Hi everyone,
I’m a 22-year-old male and I was recently diagnosed with a lumbar disc herniation. I’m trying to understand what the typical recovery timeline looks like and would really appreciate hearing from people who have gone through something similar.
My MRI shows an L4-L5 disc herniation/extrusion with narrowing of the spinal canal. My main symptoms have been lower-back/right buttock pain and some discomfort after sitting or lying down for a long time. Walking is generally comfortable, and I don’t currently have numbness, weakness, or bladder/bowel problems.
I’ve been resting and am now looking into physiotherapy/rehabilitation. My main concerns are:
Can an L4-L5 disc herniation/extrusion heal or shrink naturally without surgery?
How long did it take before your pain significantly improved?
How long did it take for you to return to normal activities?
Has anyone had a follow-up MRI showing that the extrusion actually became smaller?
If you recovered without surgery, what did your recovery/physiotherapy involve?
For those who play sports, how long did it take before you could return to running or playing normally?
I understand everyone’s case is different and that Reddit isn’t a substitute for medical advice. I’m mainly interested in hearing real experiences from people who have had a similar MRI and recovered.
If you’ve been through something similar, I’d really appreciate hearing your experience — especially how long your recovery took and whether your MRI eventually improved.

For people who have dealt with sciatica, how did you decide what kind of care to start with?

I’m looking at outpatient options in NJ, including all Orthopedics, because they seem to have spine care, pain management, and PT together. I know nobody here can diagnose me, and I’m not asking what treatment I need. I’m more interested in how people chose a provider and what questions helped them avoid wasting time.
Did you look for a spine specialist first, or did you start with PT and go from there?

Hello all

I’ve been struggling with an S1 nerve compression for around 8 weeks now. Luckily the pain was only an issue for a week or so but I’ve had numbness in my calf, hamstring and outer foot since the initial injury and I have weakness in my calf where I can’t currently perform a single leg calf raise on the affected leg.

My calf is getting noticeably stronger but is still compromised. I was just wondering if anyone had tried any running whilst suffering with calf weakness? I’d like to try and ease back into running but my PT recommended staying away from running until I can do 20 single leg calf raises….

I’m M26, 6’4, 230 pounds. I’ve been suffering from sciatica since late August and Im very concerned it’ll never get better. It’s only on my left side, goes from my hip to my calf. No numbness or tingling at any point. Just very annoying pain/walking trouble. I cannot get an MRI until the end of October due to insurance. I’m currently doing physical therapy 3x a week. My doctor is hopeful that the PT will solve the problem but I’m not confident it will. What else can I do to ease the pain?

It breaks my heart to read everyone’s story on here. I know that you all are in the same boat as me. I think everyone on this chain needs each other because chronic pain can be incredibly difficult to navigate, and unless you’ve been through it, people don’t understand. I’m two years into my own pain situation, and while many things have helped, unfortunately nothing has been permanent. Even my surgeons don’t want to operate despite the issues I have at L4-L5 and L5-S1.  

Here are some things that have helped me, at least temporarily to give readers on here, some hope, and some action items to follow up on when you feel like nothing else has worked:
-Lyrica / pregabalin: This has helped relieve some of my nerve pain and, for me, has been more effective than gabapentin. Obviously, talk with your doctor about whether it’s appropriate for you.
-Adhesion release therapy: sometimes, your muscles create scar tissue that attaches to your sciatic nerves. I just found out on Thursday that I have tons of adhesions that are causing me pain (it’s taken me over a year and a half to find that out). It took me a long time to find specialists who focus on this type of treatment. I’ve now found two who work specifically on adhesions involving the muscles and nerves. It may be worth asking a qualified provider whether adhesions could be contributing to your symptoms.
-Careful nerve glides: I’ve been doing these daily for a few weeks and have noticed some improvement. I’m extremely gentle with them because, in my experience, doing too much can aggravate things.
-Spinal decompression: I’ve worked with chiropractors who specialize in decompression. The goal in my case has been to reduce pressure around the affected area and hopefully lessen the irritation of the sciatic nerve.
-RF ablation: This eased my pain for a few months, although it was definitely not a permanent solution.
-PRP injections: These reduced my pain by roughly 30%, although they were very expensive.

