Herniated Disc Advice

timsnewbridge

Hi,

This is a super long story. I'll try trim it down as best as I can: I had up and down back pain for a year, saw two doctors in my local GP and a physio. I was not being taken seriously and was given anti inflammatories and a bunch of stretches and stuff, it got worse, so I basically demanded an MRI and it showed a bulging disk (L4L5) that had moderate signs of dessication. Doctor said no worry, it's common (I'm 26 nearly 27) and probably not the cause of the problem, was told to just continue with normal activity. Normal activity to me is desk work and exercise including weightlifting and running. In January of this year I started to get sciatica. Did a google and saw it was probably caused by disc issues. Did some stretches and stuff and it didn't get better. Saw my doctor in late February, anti inflammatories, said I'd be grand. Got worse. Cracked, saw a different physio, he gave me a metric ton of core strengthening to do that included one legged deadlifts, dead bugs, squats, slump neural glides, other stuff. Third day of this stuff and the pain shot through the roof. I tried seeing if it would go down with rest but it didn't, couldn't sleep etc. Was put on a bunch of meds to try get me to sleep. The worst of that pain was 5 weeks ago and it let up slightly 4 weeks ago.

I've had constant bad sciatica since (so recovering 5 weeks since the worst night). It's worst on the left side and it's on the foot, toes, heal, glute, hip and even thigh. Also have it on the right to a lesser extent, but by all means still bad: heal, thigh, hip and glute. I feel back pain occasionally and mostly when I walk but the over-riding pain is sciatica. I can't walk very far and I can't sit.

I am going to meet a neurosurgeon. I don't want surgery, not even a microdiscectomy. I don't want the shots either. I realise the microdiscectomy has a 99.6% success rate in alleviating symptoms, but I feel an aggresive conservative approach has not actually started until 5 weeks ago. I don't want the shots, as I feel they may give me a false sense of security.
I'm not against non conservative options on spooky spooky grounds. I'm not actually scared of either procedures. I'm just thinking about things practically and long term. There are plenty of times throughout the day where if you offered me a microdiscectomy I'd say YES PLEASE. But I try to think past the current pain. I've read lots of research papers using pubmed and the cochrane medical review site, so I've garnered a good understanding of the condition, the protocols, what works and what doesn't. In particular, I'm highly skeptical of the doctors and the surgeons and their incentives. I realise this is not the U.S but still, I was at a specialist last week and as soon as I mentioned going conservative he brought up nerve blocks and his friend neurosurgeon whose office is next door.

I'd like any advice and recommendations.

I eat a healthy diet, don't drink alcohol, don't smoke, don't drink coffee (for the time being but I do love it), am slim and fit, I left work to heal, I do not bend, lift anything heavy or twist, I don't sit at all at the moment and of course don't drive. I try to remain as mobile as I feel is possible without compromising healing, I try to get as much sleep as possible and even bought a better mattress, I am on gabapentin and naproxen as prescribed by my GP. I said hell no to opiods. They actually had me on them for 3 days and I didn't know what they were, they gave me hallucinagenic nightmares and withdrawl symptoms... after 3 days! I don't feel like there's any need to see a physio, they seem incredibly incompetent when it comes to disc problems and I can't imagine what exactly they'll prescribe that isn't out of date stretches or core strengthening. The latter I refuse to do until I'm nearing pain free, since I already have a very strong core. I already have worked on my posture and my bending and lifting techniques as well. And I've read reviews on what physical therapy protocols work for herniated discs (bassicaly nothing has been shown to help with the pain or recovery but plenty can halt it!).

I am not going to waste money on chiropractors or any other 'alternative' (read: not) medicine that has not stood medical trials and is possibly counter productive. This includes accupuncture for example. I self massage, for whatever good it does.

I'd like advice even if it contradicts anything I've said, Thank you!

EDIT: It should be mentioned I had full blood work done and they were excellent. We tested for auto inflammatory markers and my numbers were great. Tested for lots of stuff and basically I passed them all and had great blood count results etc. Also saw a rheumatologist who said everything was fine in the sense that I had no signs of auto inflammatory problems like ankylosing spondylitis.

