My win against lower back pain
Hi all,
As someone who has visited this sub a lot over the past couple of months, I want to share my experience and what actually worked for me in the hopes that someone out there might have even a tiny bit more hope for what I know feels like a hopeless situation.
In November 2025, I got a new job which required me to start driving about 3 hours in commuting time per day until I was able to move. It is also a much more sedentary job than my previous job. After that point, I got progressively worse back pain which culminated in me getting an MRI in January 2026. The MRI showed that I have herniated discs at L4-L5 and L5-S1 with nerve impingement at L4-L5 (aka sciatica). My orthopedist suggested surgery but I did not want to go that route without trying others first. Here is what I have tried and my advice.
Physical therapy AND having a good physical therapist is the absolute most important thing you can do. I am so fortunate to have gone to a one-on-one PT who specializes in back pain. He was able to modify my exercises based on how my pain improved or changed and genuinely listened to the things I was saying to better understand my situation.
A lot of back pain can be improved by strengthening both your glutes, and your literal back. When I started PT, I was doing things like modified side planks, bicycle kicks, and bird dogs. These are obviously great to get started and I still do them every single day. But what actually started to take my pain away was doing strength training. I do kettle bell lifts for the glutes, RDLs so my low back can support my body while I'm in a hinged position, and "supermans" to practice literally using my lower back to lift up my legs. As soon as I started doing these exercises while maintaining the daily ones, my pain started decreasing day by day. I don't want to tell anyone to just go out and start doing these exercises, since severe back injuries could be very aggravated by these. But instead, suggest working with a PT to progress to this point.
A lot of progress can be made from manual therapy. My PT was an expert in "dry needling with electrical stimulation". This is essentially where needles are inserted near the impinged nerve root and connected with a pulsing machine to stimulate the deep muscles around that nerve. The first time I ever did this at PT, my sciatica went away and it has never come back. I cannot emphasize how much of a breakthrough this was for me. I have also done cupping and massage too which were very helpful for stimulating blood flow.
For actual medical treatments, I was on meloxicam for about two months before transitioning to less intense anti-inflammatories. I also had an epidural steroid injection back in March. I want to be transparent that I had this done, and it did help with my healing, but it's not the reason I've gotten to where I am now.
Even two months ago, I thought the place I am now was completely impossible to reach. I was completely consumed by pain almost every minute of every day, and read more posts on this sub than I can count. I call this "my win" against lower back pain, not because I'm 100% pain free, but because I learned what works for me to manage my pain and address my muscular weakness.
I hope this post can provide even one person with hope or advice that they need. Just remember- it's not over until you win!