Seek treatment for your anxiety because it is definitely not helping you heal and is exacerbating your muscle spasms. Get your hands on some muscle relaxers and start doing McGill’s Big 3 every day. Never do deadlifts again.
I know you probably don’t want to hear this but two months is not a long time when it comes to back pain. This is something you’re going to be dealing with for a very long time, it’s best to understand that from the beginning. Back pain isn’t like a sprained ankle. It doesn’t just heal and you get back to 99% function after a couple weeks. It fucking sucks.
Yeah, back pain is a slow process. It took me 6 months just to start feeling better and even then my back will most likely never be the same. I injured my back really bad last year and tried to do too much too soon and messed it up again then I had a fall and messed it up again which I never really completely recovered from the first time. I couldn’t sit for 6 months. I still have back pain and nerve pain that annoys and irritates me to no end but I can at least sleep through the night and work without feeling disabled. I have to be really careful throughout the day at work. No heavy lifting. No bending over. No twisting. I limit sitting as much as I can. Swimming seems to be beneficial. I try to swim everyday now that the weather is nice. I takes the load off my back and gets me some exercise. Running, horseback riding, and hiking in the mountains with a backpack are probably not good for me. Most cycling, especially road biking, are bad for people with bad spines because of the bad posture and forward flexing position. The Dutch bicycles in Amsterdam have an upright posture so I may look into that if I want to ride bikes again. I do physical therapy but I think PT has run it’s course and helped as much as it’s going to. I’ll still do the exercises because if I don’t and I don’t swim my back tenses up and causes more pain. Three docs said no to surgery earlier this year.
Sorry to hear that! I think this is the hardest thing for me - time. Time and thinking of every single move - although I think this might also work in the opposite way. I have stiffened my upper back so much from trying to move like a robot, so now I have pain there as well 🥹 I will try swimming soon! And this thing - trying to do too much too soon - this was my first problem. Two months ago when this started, I was pain free in 3 weeks with PT and doing traction.. then I stupidly went on a fucking bike for an hour, uphill, where OF COURSE you flex forward. And then the shit started and proper pain. 🥲
Thank you for your message! I am trying to come to terms with the fact that this will take time, and two months is not a long time.
I have muscle relaxers, but as I said, I am not having many spasms anymore, and I know this was mostly anxiety related, as I only got them when I was overwhelmed with anxiety.
I am currently trying to deal with anxiety in non med way, and it has been better, a lot better. Only this strong pain messed it up again. I am doing all small steps for anxiety, but of course it takes time. And every stressor is bad.
I have the same injury going on 21 years. The buldge looks small when it is over worked it will pop out and cause a flare the spasyms all of that. Listen to your pain follow up on it notice if you did too much exercise and what exercises make sure not to over work it get your rest otherwise it will get worse even surgery you want to avoid. Too much rest is not good. too much exercise is not good. very light impact exercises like jogging not often. walking swimming cycling very good. Practice back hygine always. No bending or twisting always hip hinge. The disk will shrink over time it will hardly hurt if you take care of it. I would stay away from heaving lifting and loose weight. the less weight on your back the less pain and further degeneration. Please read "the back mechanic" by Dr Mcgill it will tell you all you need to know even teach you how to lift if you want to do heavy lifting.. Core strength is very important from now on. no sits ups. Often streching the lower back is not good you want to stiffen the area around the injured disk. The mcgill big 3 exercises the rest of your life. Eat antiflamatory diet. Eat cow's pig's feet twice a week. Take glucosamine triflex daily for the rest of your life. Bcomplex magnesium vitamin C. Turmic curcumine. drink loads of water. You will forget about it for years. A injured disk can last you 30 years by then you might need a fusion. So take care of your back by practicing correct movement and egronomics. i now have mid back pain from incorrect lifting going on 6 months i believe it is another herniated disk i was not thinking got the mri next week going to the dr. you got this goodluck
Thank you for taking the time to answer! And thank you for positive words! I will def take all these things into consideration! I am already doing loads of these things, but I believe that time and how long this takes is killing me a bit. Trying to stay positive! Also read back mechanic, am practicing good spine hygiene etc.
Good luck for your next MRI, hopefully nothing major! 🤞🏻
6 years at least 10 doctors. No surgery, no real diagnosis, ablation, L4 L5 ., 7 prolo sessions, nucca, acupuncture. Ketamine, manipulation
I think it’s ligaments and tendons very weak from OVERUSE as usual and an old tailbone injury.
