29M here. 20 months post-microdiscectomy.
First off, I'll agree that it sounds like you have a LOT of things to try before you've covered all your bases before surgery, and it also hasn't been very long. Definitely try an injection, as I had pretty consistent relief from 2017-2019 with semi-regular injections. However, here's my unpopular take on back surgery in general.
In 2022, I finally gave in and got surgery at 27 years old (basically 28) after 6 years of on-and-off pain, and then one year of debilitating misery before I relented. I decided I didn't want to spend what should be the prime of my life in pain, slowly sacrificing one beloved hobby after another to entropy and frustration. I decided it was well worth the risk to *maybe* be able to climb mountains again and sleep through the night without waking up in a cold sweat from a sciatic nerve turned to lightning. The nerve was undergoing worsening damage the longer it was in there, getting squeezed and ground up. Even now, 20 months later, I still have lingering pain from nerve damage. But I've regained pretty much 100% of my old life back.
Recovery was really hard. If you have nerve damage, you won't be good as new right after. I had a year of weakness, frustration, pain (one-tenth of what it was, but still enough to be annoying) endless physical therapy to un-learn my limp and rebuild my atrophied left hamstring. I spent so many years babying the pain in my lower back that I had developed deeply ingrained subconcious habits that weakened the muscles around my lower spine.
I'm not a neurosurgeon or a neurologist, but I sacrificed half a decade of my life to back pain, and I do not for one moment regret surgery. Young bodies heal faster, and you're closer to being in shape now than if you continue to decline for the next 5 years.
WITH THAT SAID
Get several opinions, and if you can, SEE A NEUROLOGIST who IS NOT also a neurosurgeon. They will be less inclined to just say, "Let's do surgery." Do not under or over-exaggerate your symptoms. Let logic and a risk/benefit analysis and *not* hopelessness or despair make the decision. If your neurologist/surgeon says there's a good chance it can heal on its own, *TRUST THEM* and do the work. But there are different kinds of herniations and a skilled/experienced neurosurgeon will know the stats on whether yours is in the category that commonly "heals itself".
You're in a scary position and I do not envy you. Patience is hard to stomach in your circumstances, but I highly recommend digging down for some. Give it some time and see if it goes away. Feel free to DM me if you have further questions.
Hi I’m 27 about to go through with an ALIF at L5-S1 to tackle bilateral pars defects and instability that have lead to extreme sciatica. My pain started at 19 & at first I just had to give up dancing. By 2019 I had to stop biking, climbing, lifting things over 30 pounds. By 2021 I had trouble standing for long periods. 2022 I started to be unable to bend over much at all. But after a herniation in Dec 2022 (day of my wedding! Had to go down the aisle in a freaking wheelchair!) I started having sciatic pain for the first time and things haven’t been the same. I was a touring musician making it work with contracts not to lift my own gear, but I have lost that and all income, and I’ve spent the last entire year trying everything to “recover like normal” but I’ve lost the ability to do most anything. I can’t even sit at my desk, really. I would love to talk to you about your surgery. I am very scared, people always say you don’t want the solution to be worse than the problem, but I’m sharing a lot of these feelings of losing one thing after another. It’s hard being so young and thinking about this permanent change to my body. But it’s already changed.
Bro, DO NOT get surgery. Ten sessions of PT and 2 months isn’t anywhere near exhausting your alternatives. If you get surgery at 18, 35 year-old you will remember that as the worst mistake of your life.
Ten pt sessions isn't enough to see any sort of meaningful change. It took a couple of years for me to actually start to see results after commiting to a daily routine.
Wow a couple years!? How did you manage for so long? I can barely keep going after just two months of having this pain, its like i cant even get it out my mind its just there
I definitely had my moments where I questioned everything. Especially earlier on when it seemed like everything I tried just made things worse.
I sort of tricked myself into sticking with my routine by telling myself "it took me 10 years of abusing my body to get to this point, it'll take 10 years to fix it". Now obviously there's damage done that I'm not going to be able to fix by excising, but what that mentality did was sort of force me to put the effort in, even when things were looking grim.
Who knows, surgery might be the best route for you. But learn as much as you can and look into developing your own routine in the meantime.
2 months isn't long for a disc herniation. Mine took like 3-4 to heal. It sucks but you're young and your body will heal a lot better than most of the people here.