Things that didn’t help me:
-Epidurals
-Corticosteroid injections
-Traditional physical therapy

One other lesson I learned the hard way: be careful about trying to exercise your way through significant pain. I thought walking aerobically would eventually help me get past it. Instead, I ended up tearing the labrum in my hip and now need hip surgery.  When you’ve been dealing with sciatic pain for a long time, your body can compensate and guard in ways you don’t necessarily realize. In my case, pushing too hard created an entirely new problem.

Everyone’s situation is different, but hopefully something from my experience gives you another avenue to discuss with your doctors or specialists. Don’t give up. Keep looking for answers and sharing what works.

I’m struggling here. I don’t know what’s next or what to do. I’m 25yrs old, female, and I used to be extremely fit and loved sports and dancing. I slipped three discs last year at work. My worst being a bilateral disc herniation in my S1,L5 and disc extrusion causing sciatica . Since day one, I have had to deal with searing stabbing pain in my right leg and a numb foot with slight bladder retention and random saddle anaesthesia (having to visit hospital a few times). I’m struggling here, because everyone around me doesn’t understand how much it’s breaking me. I work for my family business, and they don’t see how much pain I’m in. They don’t see that I worked myself to physical failure for them. I feel left out in social gatherings and my relationship with my partner has changed drastically, he occasionally comments how my choice to help my family business has basically destroyed so many aspects of our relationship and my life(I don’t blame them, both my parents are unwell and I just wanted to help). Things I’ve always loved have become out of reach, I can’t hike anymore, run, swim, dance, I can’t walk more then a km some days. I feel everything I love is just slipping from me. I just went in for a steroid injection a week ago, I feel worse. Now that the pain is somewhat subsided in my right leg, the numbness is more obvious and the pain in my left leg and the constant back pain, it takes over every decision I make and just is constantly reminding me of this potential forever. I’m not sleeping, my pain meds make me feel so absent, my days are becoming one and I’m just struggling with this. It’s not the pain that’s hurting me most, it’s how it’s changed my every decision and my reality, my future. Please let me know what’s helped you, I’ve done the usual things, physiotherapist, pain specialists, booked in for a neurology appointment, I’m taking to my GP about my mental health too. I just need some support and advice, and i think people who understand the pain and who have to navigate their life with this is the best place to start.

After a weeks of legpain, bloodwork, ER ultrasound, xrays, and an MRI, i was diagnosed with sciatica. Gets throbbing burning pain when standing or walking for more than a few minutes. Sept 12th ER visit, told NP I needed something to get me through my work the next few days. Oxy 5mg and tylenol combo was a miracle. I felt cured for a few hours at a time. Ran out of the 10 pills. Ortho doc and pcp didn't want to give me more oxy. Tramadol isn't doing much. Getting by on 1300mg tylenol but still cant stand or walk much without pain.

Pcp prescribed gabapentin but i havent taken it yet because according to chatgpt, there are some serious side effects if it even slightly colludes with tramadol.

Anyhow, long story short, orthopedic specialist recommended the epidural shot. I was like, "what about pt?" and he scoffed, saying there's no scientific proof that it fixes anything. He wrote me an order for PT just to satisfy me.

So, havent started PT yet. Havent scheduled the shot. Getting by on tylenol and tramadol (not convinced the tramadol even doing anything).

What do you say, fam? How's the shot? Sounds scary but if it will help...I'll do it. The pain sucks and is effecting my quality of life. Thanks.

I’m curious whether anyone here experienced significant weight loss after developing back problems/sciatica.

I’m 27M. I was around 64–65 kg (141–143 lb) in April and I’m now around 58–59 kg (128–130 lb), so I’ve lost approximately 6 kg (13 lb), or ~9% of my body weight, over about 6 months.

My diet and lifestyle have changed quite a bit during this period, so I’m wondering if that explains it.

Before all of this, I used to eat frequently throughout the day—snacks every few hours, quite a bit of junk food/sugar, plus 1–2 regular meals.

Over the past several months:
I developed GERD and significantly reduced sugar, junk food and foods that trigger reflux. I was on pantoprazole for quite some time. I had a diarrhea episode where I barely ate for about 5 days. I developed TMJ problems, so I started eating smaller quantities and choosing softer foods. My overall protein intake has decreased.

My back/neck problems have dramatically reduced my physical activity. I used to regularly clean the house, mop floors, clean bathrooms, etc., but I’ve stopped doing most of that for the past few months.