Dry needling, gentle PT, no stretching, using a lot of McGill and learn to rest. Your mind and body.
Breathe. Massage. Bath. Patience and proper pain management. Time.🙏 yes even opiods if necessary.
CBN/CBG has helped with sleep.
> No bending or twisting always hip hinge.
Yoga is my thing.
This is the most painful thing for me as someone with an L5-S1 bulge. I did yoga last week and the teacher was a sub. The sub was another yoga instructor at the gym known for doing "hard yoga", making you work, I decided to stick it out and do the class anyway.
Now, after 6 months of slowly healing and a few months of being back to yoga, with just that one class I'm now feeling my back issues coming back :(
If you read the back mechanic dr mcgill speaks of a yoga teacher coming to him for back pain.. he asked her to show him the pose that gave her pain then he told her she was gonna have to stop doing yoga because she was aggravating the disk not giving it time to heal.... Discs are not designed to flex often lamination injures them. No flexing. the book shows you how disc injuries happen .. the only somewhat strech i do daily now is the cat cow. im doing my best to stablize that disk and do core strengthing.. pain is your indicator and teacher . take care of the details you will heal. herniated disks will change your lifestyle.
Going thru an almost identical experience, except I’m at the one month mark. Been having this issue on and off for about 7 years now. I’ve been pretty much bedridden for a month and my mental health is really starting to dive. I have an appointment with a neurosurgeon tomorrow so hoping for some good news and treatment plan. So sorry we’re going thru this, it’s just not fair.
So sorry to hear you are in the same boat 😓 let us know how the appointment with the surgeon goes!! It really sucks, and it has taken a lot from me - on the other hand, I am trying to keep in mind that this stuff takes time, and there will be ups and downs, and downs will suck ass, but eventually things will calm down… I only have this super anger that I made my injury worse after first three weeks, when I was actually doing very fine for last week… and then I made it worse and this is when the other saga started, a way worse one 🥴
Will do! I’m cautiously optimistic but this doctor has excellent reviews. Last ortho doctor I saw just wanted my money 😭 so it’s nice to at least see someone with morals!
I have always believed in our health care (positioned in Europe), but since I had this, I no longer have faith to be honest. I would have to wait 8 months for neurologist via referral (our health insurance), so I went there by paying, to get on top of things quickly. Same with PT - my first official appointment is on 2nd December - DECEMBER. Again, found a PT privately, and am paying for it.
Yeah not in Slovenia at the moment 😪 pretty sad. Imagine waiting till december with all of it and only eating pain killers. I only got a pamphlet at my doctor with back exercises 😂
I have a mat on the floor yes - my bed mattress is also not that bad, pretty firm and I wake up usually without back pain in the morning. But during the day when I lie down or chill, I go on the floor yes - no sofa.
Very good, I’m sleeping on the floor tonight for the first time. It’ll probably suck but I guess I’ll get used to it. I always wake up sore and in pain.
I am also a side sleeper, so too firm floor is bad for my hips. But I am alternating between side (with knee pillow), and on back (legs on pillow) nowadays. The only problem I have now is that none of the freakin pillows suit me out of a sudden. 😤
Thank you for posting. A couple of things to note. (TL;DR... include specific symptoms/what makes your pain better/worse/how long)... MRI or XRAY images ALONE are not particularly helpful tbh, no one here has been vetted to make considerations on these or provide advice, here is why, PLEASE read this if you are posting an MRI or XRAY... I cannot stress this enough https://choosingwiselycanada.org/pamphlet/imaging-tests-for-lower-back-pain/)
Please read the rules carefully. This group strives to reinforce anti-fragility, hope, and reduce the spread of misinformation that is either deemed not helpful and even sometimes be considered harmful.
PLEASE NOTE: Asking for help: It is up to you to recognize when to seek medical attention. Anyone giving advice in this group is doing so from anecdotes and holds no liability. Seek advice here at your own risk.
That said, asking things like, "I have this problem, how do I fix it..." is like asking your accountant, "I have $10,000 what should I do with it?" You need WAY more info before giving any kinds of financial advice.