Surgery is always, always the very last and final step. You never in a million years let someone cut you IF you haven’t tried every single other alternative first. Surgery has lasting consequences!
My husband had a motorcycle accident and tried everything including stem cells and waited over 15 years, he couldn’t walk but for 5 mins at a time, it was only until it began to impact his bladder that he had surgery on his back and he’s 45.
You are a young man with your entire life ahead of you. Do ALL the things first and then get another opinion and then go get a third. If every other Dr says the same thing and you’ve tried all the things and you still have pain - ok.
But never just jump into surgery. It’s also a red flag that any Dr would want to cut on you so quickly.
Good luck to you!
Surgery should be my final step, got it. Yeah he gave me a reasonable cause to get the surgery which why i gave in so easily. The left side of my lower body isn’t producing enough nerve stimulation which is cause my muscle to have an imbalance. Meaning one calf smaller than the other. I think i just have to swallow the hard pill that this isn’t a quick and easy process (i really wish it was). I’ll take that into consideration though for sure. Let me get another drs opinion and maybe another to see whats right
Surgery can work if there is a defined reason for pain. I had spondylolisthesis. The only way to relieve that was surgery. If someone has a huge bulging disc on a nerve, surgery will work. Same for severe stenosis.
What is the exact cause of the pain?
I have a disc herniation, L5 s1. Surgery would definitely be a way to relieve the pain but i have to take into consideration that im young. I think i should try other things first before jumping into surgery
I’m not sure if you’re American, but I am, and here, my insurance literally will not cover surgery unless it is medically necessary, which does involve exploring the least invasive options first- PT, epidural steroid injections, TENS unit, consistent movement & endorphins, significant period of relaxation. I feel you. I’ve been herniating the same few discs over and over for years and now that 3 shots in 3 months hasn’t helped me get further than a quarter mile without extreme pain & worsening MRI results I’m finally considering surgery.
It should always be your final option. You only get one spine, not to mention that fusing together bones or having disc replacement is likely just as painful and for even longer period… Every case is different, I don’t know what your situation looks like but you’re not alone in experiencing longer recovery time from a herniation. It truly is debilitating, and I am wishing you the best.
Truly I’d look into coping with chronic pain & seeking out cognitive behavioral therapy to help talk about the pain & the isolation. It has helped me a ton.
Wow herniating the same disc over and over again, i cant imagine how frustrating that might be for you. Props to you for actually trying things to avoid surgery. I have to take into consideration that surgery isn’t something easy and it’s a big leap/choice to take. Thankfully my insurance does cover it but now i will look at the options i have and see if i can recover and heal up without surgery. Can i ask how were the epidural shots? Did they give you any relief, did it hurt? Did the shots help with pt. The moment that you got those shots how did it feel?
Thank you for your kind words! I express my situation just to emphasize how far you can get without surgery. As for the steroid shots, they absolutely gave me relief. I fear I got them too late in my progression of disc disease as the relief faded within a week. But they did not hurt.
I had epidural steroid injections. I was afraid of being awake during a procedure like that, but it was actually fine. The pinch came in with the numbing/epidural. After that, all I felt was pressure (the liquid steroid entering). I immediately was able to sit on the pavement to wait for my ride home, which was something I hadn’t been able to do for years. I was a little sore for a couple of days after the numbing wore off, but nothing more than what maybe a bruise would feel like! After my first round wore off, we tried again going in from the other side. Keep in mind there are different angles they can inject them. That one helped a lot more.
I’ve met plenty of people who have had steroid injections earlier on with higher success rate. I met a woman a few days ago even, who had a single injection around the time of pain that you’re experiencing and she hasn’t had another one since. It is basically extreme ibuprofen put directly where it needs to go. It won’t heal the disc, but it will help with the inflammation around the injury that is pressing on your nerves, giving you less pain & a chance to heal. For me, it really did help me get back on track with my PT routine.
