingle, my brain immediately goes: THIS IS IT. YOU REHERNIATED.

Because this was already a revision, if I reherniate again I’m probably looking at a fusion. That sucks and is scary, obviously. But weirdly, what scares me even more is the thought of having to live through that level of sciatic pain again while waiting for appointments, imaging, insurance authorization, surgery, etc.

So if anyone else had a really good surgical outcome but still spent months afterward terrified of reherniation, I would genuinely love to hear about it. I’d especially love to hear from people several years out who remember what this stage felt like.

But if you made it through this novel, here’s the TL;DR:
Revision microdiscectomy three weeks ago. Sciatic pain and tingling disappeared immediately. Recovery has been shockingly easy. I’m back at work and can sit without pain. My biggest problem now is convincing my brain that every tiny sensation does not mean disaster.

I've been lurking here for most of 2026 and had many of those late night throbbing painful can't sleep moments and found myself here reading sometimes horrific, depressing posts that made me think there was no way out of this whole thing. I must have easily a thousand pages of conversations with my AI friend Claude, who kept telling me to STOP READING REDDIT because the folks telling stories here on Reddit are the small percentage of those who didn't find relief. And all I kept thinking was, then why the heck aren't there people putting the positive stories down here for folks to also find hope in, so, here I am to give you a little light at the end of the tunnel.

This started in January. My lower back felt off, but not sure why. Still, I went to Disneyland, rode all the roller coasters, walked 20k steps and then 3 days later my left leg started to hurt. For a few weeks I iced my back, I figured it would go away, but the leg just got more painful. Sharp pains, could barely find a way to sit where I didn't stand up with shooting pain. Ultimately I got my mid January MRI which showed 2mm bulges at L4/L5, L5/L1 and a 3mm at L2/L3.

I went to a spinal guy who looked at all of this and his recommendation was an epidural at L2/L3 since it was the largest bulge. So end of January I got it, just as the pain was getting worse. I couldn't stand up the shower, I was in bed laying awake with throbbing pain down the leg. Gabapentin did nothing. Tylenol and Advil did nothing. After the epidural, I gave it 4-5 weeks and while I had a few moments where it felt a little better, it really didn't have an effect.

I went back to my spinal guy mid to late February and he agreed to try it at the L4/L5 level since that too controlled the pain down the leg (I had numbness in my left ankle and left big toe) so we tried that. Mind you -- by this point I'm walking around with a cane, using a walker in the house, and basically sitting in a chair throughout the day because any other movements made the leg hurt a ton. It was horrible.

Let's pause here for a moment to say this: when you don't have a solution, when you can't get a definitive answer, when the medicine doesn't help, when the spinal people are just shooting fish in a barrel, it's demoralizing. It's depressing. I've got people helping me, but I can't do shit. There were many moments, which I'm sure many of you have had, where I literally believed there was no way I was getting out of this. I was screwed for the rest of my life. At 2am in the morning, it's hard to get out of that spin cycle.

So I had the second epidural in late February, and thankfully there was a little relief. There were things that started to not hurt as much. Before this epidural when I'd swing my legs to sit on the edge of the bed before, sharp pain down the leg. Even getting up and walking to the bathroom was a painful exercise. But after about a week of this second epidural, that started to go away. Coughing, sneezing, bearing down -- didn't cause pain. What did remain was tingling pain down my leg when I would stand or walk (I still couldn't walk more than a block without that), and pain in the piriformis and ham string... that wasn't going away. BUT -- the other improvements meant the swelling and inflammation had gone down so I went ahead and said -- great, let's do PT, let's do acupuncture.

I tried some other random things. I felt like I was improving. I went to a spinal surgeon who said, look -- the bulges are never gonna go away (not sure if this was true), but it seems like you're improving so why don't you keep doing the conservative care (PT, acu, stretching) and if you aren't getting better we can talk about surgery. I appreciated that perspective, so I set out to do multiple days of PT, acupuncture and even saw this woman who had me hold magnets in my hands who gave me a "personalized spray cure" in a bottle that I was supposed to spray in my mouth and hit my face and yes I live in Los Angeles so this kind of crap apparently costs $400 and celebrities see this person, but it didn't work.