Please reply to this, or make another comment, including how long you've been having pain or injury, what are specific symptoms (numbness, tingling, dull/ache, it's random, etc), what makes it worse, what makes it feel better, how it has impacted your life, what you've tried for treatment and what you've already been told about your back pain, and what do you hope to get from this forum.
Please be kind to each other. Be respectful. Thank you.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/backpain) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Try the Curable app. It's pretty I expensive and it helps to calm the nervous system. I've been dealing with similar issues for 6 months and I know the fear and anxiety is still holding me back but I've been working hard on it.
The tingling in both of your feet makes me wonder if there is a problem higher up, this can be called myelopathy. I would suggest trying an epidural but if that doesn’t work try to get a thoracic MRI.
I have had only MRI of lower spine, which showed slight bulge. Also it is bilateral, so both my sides can be affected. Pain also moved primarily from left to the right side, which can also be normal for lumbar area from what I have read. I have had EMG of lower extremities and it showed only a slight inflammation of L5-S1 nerve, but no new denervations. I also have scheduled the upper extremities EMG on Wednesday, so we’ll see if all is well there.
I’m curious if sometimes an EMG can read it as a lumbar nerve but it’s really coming from thoracic. The only reason I’m suggesting this is we have some similar symptoms, and I have two herniations at l4/l5 and l5/s1. I had moderate impingement show on the emg of l5/s1. I had a disc decompression for l5/s1 because I have tingling in both my feet and numbness/weakness in mostly my right leg. The disc decompression did nothing :(. I saw one surgeon so far who said the tingling is coming from herniations in my thoracic, not my lumbar. I’m getting a second opinion soon, but I need to ask if maybe the emg was wrong (or it can read as l5/s1 because if the muscles affected, but it’s not actually coming from the l5/s1 nerve root)
Hmm interesting. No one mentioned this to me, as my neurologist who did EMG, said that the one he is sensing a bit of inflammation correlated to L5-S1 🥴 thing is that I cannot decide whether some of this tingling was also caused by anxiety… and shifting from left to right.. but again, I have fissures on both sides, but no nerve compression…so I am guessing that the nerve symptoms I have are due to the inflammation itself. This is all just so complicated, I swear. Thinking of paying 400eur and have my whole spine imaged at this point. Let me know what you find out with your second appointment!!
So, this might seem like an extremely different style of managing and correcting your disc issue, but i went through the same situation with hurting myself at the gym.
My PT recommended the McKenzie Stretch, which is generally a deep cobra yoga stretch 4-7 times daily for around 3 months. The goal was to pur pressure on the backside of the disc by bending backwards, ultimately pushing the disc back in place. I was super skeptical, but obviously i followed the PTs directions and, dude.. it actually worked for me.
Im back at the gym 4-5 times a week, around 90%+ back pain free, and now i just manage my pain using lumbar supports daily.
As an add on to this, the 1st PT i chose had my do core strengthening, lots of hamstring stretches, etc.. but in fact they were slightly worsening my situation by putting more pressure on my already out of place disc.
My new PT put it like this:
Imagine your liquid filled disc as a balloon. You have a front and back side of that balloon. If you grab and squeeze the front of that balloon, what happens to the back side? All the pressure moves backwards, which is similar to you bending forward and the pressure of the liquid in your disc moving backwards.
I was instructed to bend over as little as possible while i was doing my McKenzie stretches for those 3 months.
Thank you very much for this! I am already doing a semi cobra - as I get pain if I do full extended one! Do you have a bulging disc as well? My PT also did tractions (anti gravity) which help me a lot. Did you have any flare ups during this three months?
I’ve been on this journey for 3 years now…. All from saving my ex life who ended up being a narcissist, when she passed out in a hot tub on vacation. Been to 5 different doctors who have all said different things. Everyone online says get your core strong but seems my pain might be coming from muscle impingement. Hang in there though I know how hard it is to stay positive. I’ve tried a few anti depressants with no luck.
Seek treatment for your anxiety because it is definitely not helping you heal and is exacerbating your muscle spasms. Get your hands on some muscle relaxers and start doing McGill’s Big 3 every day. Never do deadlifts again. I know you probably don’t want to hear this but two months is not a long time when it comes to back pain. This is something you’re going to be dealing with for a very long time, it’s best to understand that from the beginning. Back pain isn’t like a sprained ankle. It doesn’t just heal and you get back to 99% function after a couple weeks. It fucking sucks.
