Will life go back to normal after a herniated disc?

22yo recovering for a light Lumbar disc herniation better than expected with PT regardless of ignoring instructions not to work (worls labor MMA/BJJ x5/week daily calisthenics).

Will my life go back to normal or will this be a nagging lifetime issue? I want to go back to MMA/BJJ and have at least one fight.

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  1. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    no. gj ignoring instructions and/or ego lifting.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      that you? show me that bussy

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        wish it was me 🙁

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous
  2. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I mean as long as you try to be gentle and keep moving that part of your back, you'll probably be ok. I dont know anybody who got surgery on their back and said "Wow! I'm feeling so much better since the operation. Thank God!" They almost always have it deteriorate horribly after surgery.
    You know what they say, motion is lotion

  3. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    It does, try to avoid lifting too heavy once youre back.
    If your training generates imbalances to compensate the lack of stability, it will come to bite you later on.
    Also, now youll have to lift forever to avoid an unpleasant feeling in your back if you slack more than 2 weeks.

  4. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    6 weeks at 50% deload then build back up at 3-5% a week
    They will heal as long as you let it heal

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    probably not, worst case you end up in chronci pain and have to have surgery, IF this happens DO NOT get the sugery where they snip a piece of your disc off or fuse the spine, full disc replacement is far superior and as ronnie found out one lopsided disc can cause more herniations.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      This. I had two cervical disc herniations and underwent two fusions to have them repaired. The recovery is long and unpleasant but eventually you will be pain free.

  6. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    It will heal

  7. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Unfortunately no. I had a surgery on my spine about four years ago and while I can mostly do all the things I used to I still have lingering pain and some limitations

  8. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I had same.
    I ignored it.
    Now each year I had bigger issues.
    Last time I didn't feel my leg.
    All due to ego lifting and running with herniated discs.

    Rest your body and heal. Then easy get into it. Or you will end up like me.

  9. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Had it ~4 years ago. After 6 months of PT doing frick all (and the pain getting progressively worse) my physiatrist scheduled me for the back injection. After the 2-3 weeks of letting that settle in I've been mostly pain free since then, but if I bend my back the wrong way then the discomfort will come back and will take a few weeks to go away.

    Unfortunately this is going to be a life long thing. I don't squat/deadlift heavy anymore because doing so will aggravate it. I suggest you stay away from going heavy on those lifts as well.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Don't get the cortisone injection!
      It premenently prevents the disc from healing.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        It was that or a back surgery that would've put me outta commission for too long and since I was poooooor as frick at the time, the free (with cheap copay) injection was the choice

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          That so fricked.
          Like even recommending it.
          Im not gonna scare you because you could be the 30-40% that never get a resurgence of pain.
          But those injections are literally the opposite of "do no harm".
          Its more like prevent pain until they are 50 and dont provide value to society anymore. Then they get you to do an even more serious surgery because you spent 10 years grinding away at a disk that can't heal.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            >Like even recommending it.
            welcome to Kaiser baby it's the Walmart of health insurance. It's cheap as frick but you get what you pay for! Especially since doctors told me, for almost a full year, that I was "at the tail end of it so just keep waiting" but the pain kept getting worse and worse and oh cool now I can't even do my job properly, thanks doctors!! It took me filing a formal complaint with the hospital for the physiatrist to even do *anything* at all, they kept pushing PT on me even though it was making it worse and worse
            >Im not gonna scare you because you could be the 30-40% that never get a resurgence of pain
            Well I went almost 3 years with no pain/discomfort. It's only now starting to creep back up here and there. I've already accepted my fate man, such is the life of a poor American.

  10. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    It took me years to fix mine. And about 3 years of doing nothing. I was reinjuring it until I went cold turkey for years.

  11. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >Will my life go back to normal
    "normal" was a disregard for spinal health that put you in this situation. so no, you won't go back to that because this injury will reliably remind you when you do something weird w your spine

  12. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I have minor back pain after I lift.
    Shit fricking sucks bros.
    I avoid weights above my head, especially when standing on my legs.
    You have to avoid exercises that put stress on your spine.
    Look up Hodge twins. They have their backs destroyed, and still managed to get and stay fit.

  13. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    There might be parts of your back which will be pushed to their limit by weights which don't challenge your muscles at all. So, commit to dropping WAY back and very slowly increasing the load. For a long time you will not lift anything that can cause hypertrophy or maintain strength. Like, start with regressions intended for the elderly and enfeebled.

  14. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    How did you cause the injury?