Prefect_1998

I have had 2 discs herniate with 2 very different symptoms and pain and outcome.

Pm me if you need some more info

timsnewbridge wrote: »

Hi,

This is a super long story. I'll try trim it down as best as I can: I had up and down back pain for a year, saw two doctors in my local GP and a physio. I was not being taken seriously and was given anti inflammatories and a bunch of stretches and stuff, it got worse, so I basically demanded an MRI and it showed a bulging disk (L4L5) that had moderate signs of dessication. Doctor said no worry, it's common (I'm 26 nearly 27) and probably not the cause of the problem, was told to just continue with normal activity. Normal activity to me is desk work and exercise including weightlifting and running. In January of this year I started to get sciatica. Did a google and saw it was probably caused by disc issues. Did some stretches and stuff and it didn't get better. Saw my doctor in late February, anti inflammatories, said I'd be grand. Got worse. Cracked, saw a different physio, he gave me a metric ton of core strengthening to do that included one legged deadlifts, dead bugs, squats, slump neural glides, other stuff. Third day of this stuff and the pain shot through the roof. I tried seeing if it would go down with rest but it didn't, couldn't sleep etc. Was put on a bunch of meds to try get me to sleep. The worst of that pain was 5 weeks ago and it let up slightly 4 weeks ago.

I've had constant bad sciatica since (so recovering 5 weeks since the worst night). It's worst on the left side and it's on the foot, toes, heal, glute, hip and even thigh. Also have it on the right to a lesser extent, but by all means still bad: heal, thigh, hip and glute. I feel back pain occasionally and mostly when I walk but the over-riding pain is sciatica. I can't walk very far and I can't sit.

I am going to meet a neurosurgeon. I don't want surgery, not even a microdiscectomy. I don't want the shots either. I realise the microdiscectomy has a 99.6% success rate in alleviating symptoms, but I feel an aggresive conservative approach has not actually started until 5 weeks ago. I don't want the shots, as I feel they may give me a false sense of security.
I'm not against non conservative options on spooky spooky grounds. I'm not actually scared of either procedures. I'm just thinking about things practically and long term. There are plenty of times throughout the day where if you offered me a microdiscectomy I'd say YES PLEASE. But I try to think past the current pain. I've read lots of research papers using pubmed and the cochrane medical review site, so I've garnered a good understanding of the condition, the protocols, what works and what doesn't. In particular, I'm highly skeptical of the doctors and the surgeons and their incentives. I realise this is not the U.S but still, I was at a specialist last week and as soon as I mentioned going conservative he brought up nerve blocks and his friend neurosurgeon whose office is next door.

I'd like any advice and recommendations.

I eat a healthy diet, don't drink alcohol, don't smoke, don't drink coffee (for the time being but I do love it), am slim and fit, I left work to heal, I do not bend, lift anything heavy or twist, I don't sit at all at the moment and of course don't drive. I try to remain as mobile as I feel is possible without compromising healing, I try to get as much sleep as possible and even bought a better mattress, I am on gabapentin and naproxen as prescribed by my GP. I said hell no to opiods. They actually had me on them for 3 days and I didn't know what they were, they gave me hallucinagenic nightmares and withdrawl symptoms... after 3 days! I don't feel like there's any need to see a physio, they seem incredibly incompetent when it comes to disc problems and I can't imagine what exactly they'll prescribe that isn't out of date stretches or core strengthening. The latter I refuse to do until I'm nearing pain free, since I already have a very strong core. I already have worked on my posture and my bending and lifting techniques as well. And I've read reviews on what physical therapy protocols work for herniated discs (bassicaly nothing has been shown to help with the pain or recovery but plenty can halt it!).

I am not going to waste money on chiropractors or any other 'alternative' (read: not) medicine that has not stood medical trials and is possibly counter productive. This includes accupuncture for example. I self massage, for whatever good it does.

I'd like advice even if it contradicts anything I've said, Thank you!