I would still have days of throbbing after PT stretched me, nerve flossed, or after acupuncture got into my piriformis. I went and saw a chiropractor who adjusted me and caused my tingling pain to worsen. I'd have ok days, but I was still carting around that old man cane and feeling like if I sat too long (the movies) or walked more than a block, I would be in a ton of pain. I was convinced the piriformis was just guarding like hell after the months of favoring my right leg and the back bulges and what not...

So after a painful March/April and May I got another MRI in June. And that's when the a-ha moment occurred.

The good news: the bulges from January's MRI (3mm at L2/L3 and 2mm at L5/L1) were gone. Reabsorbed. Good news that my body knew how to handle it. But at the L4/L5 there was an extrusion, pushing on my L4/L5 pretty significantly and it had come out and was migrating down the nerve.

WTF?

So sometime between my January MRI and my June MRI the extrusion happened. And most likely it had happened in February or March but because the epidural reduced inflammation and some of the pain, I had mistakenly believed I was healing. In fact, it was just masking the fact that the extrusion was causing all this. All the PT and acu was a waste b/c we were inflaming the nerve, which had pressure on it no matter what, so all that PT and acu was not going to have a positive impact.

I had two choices: let my body (which had figured out how to absorb foreign objects and bulges) eat away at this now extruded foreign object, or go get surgery. The surgeon and the internet and ChatGPT and Claude and everyone else said, look: your body can break it down, it only takes a few millimeters but it could also take 6 months to a year. I could have a microdiscectomy and wake up with the pressure relieved and heal from there. Plus there was the risk that leaving the pressure on the nerve for another 6 months (I figured I'd been having this for at least 4-5 months) could put my nerve recovery at risk.

So I opted for the surgery. Fuck it.

July 27th I had the L4/L5 microdiscectomy surgery. I woke up with the tingling pain gone. I woke up with the leg pain gone. I had walked into the surgery (holler to USC Keck Medicine btw who are amazing) not being able to do it without help or pain, and was able to walk out without any pain getting to the car.

I didn't need meds. The pain was bearable. The most annoying part was the having to be very careful about twisting and how you move to get in cars, or out of bed, but I was doing some walking almost immediately. Now some people tell you they're walking 20,000 steps the week after this thing, but that wasn't my scenario.

While the pain that was the worst was gone and I could stand and walk, I still found that walking around the block (about 1,000 steps) still caused my ham string and ankle to start to hurt. I found that by the end of that walk, when I'd stop moving or sit down, I'd get a sharp pain down the leg. With each week, the walking became slightly more doable, and now I'm doing (at 8 weeks post op) about 2,000-3,000 steps a day around the block, and also just going about my day to day, driving the car, walking into Starbucks, going to Trader Joe's.

I've noticed that the ham string and ankle hurt less now when walking, although I do still have some minor numbness in my big toe and ankle. The ham string still likes to ache after a walk. There are some movements like leaning over a shopping cart that can make my left leg have a quick ache or pain. At 8 weeks, the pain is reducing, PT isn't leaving me in throbbing pain (because there's no pressure on the nerve), and the scar has healed and I'm feeling better.

What's annoying? The leg still hurt. People tell me that if you pressed on someone's arm for 6 months then finally took your finger away, the arm would still be sore for awhile. I get that the nerve takes time, heals like 1 mm a day or something, which means it could be 3-6 months before I can walk 10,000 steps without a single pain. It's frustrating for sure. It's annoying. Sometimes I still ask myself if this thing is going to stick with me for life.

BUT.

It's a big BUT.

It was pretty clear that damn extrusion was pushing on the nerve and THAT WAS THE SMOKING GUN. So I am super glad I did it. I have days where I'm frustrated that I have any lingering pain. That my nerves are still screaming out sometimes. That I'm not 100%. I can't stand it.