  15. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I made a pretty comprehensive post about this in the archives, look through them for it.
    I had one at 23, 6 months ago, and am mostly ok now. Avoid deadlifts, squats, or anything that uses lower back. Keep lifting though. Walk a lot, do mcgill big 3 everyday (multiple times a day), dead hangs from a bar if they don't hurt. And after you stop feeling pain start incorporating light rdl's and back squats and slowly build up.
    Don't do anything that involves spine flection like bjj/muay thai, or direct core work like situps. It'll heal as long as you let it, I could have fixed it in 3 months and had 2 of them, but i reaggro'd multiple times with squats/deads.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      to expand on this, I'm now squatting more than I was before I got it and don't feel any pain.

  16. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    How tf do you get a doc to order an MRI for this mine won't do it

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      I had to go to PT, as referred by my GP. Then after so long of minimal/no improvement, got an x-ray, THEN after some more time an MRI. Fricking gay man, could've be doing a lot better right now if I knew that it was a herniated disc.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Yeah he wanted to send me to some gay pt to blow me off
        Maybe I'll look into just buying one out of pocket

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Depending on the PT, its not the worst. The $30 copay is what bites me in the ass, but could be worse. Insurance covered most of the MRI, if it didn't, would've cost me over 2k.

          what are the primary symptoms?
          I've been having issues with my lower back for weeks now

          Sciatic nerve flares is a tell, like pain down one of your legs, either all the way down to the foot or ends by the knee. That's how it showed up in me.

          Btw, to anyone dealing with this shit, chiro is BS mostly. I only got 15 minutes with one and the general feeling was like cracking my knuckles. The PT helped a lot more and you'll probably get more time out of it.

          Also shit, I had a seizure at work and it seems like either that or the lazing around and being inactive with bad posture post seizure might have fricked me. I've been so down about this shit, I was trying to get fit, now I can't even get on a stationary bike. I honestly consider taking myself out of the game. I'm not gonna make it bros.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            https://i.imgur.com/NWQorKX.png

            22yo recovering for a light Lumbar disc herniation better than expected with PT regardless of ignoring instructions not to work (worls labor MMA/BJJ x5/week daily calisthenics).

            Will my life go back to normal or will this be a nagging lifetime issue? I want to go back to MMA/BJJ and have at least one fight.

            What does the pt make you do

  17. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    what are the primary symptoms?
    I've been having issues with my lower back for weeks now

  18. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >newbie falls for the egolifting DL/squat meme

    Rippetoe claims yet another victim.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      This real. People want to talk about functional strength and bodybuilders not being able to run a mile, but newbies would be much less likely to snap their shit on a high rep hypertrophy program. Not like they won’t build strength on 3x10 or 5x8 anyway.

  19. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >Will my life go back to normal or will this be a nagging lifetime issue?

    You're pretty much fricked. GJ destroying your life at 22.

  20. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >22yo recovering for a light Lumbar disc herniation better than expected with PT regardless of ignoring instructions not to work (worls labor MMA/BJJ x5/week daily calisthenics).

    you are the dictionary definition of someone who ends up permanently injured

  21. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    My neck, upper, and lower back are all kinda fricked. Mostly my neck. Took legit like a year to get back to a point where 1. The pain isn't affecting me much 2. I can work out reasonably. Its a work in progress but I believe it's possible to get sufficiently better. For me the main thing was relaxing constant tension in traps and abs, dry needling to get rid of muscle spasms, and a good hopeful attitude. We're in it together, you'll learn about your body and what you can do to improve. Frick idiots who say you can't get better. Youth = healing. But you will 100% have to stop what your doing and focus on improving your condition.

  22. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    hopefully. i haven't lifted in 5 years. i only run.

  23. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    It gets better to the point that you can forget about it and do a lot of stuff like playing sports, running, hiking and such, but there are certain movements that aggravate it, for me it's undeniably squats and related exercises like lunges

  24. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Just get a microdiscectomy. It was pretty bad for me about six years ago. Could barely walk after sitting for extended periods of time. Surgery took less than an hour and I woke up feeling good as new back at work the next day.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >brah just get a microdisectomy I was back at work the next day
      LMAO
      kys
      t. Had two

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        It’s a pretty minor operation. The only thing is you shouldn’t do any physical activity for a few weeks, but I had an office job so it was fine.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          A fusion is not a minor operation..are we talking about the same thing here, where they bolt multiple vertebrae together with a metal brace

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Microdiscectomies have nothing to do with spinal fusion

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              Hence why I specifically said fusion in my post M8.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                We heard you. Fusion is a completely different thing. Obviously I wouldn’t be at work the next day if I had that done compared to a minor procedure like microdiscectomy.