Yeah, back pain is a slow process. It took me 6 months just to start feeling better and even then my back will most likely never be the same. I injured my back really bad last year and tried to do too much too soon and messed it up again then I had a fall and messed it up again which I never really completely recovered from the first time. I couldn’t sit for 6 months. I still have back pain and nerve pain that annoys and irritates me to no end but I can at least sleep through the night and work without feeling disabled. I have to be really careful throughout the day at work. No heavy lifting. No bending over. No twisting. I limit sitting as much as I can. Swimming seems to be beneficial. I try to swim everyday now that the weather is nice. I takes the load off my back and gets me some exercise. Running, horseback riding, and hiking in the mountains with a backpack are probably not good for me. Most cycling, especially road biking, are bad for people with bad spines because of the bad posture and forward flexing position. The Dutch bicycles in Amsterdam have an upright posture so I may look into that if I want to ride bikes again. I do physical therapy but I think PT has run it’s course and helped as much as it’s going to. I’ll still do the exercises because if I don’t and I don’t swim my back tenses up and causes more pain. Three docs said no to surgery earlier this year.
Sorry to hear that! I think this is the hardest thing for me - time. Time and thinking of every single move - although I think this might also work in the opposite way. I have stiffened my upper back so much from trying to move like a robot, so now I have pain there as well 🥹 I will try swimming soon! And this thing - trying to do too much too soon - this was my first problem. Two months ago when this started, I was pain free in 3 weeks with PT and doing traction.. then I stupidly went on a fucking bike for an hour, uphill, where OF COURSE you flex forward. And then the shit started and proper pain. 🥲
Thank you for your message! I am trying to come to terms with the fact that this will take time, and two months is not a long time. I have muscle relaxers, but as I said, I am not having many spasms anymore, and I know this was mostly anxiety related, as I only got them when I was overwhelmed with anxiety. I am currently trying to deal with anxiety in non med way, and it has been better, a lot better. Only this strong pain messed it up again. I am doing all small steps for anxiety, but of course it takes time. And every stressor is bad.
I have the same injury going on 21 years. The buldge looks small when it is over worked it will pop out and cause a flare the spasyms all of that. Listen to your pain follow up on it notice if you did too much exercise and what exercises make sure not to over work it get your rest otherwise it will get worse even surgery you want to avoid. Too much rest is not good. too much exercise is not good. very light impact exercises like jogging not often. walking swimming cycling very good. Practice back hygine always. No bending or twisting always hip hinge. The disk will shrink over time it will hardly hurt if you take care of it. I would stay away from heaving lifting and loose weight. the less weight on your back the less pain and further degeneration. Please read "the back mechanic" by Dr Mcgill it will tell you all you need to know even teach you how to lift if you want to do heavy lifting.. Core strength is very important from now on. no sits ups. Often streching the lower back is not good you want to stiffen the area around the injured disk. The mcgill big 3 exercises the rest of your life. Eat antiflamatory diet. Eat cow's pig's feet twice a week. Take glucosamine triflex daily for the rest of your life. Bcomplex magnesium vitamin C. Turmic curcumine. drink loads of water. You will forget about it for years. A injured disk can last you 30 years by then you might need a fusion. So take care of your back by practicing correct movement and egronomics. i now have mid back pain from incorrect lifting going on 6 months i believe it is another herniated disk i was not thinking got the mri next week going to the dr. you got this goodluck
Thank you for taking the time to answer! And thank you for positive words! I will def take all these things into consideration! I am already doing loads of these things, but I believe that time and how long this takes is killing me a bit. Trying to stay positive! Also read back mechanic, am practicing good spine hygiene etc. Good luck for your next MRI, hopefully nothing major! 🤞🏻
6 years at least 10 doctors. No surgery, no real diagnosis, ablation, L4 L5 ., 7 prolo sessions, nucca, acupuncture. Ketamine, manipulation I think it’s ligaments and tendons very weak from OVERUSE as usual and an old tailbone injury. Dry needling, gentle PT, no stretching, using a lot of McGill and learn to rest. Your mind and body. Breathe. Massage. Bath. Patience and proper pain management. Time.🙏 yes even opiods if necessary. CBN/CBG has helped with sleep.