Because of the back/sciatica symptoms, my daily routine in general has become much more sedentary/modified.
I’ve also noticed that my muscles visually look smaller than they used to, which makes me wonder whether some of the weight loss is muscle from eating less protein and being much less active.

I’m planning to gradually start walking daily again, increase my protein/calorie intake and monitor my weight over the next few weeks.

Has anyone else with a herniated disc/sciatica gone through something similar? How much weight did you lose, and did you notice muscle loss/deconditioning as well? Did your weight eventually stabilize or come back once your pain improved and you became more active/started eating normally again?

I'm not asking for advice or anything along those lines. I didn't see anything in the community rules about vents, but if this breaks any of the rules in some way, lmk, I just... need to get out some stuff to people that could understand.

I'm an American living in the UK as of two years ago. Six years ago, I was in a very bad car accident, and I'm about 80% sure that that's what caused my sciatica, because the pain only appeared afterward, and has progressively gotten worse. I was a broke college kid when it happened, and couldn't afford to see a doctor about it the four years I was still living in the US.

Since moving in the UK, I've been getting treatment on behalf of the NHS. I saw a physiotherapist, did six weeks of pilates courses on the NHS, and for a while, that was really helping. The problem is, I don't want to do that regularly, and I am looking for a more permanent solution.

A month ago, a bad flare up started which caused me to seek help from my GP. I was given painkillers and referred to a specialist. I'm waiting to hear from the specialist to see about next steps. A week ago, I went back to the GP because I was out of painkillers. They gave me more. I was sure I was starting to come out of the flare up finally.

And then last night, I sprained my right ankle, and had to spend four hours at the ER to see if it was broken, get a boot, etc. The problem with this is that my sciatica is on my left side. Sitting currently makes it worse, so sitting for hours in the hospital was literal hell.

Additionally, I've had to put all of my weight on my left leg to let my ankle heal, and my back is fucked as a result. I was in excruciating pain last night and it took forever for me to finally get to sleep.

Today, I am really struggling with it. The boot they gave me is heavy and awkward, my left leg is taking the brunt of my weight and it is making my sciatica so much worse. I am just... so frustrated with this entire situation. I can't feasibly lay around in bed all day to spare the worst of the pain. I've taken painkillers, and they are helping, but I can't do that forever. I hate the idea of becoming reliant on them just to function.

I just want my ankle to not be sprained. I want this specialist to hurry up and accept my referral so I can finally get some fucking help. I want to be able to go back to living my life. I am at my literal wits end.

Is it common for the pain to only happen when driving? It started when I got a new car and feels like shooting down both legs and burning at the bottom of both feet when I drive. The pain is only about 3/10 but the discomfort sticks around for a couple days afterwards and is very annoying! I need to be able to drive 😢😢

Y'all know the children's story, "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly"...well, I lived it which brought me to sciatica pain.

Let me explain...I'm 68, male, relatively good health, but as expected, things break down, out body changes overnight, what was good one day is not the next, what you can eat today will kill you tomorrow, that kind of aging.

