r/HerniatedDisc

Hey guys, I have a herniated disc at L4-L5 and this is actually my second injury, almost a year after the first one. I’ve done 10 PT sessions so far and the pain is a bit better — I don’t even need painkillers anymore — but sitting for even 5 minutes is still unbearable for me.

I’ve been doing my exercises consistently for a month now, but honestly I still don’t feel much improvement yet. My doctor keeps telling me my muscles are super weak and that it could take around 3 months to build strength again, so I’m trying not to lose hope.

I just wanted to ask if anyone else went through something similar? I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences because lately I’ve been feeling really frustrated and sad about it.

Also, if there’s anything that genuinely helped you — exercises, habits, treatments, literally anything — please share it with me.

Hi everyone, hoping for some input from those who have been in a similar spot.

​I’ve been dealing with a right-sided L5-S1 herniated disc since my back went out at the end of February. It’s been a rough few months, and after getting steroid injections at the end of March with absolutely zero relief, my doctor and I decided to schedule a microdiscectomy for July 9th.

​Here’s where I’m conflicted: About three weeks ago, I finally started to feel some genuine improvement. Don't get me wrong—I’m not 100%. I still have lower back pain and sciatica, but the intensity is nowhere near where it was when I first booked the surgery.

​Crucially, my symptoms are strictly pain-based—I don’t have any numbness, tingling, or weakness in my leg.

​Because I’m finally seeing progress, I’m second-guessing whether I should go through with the surgery or try to hold off to see if it continues to resolve on its own. Has anyone else been in a position where they had a surgery date on the books but started feeling "better enough" to consider cancelling?

​How did you decide if the surgery was still the right move when the pain began to subside? Any advice on what I should be asking my surgeon or what factors I should consider before I decide to keep or cancel that July date?

​Thanks in advance.

I was previously diagnosed with the same C5/C6 issue about a year ago, but at that time the symptoms improved with physiotherapy.

Current episode started about 4 weeks ago after travel/sleeping in a bad position.

Initial symptoms were:

• severe neck/arm pain
• unable to sleep flat
• tingling in fingers
• arm weakness/fatigue

MRI showed a significant right-sided C5/C6 herniation with nerve compression.

I’ve been treated conservatively with CT-guided cortisone/PRT injections. I’ve completed 4 injections so far (1 per week). Pain has improved a lot and is now almost 0 most of the time. Sleep also improved significantly.

Current remaining symptoms:

• tingling in fingers in certain positions
• mild grip weakness/fatigue
• occasional pulling sensation in arm

My neurosurgeon wants to continue until 6 injections total and start physiotherapy afterward.

I also got another opinion saying repeated injections only reduce inflammation and do not address the actual nerve compression.

I’m trying to understand:

• Is completing 6 injections reasonable if pain already improved significantly?
• Did anyone here recover fully with conservative treatment despite residual tingling/weakness?
• At what point did you decide surgery was necessary (or avoid it)?

Would appreciate hearing experiences, especially from people with cervical C5/C6 issues.

Pain in the right side about 2" down from my butt crack. Also another pain 3" to the right of that in the butt. Too much sitting in an bad desk setup.

Subtle pain in the right groin. Shooting pain down inner leg and also back of leg and parts of bottoms of right foot.

Can't sit at ALL. And am worried I won't be able to work. Desk job.

I'm trying to get a referral for a scan which will tell me more- have medicaid so it's less straight forward. Could be weeks.

Just interested in any pointers and/or thoughts others might be able to share since it'll probably be a while before I can get this looked at via scan and don't want to make anything worse until then.

I'm trying to understand my options and would love to hear from people who've been down this road. Long history, will keep it sequenced and tight.

Timeline:

2012: Injured my back at work. Herniated L5/S1. Did epidurals and cortisone injections — no lasting relief. Re-herniated within ~6 months. Doctor said surgery was the only option. April 2012: microdiscectomy + laminectomy at L5/S1. I was 25.

2017: Re-injured my back. Herniated again at the same level. Moved home, did PT, then learned about regenerative therapy. Went the umbilical cord stem cell route. It genuinely saved my life at the time — got ~6–7 good years out of it.

2023: Flare-up bad enough to land me in the ER. Anti-inflammatory injections, recovered.