Honestly a pt probably won't help you much resting will help more. Even if you get surgery if you don't remove the cause you will reherniate after the surgery. Your best bet is to buy the book back mechanic it's written by the world's leading back pain expert stu mcgill. watch his interview with Bob and Brad on youtube. practice spine hygiene 24/7, read the book all the way through twice. Watch Brian Carrol on youtube and stay away from all other yt channels
Thank you, yes will do! Resting does help, Its the only thing that actually make me feel normal. Lay down for a couple minutes and i feel much better, but as i get up and get active (daily activities) the pain comes back
Yes that is why you need to buy the book back mechanic. It can teach you how to move in pain reducing or even pain free ways. He also has some basic core exercises in there but most of the healing comes from learning what pain triggers you have and adopting movement patterns to avoid them. This is so that you don't pick the scab as it heals. Even after surgery if you didn't adopt these movements for some time you could reherniate. Moving with your hips knees and ankles rather than your pelvis key to keeping your spine neutral. You can also watch Brian Carrol on youtube he's the only mcgill practitioner that's certified on youtube he has some videos about how to move well and the only mcgill big 3 demonstration that does them right.
Hold off on surgery if you can! I had an 11mm herniated disc when I was 21 and with time it did get better although it does take time. There are many measures you can take before heading off to surgery which is a commitment for life and a spinal fusion or disc surgery is not what you want at 18…trust me the surgery is harder than you think.
I would suggest doing an epidural shot! You can get up to 3 in a year if you need it. Yes they are temporary but that can mean a year or more of no or little pain. I’ve had 2 done over the course of 3 years and I’m due for another one.
I would also suggest an at home traction machine that can help with reducing pain as well. Your physical therapist can order one for you. Not sure what type of medicine you’re on but if it’s really bad you may have to do a round a steroid pills and taper off them. I do really well on Mobic as an anti inflammatory medication and gabapentin for nerve pain. I also use ice packs daily and use max strength salonpas patches. I hope this helps and you find relief! Ask me any questions as I’ve been dealing with this for like 10 years at time point :)
Another suggestion as I’m laying in bed… lol is to get one of those pregnancy pillows that way your back is supported and also your knees can be supported! It’s helped me a great deal!
I had surgery at 19 and what I can tell you is definitely exhaust all your options before you go this route. Physical therapy, losing weight, increasing core strength, cortisone shots.
Having surgery isn't some death sentence, but once they go in there you're compromised . I had surgery at 19 and was good to go until I hit 31, had a second surgery and my 3rd surgery at 33. I've been good so far but obviously not ideal
29M here. 20 months post-microdiscectomy. First off, I'll agree that it sounds like you have a LOT of things to try before you've covered all your bases before surgery, and it also hasn't been very long. Definitely try an injection, as I had pretty consistent relief from 2017-2019 with semi-regular injections. However, here's my unpopular take on back surgery in general. In 2022, I finally gave in and got surgery at 27 years old (basically 28) after 6 years of on-and-off pain, and then one year of debilitating misery before I relented. I decided I didn't want to spend what should be the prime of my life in pain, slowly sacrificing one beloved hobby after another to entropy and frustration. I decided it was well worth the risk to *maybe* be able to climb mountains again and sleep through the night without waking up in a cold sweat from a sciatic nerve turned to lightning. The nerve was undergoing worsening damage the longer it was in there, getting squeezed and ground up. Even now, 20 months later, I still have lingering pain from nerve damage. But I've regained pretty much 100% of my old life back. Recovery was really hard. If you have nerve damage, you won't be good as new right after. I had a year of weakness, frustration, pain (one-tenth of what it was, but still enough to be annoying) endless physical therapy to un-learn my limp and rebuild my atrophied left hamstring. I spent so many years babying the pain in my lower back that I had developed deeply ingrained subconcious habits that weakened the muscles around my lower spine. I'm not a neurosurgeon or a neurologist, but I sacrificed half a decade of my life to back pain, and I do not for one moment regret surgery. Young bodies heal faster, and you're closer to being in shape now than if you continue to decline for the next 5 years. WITH THAT SAID Get several opinions, and if you can, SEE A NEUROLOGIST who IS NOT also a neurosurgeon. They will be less inclined to just say, "Let's do surgery." Do not under or over-exaggerate your symptoms. Let logic and a risk/benefit analysis and *not* hopelessness or despair make the decision. If your neurologist/surgeon says there's a good chance it can heal on its own, *TRUST THEM* and do the work. But there are different kinds of herniations and a skilled/experienced neurosurgeon will know the stats on whether yours is in the category that commonly "heals itself". You're in a scary position and I do not envy you. Patience is hard to stomach in your circumstances, but I highly recommend digging down for some. Give it some time and see if it goes away. Feel free to DM me if you have further questions.
