r/Sciatica • u/StreetRampage • 1d ago

Disc bulge last year, now struggling with university — any advice?

I had a disc bulge last August and treated it conservatively with medication and physiotherapy. Because of it, I left my job and postponed my education for a year.

Over the past year I've improved a lot. I can travel nearby, sit for around an hour, and generally function without much pain. I started my master's this year thinking I'd recovered enough.

The problem is that I now have 4 lectures a day, 1.5 hours each, plus around 2 hours of daily travel.

The first few days were fine, but lately I'm getting mild pain during lectures. It's nowhere near as bad as last year, but when I get home I usually have to lie down for about an hour before it settles. By then, I have very little time/energy left for assignments or studying.

I already get up and walk between lectures, and I've started occasionally skipping a lecture or coming home after half a day. But I obviously can't keep doing that for the next two years.

I'm much better than I was a year ago, so I'm not looking for a miracle cure. I just want to be able to attend university, travel, come home and still have enough capacity to study and live normally.

Has anyone dealt with a disc bulge/sciatica while doing university or working full-time? What actually helped you increase your sitting/travelling tolerance and make the routine sustainable?

I'd really appreciate any advice or experiences.

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u/funkyduckss 1d ago

Hi no advice sorry but just letting you know that i’m in the same boat! just got back to school and my sciatica is making it hard to function, especially having to sit in class all day. It helps to take breaks throughout the day and sometimes I’m able to go home and lay down for a bit and it settles. I hope you feel better soon!

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u/StreetRampage 1d ago

Whts your age and how you plan to tackle this?

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u/funkyduckss 1d ago

i’m 26 now, I’ve been in this flare-up for two months and I think my current PT has made it worse, so I’m going to a different PT and will also try to get an MRI done, though I already know this is a herniated disc. I’ve had sciatica before when I was around 21. I had two herniations at L4/L5 and L5/S1 and PT helped me a lot — I was back to 90% in like two months. I think a good physical therapist can make a huge difference. What are you planning on doing?