March/April 2026: Cortisone/epidural injection under fluoroscopy as a maintenance measure.

May 2026 (mid-trip in Greece): Woke up one morning with shooting pain across my back and down my leg. Walked into a clinic in Athens. Imaging shows a significant herniation at L5/S1 — same level as everything before. Three epidurals in a week. Today is the first day the pain has dropped below agonizing.

Where I am now:

The doctor here wants another MRI today to see whether the epidurals have reduced the protrusion. If not, he's pushing surgery. I'm not getting a clear answer on whether what I have is a bulge, protrusion, extrusion, or sequestration, and that distinction matters a lot for whether regenerative therapy is even a candidate option.

I'm 40 now. I'm anti-surgery. I'm in this situation precisely because I had surgery at 25. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have never gone under the knife. Post-surgical spines herniate again — and here we are.

What I'm asking the community:

Stem cell / regenerative providers you've actually used. US, Europe, or Dubai (I live in the UAE part-time, so the region is on the table). Looking for first-hand experience, not marketing. Especially want to hear from anyone who's had regenerative therapy on a post-surgical disc or has done a second round of stem cells at the same level.

Realistic success rates by herniation type. What's the honest read on candidacy and outcomes for stem cell across bulge / protrusion / extrusion / sequestration? My understanding is the more severe the herniation (especially extrusion or sequestration), the worse the regenerative odds — but I want to hear from people who've actually navigated this.

Anyone who's been in a similar spot — multiple herniations, prior surgery, prior regen — what did you do, what worked, what didn't? Would you do stem cells again? Would you do surgery?

On cost: I'm currently out of work and uninsured. I believe I can access some support through the VA as part of my disability rating. Beyond that, I'll pay out of pocket as needed. Cost matters but it's not the deciding factor — getting this right is.

Happy to take this to DMs for anyone who's been through something similar. THANKS IN ADVANCE!

I’m honestly starting to lose faith and could really use advice from anyone who has dealt with chronic lumbar back pain.

I’ve done physical therapy, lumbar epidural steroid injections, medial branch block injections, medications like gabapentin and muscle relaxers, and even hydrocodone/oxycodone and none of it has helped. The pain is constant and centered in my low back/butt area. Sitting, bending backward, standing too long… basically every position eventually makes it worse.

What’s frustrating is that the pain doesn’t really radiate down my leg like classic sciatica. It just stays deep in my back and never lets up. Even the injections that were supposed to “confirm” things didn’t provide relief.

At this point I feel stuck mentally and physically. After seeing 6 different medical professionals, I’ve stated to lose all faith. I’m exhausted from trying things that don’t work and hearing “give it more time.” One spine specialist told me that I should consider an artificial disc replacement in my 30’s. I’m currently 29 and don’t understand why I need to be in this amount of pain for years before something is done. Has anyone been through something similar and eventually found answers or relief? Different diagnoses, treatments, lifestyle changes, specialists, exercises, literally anything.

I’m not looking for miracle cures, just hoping to hear from people who understand this because it’s getting hard to stay optimistic. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Current symptom: After horrible flair last November which resolved my pain is mild/intermittent No bladder/bowel issue outside bladder recalibrating post hysterectomy ( it was crushed x3 years under uterus 13x normal size plus huge ovarian cyst/fibroid) BUT numbness in left foot and in patchy areas of left leg. very positional. it drives me crazy. Neuro/ortho said no CES but this could be from pinched nerve or MS (dx 15 yrs ago) so I can’t tell what is what. GYN surgery was suppose to use lumbar support in OR/they forgot. laid in PACU 3 hours. Recovery I can’t recall. long story but husband shared the nightmare later. it was same day surgery but I was out of it for 2 days ( was over medicated and also given meds I was allergic too despite alerts in chart. Since surgery 12/23/25 I had this worsening numbness in left foot/leg. I pleaded with OR team not to forget the lumbar SUPPORT, and not to let me lay in the bed too long. They ignored both. now I’m dealing with this numbness that will NOT go away. They say no CES and that I just have to deal with this as a result of my lumber issues! 😭. I’m doing small walks daily, recumbent bike slowly for short periods as I want to stay as mobile as possible. No EPI as I can’t do steroids.