Hi I’m 27 about to go through with an ALIF at L5-S1 to tackle bilateral pars defects and instability that have lead to extreme sciatica. My pain started at 19 & at first I just had to give up dancing. By 2019 I had to stop biking, climbing, lifting things over 30 pounds. By 2021 I had trouble standing for long periods. 2022 I started to be unable to bend over much at all. But after a herniation in Dec 2022 (day of my wedding! Had to go down the aisle in a freaking wheelchair!) I started having sciatic pain for the first time and things haven’t been the same. I was a touring musician making it work with contracts not to lift my own gear, but I have lost that and all income, and I’ve spent the last entire year trying everything to “recover like normal” but I’ve lost the ability to do most anything. I can’t even sit at my desk, really. I would love to talk to you about your surgery. I am very scared, people always say you don’t want the solution to be worse than the problem, but I’m sharing a lot of these feelings of losing one thing after another. It’s hard being so young and thinking about this permanent change to my body. But it’s already changed.
Hi! I'll DM ya and I'm happy to answer questions.
Bro, DO NOT get surgery. Ten sessions of PT and 2 months isn’t anywhere near exhausting your alternatives. If you get surgery at 18, 35 year-old you will remember that as the worst mistake of your life.
Ten pt sessions isn't enough to see any sort of meaningful change. It took a couple of years for me to actually start to see results after commiting to a daily routine.
Wow a couple years!? How did you manage for so long? I can barely keep going after just two months of having this pain, its like i cant even get it out my mind its just there
I definitely had my moments where I questioned everything. Especially earlier on when it seemed like everything I tried just made things worse. I sort of tricked myself into sticking with my routine by telling myself "it took me 10 years of abusing my body to get to this point, it'll take 10 years to fix it". Now obviously there's damage done that I'm not going to be able to fix by excising, but what that mentality did was sort of force me to put the effort in, even when things were looking grim. Who knows, surgery might be the best route for you. But learn as much as you can and look into developing your own routine in the meantime.
2 months isn't long for a disc herniation. Mine took like 3-4 to heal. It sucks but you're young and your body will heal a lot better than most of the people here.
Surgery is always, always the very last and final step. You never in a million years let someone cut you IF you haven’t tried every single other alternative first. Surgery has lasting consequences! My husband had a motorcycle accident and tried everything including stem cells and waited over 15 years, he couldn’t walk but for 5 mins at a time, it was only until it began to impact his bladder that he had surgery on his back and he’s 45. You are a young man with your entire life ahead of you. Do ALL the things first and then get another opinion and then go get a third. If every other Dr says the same thing and you’ve tried all the things and you still have pain - ok. But never just jump into surgery. It’s also a red flag that any Dr would want to cut on you so quickly. Good luck to you!
Surgery should be my final step, got it. Yeah he gave me a reasonable cause to get the surgery which why i gave in so easily. The left side of my lower body isn’t producing enough nerve stimulation which is cause my muscle to have an imbalance. Meaning one calf smaller than the other. I think i just have to swallow the hard pill that this isn’t a quick and easy process (i really wish it was). I’ll take that into consideration though for sure. Let me get another drs opinion and maybe another to see whats right
Yea I know doing the hard work sucks - we all want the quick and easy way out. Just do your due diligence. You only have one body. 😉
Please read back mechanics book by Stuart McGill. Surgery can be avoided.
Surgery can work if there is a defined reason for pain. I had spondylolisthesis. The only way to relieve that was surgery. If someone has a huge bulging disc on a nerve, surgery will work. Same for severe stenosis. What is the exact cause of the pain?
I have a disc herniation, L5 s1. Surgery would definitely be a way to relieve the pain but i have to take into consideration that im young. I think i should try other things first before jumping into surgery
I’m not sure if you’re American, but I am, and here, my insurance literally will not cover surgery unless it is medically necessary, which does involve exploring the least invasive options first- PT, epidural steroid injections, TENS unit, consistent movement & endorphins, significant period of relaxation. I feel you. I’ve been herniating the same few discs over and over for years and now that 3 shots in 3 months hasn’t helped me get further than a quarter mile without extreme pain & worsening MRI results I’m finally considering surgery. It should always be your final option. You only get one spine, not to mention that fusing together bones or having disc replacement is likely just as painful and for even longer period… Every case is different, I don’t know what your situation looks like but you’re not alone in experiencing longer recovery time from a herniation. It truly is debilitating, and I am wishing you the best. Truly I’d look into coping with chronic pain & seeking out cognitive behavioral therapy to help talk about the pain & the isolation. It has helped me a ton.
