Herniated lower back disc from deadlifting - is it possible to get back to 100%?
I herniated a disc in my lower back doing deadlifts. Classic story, I went for a big weight that I shouldn’t have when my back was already hurting and right as I was pulling it up - POP. Looking back, it was highly preventable, but what’s done is done.
This was about a year and a half ago. The pain was awful when it happened, keeping me up at night and so on, but I made sure to get lots of movement and exercise and was able to recover quite quickly. Within a month I was back to doing deadlifts with 80% of the weight that injured me and I was pain free for the most part. Within 6 months I was back to 100% deadlift strength, but haven’t attempted above 90% of what injured me, out of fear and since I don’t need to really. Very thankful I was able to recover so swiftly.
*However*, my back is still not completely back to the way it was before the injury. If I sit too long, the injured area hurts. When I’m tired, I feel it in my lower back. Whenever I touch it, it feels uncomfortably tight and under pressure. It’s like it always needs to crack, but can’t.
For the first year post-injury, I continued squatting and deadlifting with no pain, but I noticed the discomfort would always be worse the day after an intense leg workout, so I’ve come to stop doing these exercises altogether. I used to roll my eyes at those “my back hurts just watching this” comments, but now my back really does hurt watching people lift heavy stuff.
It’s like I recovered to 95% in only 1-2 months, but have made 0 progress since then.
It could be worse. At an average moment, I have no back pain. But my lower back is always ready to start irritating me should I think about it too much or not move around enough. I would love to improve past this, eventually.
So, my question - is it possible? Has anyone made a 100% recovery to where their herniated disc doesn’t bother them at all? If so, how and how long did it take? If not, what are ways to cope with that?
I never went to a PT as I felt they would just kind of tell me to exercise it, which I already do, but would that help?