No PT as I really don’t trust the 21-year-old physical out of school we don’t have any season physical therapists around here and I’ve had bad experiences when I was sent for vestibular physical therapy for MS three months and I ended up feeling worse. Plus my other providers just didn’t want me to do it anymore. They could see I was not doing well with it.

Not asking for medical advice, but based on this report and from everyone’s know base I see here. Is there anything here that indicates a risk for CES? I know what the doctor told me, but I don’t trust them either. they told me to get the CES thing out of my head, but I just can’t. This comes from a real solid reason. Only provider I trust is my family nurse practitioner. She’s helping me the best she can and has put me on B12 which I start Monday. I have bad pain but from MS so I have pain medicine for that.

Something is causing this numbness but I can’t figure it out plus occasionally this tingling intermittently everywhere throughout my body..but that’s being blamed on MS doctors get tunnel vision because I have MS that’s why I went around for a year herniated disc that a neurosurgeon never told me I had it wasn’t until I had to flare that I found out a year later because he wrote my back issues off as MS related pain the orthodox are the ones that found it when I had that horrific flare

Docs say that my recent MRI is stable pretty much what they see with a lot of people, but I just can’t believe that not with these symptoms

I just cannot get this damn fear of CES out of my head on top of which if it’s so extremely rare as everyone says it is why do I see so many postings about it?

Thank you for your help🙏🏻💓

****************************************+

Lumber MRI 2/28/26 ( previous MRI 11/19/24)

LINICAL INFORMATION: M79.606 - Pain in leg unspecified / M79.89 - Other specified soft tissue disorders /

M48.061 - Spinal stenosis lumbar region without neurogenic claudication.

PROCEDURE: Routine lumbar spine MRI without contrast.

COMPARISON: MRI lumbar spine 11/19/2024.

FINDINGS:

5 nonrib-bearing lumbar-type vertebrae.

Trace anterolisthesis of L3 on L4.

Minimal levoconvex curvature with mild leftward listhesis of L4 on L5.

No acute fracture. Vertebral body heights are maintained.

Probable benign intraosseous hemangioma within the L4 vertebral body.

Mild Modic type II endplate changes at L4-L5 and L5-S1.

The conus medullaris is positioned at the L1 level.

T12-L1: Small diffuse disc bulge. No spinal canal narrowing. Mild left neural foraminal narrowing. No significant interval change

L1-L2: No disc herniation. Mild facet arthrosis and ligamentum flavum thickening. No spinal canal or neural foraminal narrowing

L2-L3: Trace diffuse disc bulge. Moderate facet arthrosis and ligamentum flavum thickening. Moderate spinal

canal narrowing. Mild left neural foraminal narrowing. No significant interval change.

L3-L4: Trace anterolisthesis with uncovering of the disc and small diffuse disc bulge. Severe facet arthrosis and

ligamentum flavum thickening. Moderate spinal canal narrowing. No neural foraminal narrowing. No significant interval change

L5-S1: Left eccentric disc osteophyte complex. No spinal canal narrowing. Severe narrowing of the left lateral

recess with impingement of the descending left S1 nerve root. Severe left and mild right neural foraminal

narrowing. No significant interval change.

Paraspinal soft tissues are unremarkable.

IMPRESSION:

1. Multilevel lumbar spondylosis, not significantly changed from the prior MRI from 2024.
2. Moderate spinal canal narrowing at L2-L3 and L3-L4.
3. Severe narrowing of the right lateral recess at L4-L5, with impingement of the descending right L5 nerve root.

Moderate left and severe right neural foraminal narrowing at this level with impingement of the exiting right L4 nerve root.

4. Severe narrowing of the left lateral recess at L5-S1, with impingement of the descending left S1 nerve root.

Severe left neural foraminal narrowing at this level with impingement of the exiting right L5 nerve root.

Hey everyone! I’ve posted on here a lot over the last ~12 months so thank you all again. Wondering if anyone has experienced something similar to this:

I had a pinched nerve from herniating my L5-S1 in the gym. Tried months of PT, cortisone, etc before surgery. Didn’t work. Surgery was January 7, post-op PT started March 9, and by March 15 I was out socializing with friends etc.