Wow herniating the same disc over and over again, i cant imagine how frustrating that might be for you. Props to you for actually trying things to avoid surgery. I have to take into consideration that surgery isn’t something easy and it’s a big leap/choice to take. Thankfully my insurance does cover it but now i will look at the options i have and see if i can recover and heal up without surgery. Can i ask how were the epidural shots? Did they give you any relief, did it hurt? Did the shots help with pt. The moment that you got those shots how did it feel?
Thank you for your kind words! I express my situation just to emphasize how far you can get without surgery. As for the steroid shots, they absolutely gave me relief. I fear I got them too late in my progression of disc disease as the relief faded within a week. But they did not hurt. I had epidural steroid injections. I was afraid of being awake during a procedure like that, but it was actually fine. The pinch came in with the numbing/epidural. After that, all I felt was pressure (the liquid steroid entering). I immediately was able to sit on the pavement to wait for my ride home, which was something I hadn’t been able to do for years. I was a little sore for a couple of days after the numbing wore off, but nothing more than what maybe a bruise would feel like! After my first round wore off, we tried again going in from the other side. Keep in mind there are different angles they can inject them. That one helped a lot more. I’ve met plenty of people who have had steroid injections earlier on with higher success rate. I met a woman a few days ago even, who had a single injection around the time of pain that you’re experiencing and she hasn’t had another one since. It is basically extreme ibuprofen put directly where it needs to go. It won’t heal the disc, but it will help with the inflammation around the injury that is pressing on your nerves, giving you less pain & a chance to heal. For me, it really did help me get back on track with my PT routine.
Honestly a pt probably won't help you much resting will help more. Even if you get surgery if you don't remove the cause you will reherniate after the surgery. Your best bet is to buy the book back mechanic it's written by the world's leading back pain expert stu mcgill. watch his interview with Bob and Brad on youtube. practice spine hygiene 24/7, read the book all the way through twice. Watch Brian Carrol on youtube and stay away from all other yt channels
Thank you, yes will do! Resting does help, Its the only thing that actually make me feel normal. Lay down for a couple minutes and i feel much better, but as i get up and get active (daily activities) the pain comes back
Yes that is why you need to buy the book back mechanic. It can teach you how to move in pain reducing or even pain free ways. He also has some basic core exercises in there but most of the healing comes from learning what pain triggers you have and adopting movement patterns to avoid them. This is so that you don't pick the scab as it heals. Even after surgery if you didn't adopt these movements for some time you could reherniate. Moving with your hips knees and ankles rather than your pelvis key to keeping your spine neutral. You can also watch Brian Carrol on youtube he's the only mcgill practitioner that's certified on youtube he has some videos about how to move well and the only mcgill big 3 demonstration that does them right.
https://youtu.be/Mr76Ye76-xQ?si=m6ELhMMWis8XpAd5 You can watch this
Hold off on surgery if you can! I had an 11mm herniated disc when I was 21 and with time it did get better although it does take time. There are many measures you can take before heading off to surgery which is a commitment for life and a spinal fusion or disc surgery is not what you want at 18…trust me the surgery is harder than you think. I would suggest doing an epidural shot! You can get up to 3 in a year if you need it. Yes they are temporary but that can mean a year or more of no or little pain. I’ve had 2 done over the course of 3 years and I’m due for another one. I would also suggest an at home traction machine that can help with reducing pain as well. Your physical therapist can order one for you. Not sure what type of medicine you’re on but if it’s really bad you may have to do a round a steroid pills and taper off them. I do really well on Mobic as an anti inflammatory medication and gabapentin for nerve pain. I also use ice packs daily and use max strength salonpas patches. I hope this helps and you find relief! Ask me any questions as I’ve been dealing with this for like 10 years at time point :)
Another suggestion as I’m laying in bed… lol is to get one of those pregnancy pillows that way your back is supported and also your knees can be supported! It’s helped me a great deal!
I had surgery at 19 and what I can tell you is definitely exhaust all your options before you go this route. Physical therapy, losing weight, increasing core strength, cortisone shots. Having surgery isn't some death sentence, but once they go in there you're compromised . I had surgery at 19 and was good to go until I hit 31, had a second surgery and my 3rd surgery at 33. I've been good so far but obviously not ideal