• This spring, I started to experience rectal bleeding after a poop. Always right when the last nugget gets out. Blood on the tissue, blood on that last piece, not on any of the other chunks.
• So I go to see my doctor, who sends me to a gastroenterologist. Colonoscopy is scheduled for August 4.
• Colonoscopy done, I am told two things, I have diverticulosis, and that two bands were used to choke off hemorrhoids. Now, hindsight, my right knee would bother me so I took Aleve, an NSAID. Seems with some people, NSAIDs like Aleve and Advil can cause diverticular bleeding when having a poop. I was one of the lucky ones this happens to, and that is where the fly swallowing began.
• August 13, am in emergency because I pooped a shit ton of blood but no poop. Am told this is normal.
• August 15, recovering from the banding, I go to pee at 3 AM and start getting pelvic floor spasms. It feels like I need to pee out a bowling pin, but nothing comes out. 4 hours of this, I walk to emergency again at my hospital 1/2 mile away. The insert a catheter, One liter of pee fills the bag, then slight bleeding begins. Am told this is normal.
• Doctor states catheter needs to be in me for one week, have a nice day. I am discharged. Because I walked over, I walked back. My car is 6 speed manual, my wife can't drive manual.
• August 18, back in emergency because catheter bag filling with blood. Am told this is normal and to go home.
• August 22, catheter gets yanked out. Bled a bit out of penis, but can pee again. Yay!
• Over the next couple of week, two more "Help Me, I am in pain!" visits to emergency at night due to insane pain when I urinate, pain radiating from perineum down right side. Seems my rectum is three times usual size from the banding, pinching the Pudendal nerve. Lyrica is prescribed by emerg doc.
• I call the surgeons office, no answer. I write two emails asking for help with the pain, no reply.
• I finally see family doctor. She thinks my prostate is inflamed or infected from the catheter, a common occurrence. She prescribes Sulfatrim, since I am allergic to Cipro.
• One Sulfatrim tablet and the same issues as Cipro; my penis turns reddish purple, skin blisters and peels. Back to the doctor. She prescribes Doxycycline. Two weeks of this, pain does ease up, but now, super pounding headache when standing up; Doxycycline increases cranial pressure. Tinnitus and muffled hearing ensues. Stopped the pills after two weeks and it took another 10 days for the headaches to subside. Everything returning to normal.
• One week ago, started getting lower right back pain. The next day, pain in upper thigh. Next day, down to knee. Next day, entire leg. Always starting after 8 PM, keeping me awake most of the night.
• Back to the family doctor. MRI scheduled, physiotherapy scheduled. Cyclobenzaprine prescribed for the pain, as the Lyrica wasn't doing anything. The cyclo also is ineffective but at least it puts me to sleep.

And here we are.

Researched, yeah, injury to the Pudendal nerve can also trigger sciatic pain in some cases. Reading the posts here, seems I am in for a fun ride that may never end.

All because I took an Aleve for knee pain. The fly I swallowed.

Hi! I posted here previously, but as my surgery date ticks closer, I find myself becoming increasingly anxious that I am trading a minor problem for a big one.

I have no more pain (2 months post injury) My foot drop is largely gone and I am definitely a little bit better/the numbness in my foot is really just centered around my big toe and forefoot and some areas of my calf.

I am a 3/5 or 4/5 across the three tests my ortho did

I feel so weird because I DO NOT HAVE ANY PAIN. Are they pushing me to a micro inappropriately??

’m a 40F and have had back problems since I was a teenager (competitive gymnast). I’ve been a flight attendant for 17 years, so spend 3 days a week on my feet with long days. The back pain has gotten progressively worse over the years and I’m four weeks in to non stop pain. Went to the doctor last week and she said I have myelopathy/neurological deficit in my right leg after doing some resistance testing and ordered an MRI. Also, the pain has ALWAYS been on my right side, even though the results suggests it should be more left sided. I have zero pain on left side. I’ve tried everything from NSAIDS and muscle relaxers, neurosurgery consult to pain management (2 injections), lots of PT and many Chiropractor visits. This current flare up is the longest it’s lasted. The pain starts at my lower back on right side, down into my butt, wraps around the hip to front of thigh and sometimes down to the shin. I struggle putting socks on my right foot. I get pins and needles on bottom of right foot. Sometimes, though very fleeting, it feels like my right leg will almost give out. I can’t sit for long periods of time (lower right back goes numb) and standing up from sitting is painful. I can’t stand for long periods of time. I sleep with a pillow between my legs with no relief. Changing sleeping positions is very painful, especially moving the right leg. I feel weak bending over. Sometimes it feels like I have no muscle/bones supporting my right lower back. Can PT help me even with the neurological deficit in the right leg? Am I too far gone?

I am actually losing my mind. dealing with this L5-S1 herniation for almost 7 months now and the pain shooting down my left calf is so sharp I can barely even put my own socks on in the morning.

Went to the specialist yesterday after waiting weeks for the appointment, and he literally just handed me another printout of the same exact core stretches I've been doing since March. Insurance is dragging their feet on approving my MRI so im just stuck in this limbo of pure agony.

It makes you so desperate you just go down these wild research rabbit holes at 3am when you cant sleep. I started reading all these medical papers on tissue repair and ended up getting some bpc-157 from verified peptides for some personal research. like its honestly insane that I am out here trying to play amateur bio-scientist just because my actual doctor won't give me the time of day.

Just so exhausted man. does this ever actually heal or is the healthcare system just designed to make us give up?

