Deep achy pain in my lower back. 20 months post op! Please help
27M 20 months post op, Lower back pain that wasn’t there before surgery. Anyone else?
Hey everyone, just looking for some reassurance or shared experiences because I’m really struggling at the moment.
20 months out from my microdiscectomy and I’ve developed this very deep, constant aching pain in my lower back that genuinely wasn’t there before the surgery. Since my surgery I was getting better every month until around the 10 month mark where I feel like I hit my peak. Since then I’ve been developing this really annoying deep achy pain, it always feel like it’s deep burn in my QL muscles.
My original issue was sciatica and honestly that has improved a lot. I still get some residual pain down my left leg (ankle, calf, glute) but nothing like pre-op. The sciatica is manageable. The lower back pain is what’s destroying my quality of life right now.
It’s constant. I’m never comfortable.
I had a steroid injection about 2 weeks ago which hasn’t done anything yet. I’ve also had back spasms which I think come from tensing up and being anxious about making things worse, which just creates this awful cycle.
The frustrating part is I’m doing everything right. Physio every single day (cat camels, bird dogs, planks etc.), gym 3x a week when my back lets me. Weirdly the gym sessions actually help. I feel good after training and even better after the sauna. But I wake up the next morning and it’s back to square one. The relief never sticks.
I’m 27 and the thought that this is just my life now genuinely scares me. I hate that something that was supposed to fix me has left me with a different kind of pain.
Has anyone else experienced new lower back pain developing after microdiscectomy? Did it eventually go away? What actually helped you? Any advice would mean a lot right now.