Here’s the caveat: my PT plan was March 9 to May 12 going 2x/week. It was a breeze and I stuck with my home workouts from the PT (mostly core and glute work). Everything was going GREAT until April 21 when the PT had me do a squat while holding a 20lb kettlebell. I reherniated instantly.

🩻 My reherniation is worse than the first time (tingling and numbness in my left foot, weakness in my left calf and glute, inability to take a full stride/step with the left leg). Now I need to have another (non-micro) discectomy on July 10.

🏋🏻‍♂️ I’m told I can get back to lifting by the end of this year, but it would be wise for me to never do a heavy squat, deadlift, or leg press ever again. Sad, but these are adjustments I’m willing to make.

🗓️ Timeline: 9/1/24 first injury, 1/7/26 surgery, 3/9/26 PT start, 4/21/26 PT injury, 7/10/26 second surgery.

plz help me i m suffering from back injury more then 1 year last year i joined gym where i got injury disc bulges
si joint inflammation even cervical disc bulges and right now my age is 25 only i live in pain even my life stuck at one place m in so much depression went to many doctors but nothing works took injections sometimes i just start thinking to end my life
plz anyone there help me

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice because I’m quite worried.

I had a private MRI scan about 2 years ago due to ongoing neck/back pain and a history of a fall a few years before that. The main findings were in my cervical spine/neck. The report said I had a small disc protrusion/annular fissure at C4–C5 contacting the cord, and a broad-based disc bulge at C5–C6 contacting the entire anterior/front margin of the spinal cord. It also said the spinal cord itself appeared normal, the spinal canal was normal, and the thoracic/lumbar discs appeared normal.

This has basically been left untreated for a long time. I also get a lot of muscular pain and tightness around my neck and shoulders, mainly on the right side. I was previously told that surgery might possibly be an option, by a private surgeon, but until now I’ve never really had symptoms that made me think the disc bulge was affecting a nerve.

However, over the last few days I’ve started getting a dull pain/sensation running down my right arm into my ring finger. It’s not severe and it doesn’t stop me from working or doing normal day-to-day tasks, but it’s worrying me because I’m scared it could be a sign that the disc issue is getting worse or that a nerve is now being irritated.

I’m also confused about what may have triggered it. I’ve previously been told that smoking can make disc problems worse. I recently smoked quite a lot of cannabis, and the next morning I noticed this dull sensation down my arm. I don’t know if that actually caused anything, or whether I may have just slept awkwardly because I was very sleepy and didn’t notice I was in a bad position. It could be a coincidence, but the timing has made me anxious.

It’s been about 5 days now. I can’t say it’s clearly getting worse, but it also hasn’t fully gone away.

I’m in the UK and I’m not sure how much help I’ll get from my GP. Last time I complained about back pain, I felt like I wasn’t really taken seriously, so I ended up paying privately for the MRI. When I showed the findings to my GP, I was basically told I’d need to continue privately because I arranged the scan myself, which was frustrating.

At the moment I’m trying some gentle exercises and hoping it settles, but I don’t want to make anything worse.

Has anyone had similar symptoms with a cervical disc bulge? Does pain going into the ring finger sound like possible nerve irritation? What would you suggest I do next — GP, physio, private specialist, or A&E if symptoms change?

I know Reddit can’t diagnose me, but I’d really appreciate any advice on what route to take and what warning signs I should look out for.

Thanks.

Can i fix it without surgery?

Has anyone had a full 100% recovery with an L5 S1 bulging disc that went on for over 12 months? I’m currently at 9 months and about to start physical therapy. Just wondering as a lot of people have said if you get to 12 months and not fully recovered should consider surgery or is more likely permanent damage.

They usually consider should heal within 6 months but partly has been my fault as I have made it flare a few times and caused a set back. Is there anyone out there who’s actually got back to 100% full recovery and can do all normal things like running, lifting weights at the gym but has taken over 12 months to deal with?

35M, I run a non-profit animal rescue and have had back pain for several years from frequently lifting heavy things and not really having the strength for it - last Tuesday felt the POP putting on a sock and spent an hour on the floor as I couldn’t move without excruciating pain.

Took a bunch of pain meds and got an appt with the Doc the next morning - started me on 500mg Aleve 2x/day, gabapentin, and muscle relaxers. MRI on Friday confirmed herniated disc and L4-L5 bulge.