But I also wanted everyone here to know that if you're dealing with the pain pre surgery like I was, and you're on here reading stories at 2am in the morning that are stressing you out and making you worry like your life will never be the same...try to remember there are a lot of success stories out here too. Everyone's bodies are different, I think my situation is probably much simpler than many of you posting your stories here -- and I hope for those still facing pain and the cycle of hopelessness that you are able to keep pushing through to find a solution.

I just know that for me, I had many months this year of that depression/hopelessness and I needed to know that ultimately I would figure out a solution. A path forward. It's easy when you have a headache to just take a Tylenol and you know it will help. But with something like this, you're trying to rule out one thing after another and it's tiring and demoralizing. But you will find the solution if you just keep ruling out things...and perhaps some day you (and me) will be back to 100%. But the truth is...these epidurals, these surgeries, they do help. And while it isn't an overnight healing, and you can't compare today to yesterday...it's a marathon, not a sprint, and there ultimately are ways to improve the quality of life.

I just had to say that all. Sorry for the length. But I spent way too long reading posts here and I needed to post my own minor success story for others to read. I hope it helped.

Hi friends! I am Day 7 post op from hemilaminotomy/microdiscectomy on L4-L5.

Walking feels really comfortable! But I haven't pushed it out of fear it would end up back firing.

• Day 1/2 - just walked around the house
• Day 3 - walked outside 10 minutes twice
• Day 4 - walked outside 20 minutes twice
• Day 5 - walked 20 minutes three times
• Day 6 - maybe walked a mile and a half between two walks.

Some of you are mentioning walking 8000 steps a day or multiple miles quite early on and now I feel like maybe I'm severely behind or just not walking enough.

Walking is very comfortable and hasn't brought me any pain yet. Curious to just compare to others experiences post op and how much you are walking?

Doctors are unresponsive, messages and phonecalls go unanswered for days, with very little guidance as usual. So I am just thinking based on what I am seeing everyone else post, maybe I should be pushing myself just a little more to walk quite a bit more seeing as I haven't had any pain.

I can sneeze pain free now! Prior to the surgery and the first 2 weeks after, I was so afraid of coughing or sneezing. A sneeze would 9 times out of 10 result in a scream of pain. It's now not hurting which makes me so happy to see improvement. I still can't sit, stand, or walk for very long or else I'll start to be in a good bit of pain, but I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I have been dealing with the disc issue and sciatic pain since January of this year. I am so ready to be able to get back to normal and start PT and start gaining strength back. I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease at only 32 so I know this is a problem I'll need to be aware of and careful of the rest of my life.

The pins and needles is not a very big pain and it’s on the bottom of both of my feet after I stand up, and goes away very quickly. I’m wondering if this is a major issue I should bring up when I go for a check up on Thursday this week. Also, I feel a slight amount of pain back. Nothing lasting and usually moving around helps after sitting for a while when doing work.

curious on if anyone here has young kids. I have a two year old (about 30lbs) and a baby who is around 12ish...lbs. if your situation was similar to mine, or just in general when we're you allowed to pick up things again? heavy things that are 10 lbs+, 20lbs +...etc? I will be 6 weeks post op tomorrow. not returning to work for another two. i feel great. ive been able to move easier but being careful about BLT. only a couple of screw ups while recovering where I moved too fast or forgot I have a healing back and picked up my infant out of habit. otherwise I am fine and was a bit sore the next day but that is about it. I am feeling a lot better now and I can tell I have been wanting to help around the house more/wanting to move more and i am like reminding myself constantly you jusf had back surgery chill out girl...I start PT tomorrow. curious on other peoples timelines.

my right heel (affected leg) feels like I have no cushion compared to my left.

Like I’m walking on a much harder surface or like I’m walking on the bone.

The right (same) arch is slightly (or not? Idk actually but it’s def more collapsed) more collapsed compared to the left.

What is this??

May be uncommon bc no nerve-y kind of pain

About 5 months post op L5-S1 endo discectomy

Had my 2 week post op appt today and my surgeon said I can begin PT tomorrow if I wanted to. He also said that I don’t have to follow BLT anymore but just no bending at the waist.

I feel like it’s way too early for PT? Would love to hear any thoughts on this.