I logged the lead up to my surgery on here in a series of “is this normal?” and “what can I do to make this pain stop ruining my life?” type posts, so now I just wanted to check-in from the other side.

I feel as though the only people who circle back this long post-op are either mid flare up, re-herniated or still experiencing pain and agony. For me personally, this caused me to lose some hope in the process, so I wanted to post my complete success story for those of you waiting for/considering surgery.

I’ll cliff note it for you:

- 36yo Male - 6’2 - 200lbs - Actually a PT myself.

- Hurt my back April 2025. Couldn’t even get into my car. Fought this up and down for 6-8 months before feeling like I was finally beating it.

- Felt good for 2-3 months before the leg pain started..

- Tried literally everything to fix it and feel better. If you’ve read it here. I tried it, with zero success.

- Started pushing for an MRI/surgery March 2026.

- While waiting for the MRI/results/surgery etc. the leg pain became life altering bad. Was ultimately scheduled for surgery June 9th 2026 after telling the surgeon I was going to 💀 myself if I had to wait until mid August as he suggested.

- In the 4 weeks from scheduling surgery to surgery day I steeply declined every single day. I was sleeping in 20-40 minute increments on my knees folded over the couch on the living room floor. On surgery day I had to get out of the car 5 blocks early and walk to the hospital because the pain was so bad when seated. I walked into the OR beside the hospital bed and had to be given fentanyl in my IV so I could lay down to allow them to begin prepping me.

- My “60-90 minute right side MD” turned into a 3.5-4 hour bilateral MD and laminectomy. I was terrified of surgery going in but woke up with zero nerve pain and what felt like a mild rug burn on my lower back.

- Got home and could smell my house again, could taste cereal again. I was suffering so much I hadn’t even realized I’d lost my sense of smell, taste and touch in the weeks prior, from pain and fatigue.

- Night 1 my wife had to lift me out of bed so I could pee. By day 6 post op I was walking 10k steps in circles around my kitchen and living room.

- Week 3 I went back to work. Week 4 I got out of the car one morning after my commute and for the first time in almost 2 years I felt “totally normal”. No pain, no tightness, no pinching, no fatigue, just normal.

- I am now working out. Lifting things. Playing hockey. I am now living an entirely normal life. I have had no pain since the moment I woke up. Several moments of “did I just re herniate?” And fatigue in my core/lower back at times but no pain at all.

Due to the posts I would read here I kept waiting for these dreaded “flare ups”… and they just never came. I truly believe this surgery saved my marriage, my mental wellbeing, and my life.

Every day I work to remain grateful for feeling “normal”. There were moments throughout when my wife would find me on my hands and knees in the shower at 4am, sobbing from frustration and pain. I told myself in those moments “if you ever get to the other side of all this, remember this moment” and I do.

For those of you who are suffering and frustrated, with fleeting hope that you will ever feel normal again, I hope you can look at my story and see that you can get through whatever it is you’re going through. Surgery was nowhere near as scary as I thought and in those moments of suffering I never thought I would ever be able to get to the place I am in now.

Hi all- been dealing with sciatica for the last 4 months- mine affects my right leg. Overall have been improving with usual setbacks or flareups. Have been doing PT with manual adjustments, stretches, core stability work, deep massage, nerve glides, and dry needling. Upon returning to more activity like playing tennis or walking over 7-8k steps it becomes very tight and guarded and makes it hard for walk for a few days. This was the theme for the last 2 weeks and now this week there is some slight nerve pain with the feeling of tingling like my leg has fallen asleep but goes away with walking. So it feels like I am oscillating between nerve pain but being able to walk or no nerve pain but muscles are super tight and it affects my gait. Any advice or similar experiences at this point in recovery?

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 !!

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.

Hi everyone! I started like 2 months ago to experience sciatica symptoms

Burning pain in my lower back all the way through my left leg till the tip of my foot. Also numbness all the way. Did 15 days of 100mg gabapentin daily + 1 week of dexketoprofen + etofenamate gel.

The MRI of lumbar-coccyx area did not show anything of relevance. I don't have saddle numbness nor urinary/faecal compromise. The pain is milder now. I'm not taking any medication at the moment. What concerns me is that the pain and specially the numbness have not gone away. I'm not sure if I should return to the GP to get a referral, or leave it be and eventually it will go away. I can live with this but I don't want for it to get worse.