The meds take away 90% of the pain in the morning so I actually went to work on Sat/Sun and just avoided lifting anything, but by evening I’ve been in too much pain to do much.

I know I’m supposed to avoid bed rest, not lift anything, do short walks….but like, standing hurts after a few minutes like standing and doing dishes, sitting at my desk is instantly uncomfortable, sitting on the couch is uncomfortable…So if the only position that isn’t painful is laying down but I’m supposed to avoid bed rest??? I’m just not sure what to do with my entire day.

My doc wants me to do meds for 2 weeks and then if I can’t wean off of them we will start PT. I can offload the majority of my manual animal care labor, but I’m unsure if I’m supposed to be walking around work / sitting at my desk doing admin or if I should just take off work for a couple weeks - but if I do that I’ll have even less of an idea of how I’m supposed to be spending my time.

I have other health problems and a shit immune system with other conditions that cause long term inflammation so I’m terrified of this becoming a chronic thing and don’t want to mess up these early stages of recovery.

Is anyone willing to share a timeline of how much bed rest / house chores / work they did in the first month or two of recovery?

Hey guys I (27M) have a question for you. Has anyone encountered the pain getting better, but numbness getting worse?
My physical therapy thing told me I shouldn’t walk so long that I feel numbness, but I’m practically numb in my foot all the time now.
Bonus info: I started symptoms 1,5 years ago and got an MRI in march/april. It’s a herniated disc L5/S1 with some protrusion in other places. It’s absolute recess stenosis with extra on the right. I understood it so that numbness and the pain doesn’t come from the same place? Just sounds weird. The numbness started in January, pain January last year. And numbness has been increasing ever since, while the pain started getting better in march/april. I started exercising April aswell.
I feel really stuck and my entire life revolves around my back. Especially now that I can’t even walk longer than 2 minutes.
The surgeon dismissed me and sent me to a back clinic last week. Idk what to do.

Any tips or suggestions? Would be very appreciated, thank you for reading.

had an L5/S1 disc herniation that was compressing my S1 nerve, and from what I was told, it was considered a pretty bad herniation. I went to 3 different surgeons and every single one of them recommended surgery.

I decided not to go that route.
I was determined to find a physical therapist that actually understood the body beyond just treating symptoms. After about a month of searching, I found Dr. Tony, and honestly, he has helped me tremendously.

My treatment started about a year ago. In the beginning, I was seeing him around twice a month, and now I usually go about once a month for maintenance and progression.

For me, the biggest focus has been core strengthening and correcting years of imbalance in my body. I realized over time how much damage I had done from poor posture, not standing correctly, bad lifting habits, not stretching, not exercising consistently, and just lacking overall strength and structure.

A lot of my pain and pressure came from instability and compensation patterns throughout my body. Strengthening my core and learning proper movement mechanics made a huge difference in relieving pressure on my spine and nerve.
Not saying surgery is wrong for everyone, but I wanted to share my experience because I know how hopeless things can feel when multiple surgeons tell you surgery is your only option. A year later, I’m in a much better place physically than I was before.

If you read all of this I will VERY much appreciate it. I feel absolutely hopeless and like i have aged 30 years in just four weeks, It feels as though my entire life is over. The career that i am working towards may not be an optin for me if this is actually my new normal. Debating dropping out of school and figuring out a new life plan. I would greatly appreciate the harsh truth if you have any insight. MRI findings at end, story of injury first.

STORY...

Hello, had a fall over a year ago and never got any help due to not having health insurance and everyone telling me that daily back pain and tingling is normal at my age. I am now 32. I regret listening to that advice lol. And now that I do have health insurance, it didnt cover one dollar of my full spinal MRI that i got this week, anyways. Anyways, here I am starting my recovery journey a year and three months after my first initial traumatic fall from about a foot and a half off the ground, fully suspended in the air, landing on my hips and forearms. Immediate neck and lower back pain, followed by a very rough 3 ish months of pain and high blood pressure. I work on heavy machinery on uneven ground 10 hours a day for the last year, i fell off a machine is how th initial injury happened. I have had daily tingling in my mid/upper back since this fall as well as the sudden inability to arch my back (cow pose, not cat, not sure if that is "arching") fully as i have for 30 years easily. I have stopped lots of my daily stretches because of this injury.