  25. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Lot of people blackpilling on disc injury here. I trained though mine. Biking for cardio, and a hypertrophy focused program after 1-2 weeks off. I reinsured it probably 5-6 times, wasted 8 months, but eventually I learned how to unfrick my form and program around it.

    The thing about a disc injury is it tells you what hurts. For me, this was divebombing the bottom of squats, and dropping the bar/setting up too quick in between reps of deadlifts. You’ll know when you fricked up, and you’ll learn to avoid that frickup in the future. How this applies to mma I don’t know, but I assume you’ll have to learn to avoid certain positions where your spine is disadvantaged,

    Try reverse hypers. They don’t work for everyone, but they were a miracle for me, I do them 5x week, probably not even giving the erectors time to recover, but the traction aspect keeps me pain free and it’s not hurting my performance on dl or squat. my lower back is strong as hell now too.

  26. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    My father got 2 from hard psysichal labor.
    he simply keeps working ignoring it.
    try swiming sometimes

  27. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    i wish you a quick recovery OP. stay safe and dont egolift.

  28. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Yes. Most herniated disks don't even cause back pain, and the ones that do don't have to keep doing it

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      tldr on that book?

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Psychosomatic pain is caused by brain finding an excuse to cause pain somewhere (like a herniated disc) and then restricting blood flow and whatnot to cause physical symptoms. That is what causes most back pain. The solution is basically to believe it will go away if you ignore it and then ignore it. Reading the books helps with that since it sounds like BS coming from me.

  29. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    L5/S1 reporting in. It doesn't go away fully ever, spines are shit at self healing and the protruding disc won't be reabsorbed. The pain will lessen though but as others have said, you are always gonna be at risk for aggravated injuries. Don't squat ever. I haven't had any of the surgeries, or the injections. I did it age 25 and there was no way I was gonna get a fusion and reduce my mobility for 60 years. If you are in severe pain now I promise you it will eventually become totally manageable, and eventually will only hurt when you do certain activities instead of the constant daily agony with that bizarre desire to stick a knife in your own back

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Oh I'm almost 35 now. The first three months were hell, the next three years sucked, and now it's ok unless I do dumb shit or try to walk / run for extended periods on very uneven surfaces (frick beaches)

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      For me, it’s the shotgun to the base of my spine. The greatest relief imaginable.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Yeah I had that fantasy too. Weird

  30. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    And lastly if you are American, don't let them give you opioid meds, and don't let them give you antidepressants when you inevitably reach rock bottom. You won't be depressed, it's the chronic pain. Gabapentin + tramadol. Neither is addictive and indeed tramadol is fricking nasty in overdose or even maximum permitted daily dose. It'll stop the pain and when the time comes you'll be happy to ditch it

  31. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Why can’t they fix it a fricking herniated disc in 2022? I mean it’s fricking simple and would solve so much suffering.
    Then I would start with deadlifts and squats again

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Iirc statistics show the majority of herniations heal radiologically.
      Very painful condition though. conservative measures (exercise therapy, meds [neuropathics eg amitriptyline]) and giving it some time can help. Normally be looking at a few months of hell, but by a year the symptoms are normally completely gone (common to have a bit of a niggle)
      In the NHS trust I work in, if its been going on 3 months (reason being many people are much better by then) then they're happy to just inject it and if that doesn't work then operate on it (no guarantee of success mind you).
      There's no reason why you can't lift/fight etc. Your back isn't made of paper mache. That being said you may still experience pain and might need to gradually build yourself back up to what you want to be doing.

      Out of curiosity where do you feel your pain?
      If its mostly back pain then there's not really any great invasive option for that. Back pain is a clusterfrick of different factors. At least with radicular leg pain there's more of a straight-forward biological component to treat.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        I don’t have pain. I just want to do squats and deadlifts again but it’s not worth it due to high injury risk for now.
        Can get better gains with other exercises while having less injury risk.
        If they could fix herniated disks easily I would do heavy workout again just for the feeling.
        Until then I stick with bulgarian split squats and romanian deadlifts

  32. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    It will heal. might be slow. I've had cervical disc impingement (the neck). what helped me a lot were light revalidation exercises for the serratus and for the lats / upper back. Another thing that really helped me was using a tens unit. i think I git the hernia from swimming. i can do all exercises gine and it had no effect on my squat / dl. but I can't go heavy on pull ups anymore.

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