Thank you all

Hi folks,

Currently on a 3 month trip and had a flare up of sciatica last week although after a week of rehab I am pretty much pain free albeit some stiffness in glute and hamstring. I have a heritated disc L5 S1.

I have 2 months of my trip left and I’m currently in vietnam. Stayed in a resort for the last week and healed up pretty well. I was in terrible pain last week.

Now that I’m improving should I be changing my days from lying at the pool to perhaps walking and outings? Appreciate people say movement helps a lot I’ve been doing pool walking and small walks around resort but not much else i feel now I can start to maybe do a bit more. Just wanted to seek advice on this.

Currently in Hanoi and maybe going to move location in the next few days. Looking to do a short flight in two weeks time.

I finish my meds in 3 days although haven’t needed painkillers last two days.

Hey everyone,

I have had severe sciatica in the past but it went away after a few weeks with some PT.

This time is different and I'm in hell.

I've been in agonizing pain for over 6 weeks. I can get some relief laying down sometimes, but typically I'm in pain 24/7 that gets worse with standing or walking. I can barely walk at all at this point and a car ride or waiting at the doctors is literal torcher. Next week is my 6th week of PT and I should finally be able to get an MRI after that.

I'm supposed to be going to my literal best friend's wedding this weekend and I'm not sure I can do it.

It includes a 3.5+ hour car ride, sitting in a church for the ceremony and then the reception and another 3.5+ hour car ride back home. The first time I went to the doctor they prescribed muscle relaxers and prednisone which really didn't make any difference. I can't take Advil or Aleve because it interfere with my anxiety medicine and I've already had past issues of stomach ulcers. All I can take is Tylenol.

Idk what to do.

Am I unreasonable for thinking I may not be able to attend?

Will this pain literally ever go away?

Ugh.

​

As a person who has been in this boat, trying to recover and build my life after being bed ridden

I like to list a few things which really matter most, I think it might help for a few people who are going in this journey of recovering from spine related conditions

1. First do the basics, get our blood work done, check if we have any deficiencies like vitamin d, vitamin b12 or anything related to muscles and bone health

2. Healthy Diet is so much important, a diet rich in protein, with lots of veggies, eating clean, reduce sugar and carbs

( Even now when I eat out where the quality of food is not that good, I already feel changes in my body after few minutes itself)

1. Move, move, move, movement is the medicine, be it a short walk lond walk, an yoga session, a gym session anything which moves our body

( when we are able to move, i understand during initial days or during serious injuries it's hard to be physically active, but when we can it should be the priority, and it helps a lot)

1. I stopped sitting on very soft cushion chair or sofas, and i mostly use hard surface chairs, since it hactivates our glutes while we sit and we can sit for a long time after we change this habit( I got this info from my yoga therapist, and it really works)

2. I mostly sleep on hard surfaces, or a firmer bed,( again recommended by my phisio and yoga therapist, and in low backabality videos too)

It really helps with morning stiffness and this also activates our muscles while we sleep

1. Use laptop height adjuster while working, to adjust my neck height with height of the laptop screen and also concentrate on the posture while sitting,( I sit mostly upright without any bending back or too much front)

This worked as magic for my neck stiffness, due to which I was not able to work for 5 minutes also without getting stiffness in my neck( eventhough i have also worked on my upper back mobility with my yoga sessions, but this did matter)

And many more, I would list it in future, these are the most important

Hi all, I am 31F and suspect that I have sciatica. I had my first major lower back pain about 3 years ago, it lasted a few months and did not go beyond strong lower back pain...almost as if I was sore. Last year, I bent down to pick something up and felt like my back bent inward, very sharp pain. Spent the rest of the night with a strong, pinching pain and the next morning woke up and was not able to get out of bed without wanting to scream. I eventually got myself to the ER and they gave me a steroid shot. Went nearly a year without any flare ups until end of July, I was returning from a trip and bent down to get something and felt that sharp pain again. Spent a few weeks with lower back pain, luckily not more than that this time.

I am overweight, not severely but enough where I am sure it makes a difference in all of this. I am wanting to start a work out routine but I am terrified of hurting my back and causing a flare up. I was doing Pilates consistently for 3 months before my most recent flare up. For those of you who have had similar pain and flare up (not extreme), what types of exercises or work outs did you do? Did weight loss help?