Because the injury seemed to get better with time, I ignored getting further help. I assumed the tingling and inability to fully move my back freely was just a new normal for the rest of my life. I started going to the gym and joined a sport team (logger sports- chopping and saw, lots of bending at the hips, swinging axes, some twisting- although not nearly as much twisting or bending as my job). My back seemed to get suddenly so much better. The tingling became much less, i felt more confident in my back, and only had noticeable back pain from one practice and it lasted just an hour or two after pushing past my comfortable limit. I have not had any issues sitting for long periods of time. Standing for long periods of time has caused some pain, but I also have done 16 mile day hikes after this injury with zero back pain. I went ona backpacking trips carrying a 50 pound backpack 8 miles a day and had no issues. I am a skier, i go to the gym, i am an avid hiker in the summer, i have slept on the ground and in cars since this injury and nothing has made it "flare up" until now.

This brings me to now. About a month ago we had a logger sports competition. I went through a breakup and unfortunately suddenly stopped going to the gym about 3 weeks before this competition. I couldn't really list all of the physical activities i did this week, because it would be very long. The events themselves are not long, my longest event was about 2 minutes, and I only had 6 events total. These events I had been doing twice weekly, some of them multiple times a day, for about 10 months leading up to this. Like i said above, back pain lessened and tingling lessened drastically after joining this team and going to the gym, as well as confidence in my back strength went up. It was a very active and inactive week, ending with two 16 hours car rides. It did not feel like an especially active week for me, just my normal, and there were no "moments" of perceived injury or worry that something had "happened". Instead, I had a feeling i pulled something on the inside of my left leg as it had pain and felt like muscle pain. I assumed it would go away with stretching.

it got gradually worse over the course of 7 days until I could almost not be able to walk for three days. Then that pain went down and the tingling in all arms, hands, legs, and feet started. Then severe hip pain, that I have never experienced before. I barely stubbed my toe at work and that almost brought me to the ground with how much pain i felt in my hipe from tapping my big toe. As well as a painless cracking sound coming from my lumbar area. I am on heavy machinery all day long, so this cracking noise was happening basically constantly for the duration of my shifts. I also need to twist a full 180 degrees to see the feed that comes out of the trailer, and i estimated that i am in a full twist about 50 times a day, on just one side, for about 3 minutes each.

The pain now is less but it is not fully constant, where there are no moments without pain, although it is much less. The pain is now in my neck, lumbar, mid left back between shoulder blade and spine, and sometimes in my left hip depending on position. I have fully lost trust in my back and feel as though it is not functional, it feels like it could just break into two different pieces.

I am starting PT next week. I had 7 appointments with a chiropractor who did 4 adjustments on my lumbar area before i got the MRI, and she also "cracked" my mid spine. I very much regret seeing her now. I have never cracked my back in my life unless accidentally and i have never had pain in my mid back until after one of the appointments with her. I have completely stopped logger sports and going to the gym. I am going to yoga once a week, and continue to work full time on the farm. I am planning on having a new job by the autumn.

is this too late? Am i permanently damaged and ruined at age 32 from a fall that only took 2 seconds to happen?

thanks for anyone who is reading this or has any insight :'(

MRI RESULTS:

L SPINE:

1. There is T1 hypointense line through the left sacral ala with pronounced edema type signal intensity. There is no displacement. Surrounding tissues appear within normal limits. There is associated enhancement. 

2. L3/L4: Mild disc protrusion with annular fissure. No significant canal or neural foraminal narrowing. 

3. L4/L5: Small central disc protrusion with annular fissure. Mild facet arthropathy. Mild neural foraminal and canal narrowing. 

4. L5/S1: Shallow central protrusion with annular fissure. No significant canal or neural foraminal narrowing.

 

T SPINE

DISCS: Disc spaces are relatively well preserved. Shallow disc protrusions. T9-T10, T8-9, T7-8, asymmetric to the right. 

C SPINE

5. C3/C4: Mild right sided facet arthropathy with mild right neural foraminal narrowing. No canal stenosis. 

6. C5/C6: Minimal disc bulging. No neural foraminal or canal stenosis. 

7. C6/C7: Minimal disc bulging. No neural foraminal or canal stenosis.