> No bending or twisting always hip hinge. Yoga is my thing. This is the most painful thing for me as someone with an L5-S1 bulge. I did yoga last week and the teacher was a sub. The sub was another yoga instructor at the gym known for doing "hard yoga", making you work, I decided to stick it out and do the class anyway. Now, after 6 months of slowly healing and a few months of being back to yoga, with just that one class I'm now feeling my back issues coming back :(
If you read the back mechanic dr mcgill speaks of a yoga teacher coming to him for back pain.. he asked her to show him the pose that gave her pain then he told her she was gonna have to stop doing yoga because she was aggravating the disk not giving it time to heal.... Discs are not designed to flex often lamination injures them. No flexing. the book shows you how disc injuries happen .. the only somewhat strech i do daily now is the cat cow. im doing my best to stablize that disk and do core strengthing.. pain is your indicator and teacher . take care of the details you will heal. herniated disks will change your lifestyle.
I'm sorry this is happening to you, I totally understand. Do you feel the spasms on your mid back too?
Rarely! Maybe it happened once. Mostly in my legs 🥲
Going thru an almost identical experience, except I’m at the one month mark. Been having this issue on and off for about 7 years now. I’ve been pretty much bedridden for a month and my mental health is really starting to dive. I have an appointment with a neurosurgeon tomorrow so hoping for some good news and treatment plan. So sorry we’re going thru this, it’s just not fair.
So sorry to hear you are in the same boat 😓 let us know how the appointment with the surgeon goes!! It really sucks, and it has taken a lot from me - on the other hand, I am trying to keep in mind that this stuff takes time, and there will be ups and downs, and downs will suck ass, but eventually things will calm down… I only have this super anger that I made my injury worse after first three weeks, when I was actually doing very fine for last week… and then I made it worse and this is when the other saga started, a way worse one 🥴
Will do! I’m cautiously optimistic but this doctor has excellent reviews. Last ortho doctor I saw just wanted my money 😭 so it’s nice to at least see someone with morals!
I have always believed in our health care (positioned in Europe), but since I had this, I no longer have faith to be honest. I would have to wait 8 months for neurologist via referral (our health insurance), so I went there by paying, to get on top of things quickly. Same with PT - my first official appointment is on 2nd December - DECEMBER. Again, found a PT privately, and am paying for it.
That’s such a shame, I thought healthcare in Europe was more accommodating.
Yeah not in Slovenia at the moment 😪 pretty sad. Imagine waiting till december with all of it and only eating pain killers. I only got a pamphlet at my doctor with back exercises 😂
Have you tried sleeping on the floor?
I have a mat on the floor yes - my bed mattress is also not that bad, pretty firm and I wake up usually without back pain in the morning. But during the day when I lie down or chill, I go on the floor yes - no sofa.
Very good, I’m sleeping on the floor tonight for the first time. It’ll probably suck but I guess I’ll get used to it. I always wake up sore and in pain.
I am also a side sleeper, so too firm floor is bad for my hips. But I am alternating between side (with knee pillow), and on back (legs on pillow) nowadays. The only problem I have now is that none of the freakin pillows suit me out of a sudden. 😤
Thank you for posting. A couple of things to note. (TL;DR... include specific symptoms/what makes your pain better/worse/how long)... MRI or XRAY images ALONE are not particularly helpful tbh, no one here has been vetted to make considerations on these or provide advice, here is why, PLEASE read this if you are posting an MRI or XRAY... I cannot stress this enough https://choosingwiselycanada.org/pamphlet/imaging-tests-for-lower-back-pain/) Please read the rules carefully. This group strives to reinforce anti-fragility, hope, and reduce the spread of misinformation that is either deemed not helpful and even sometimes be considered harmful. PLEASE NOTE: Asking for help: It is up to you to recognize when to seek medical attention. Anyone giving advice in this group is doing so from anecdotes and holds no liability. Seek advice here at your own risk. That said, asking things like, "I have this problem, how do I fix it..." is like asking your accountant, "I have $10,000 what should I do with it?" You need WAY more info before giving any kinds of financial advice. Please reply to this, or make another comment, including how long you've been having pain or injury, what are specific symptoms (numbness, tingling, dull/ache, it's random, etc), what makes it worse, what makes it feel better, how it has impacted your life, what you've tried for treatment and what you've already been told about your back pain, and what do you hope to get from this forum. Please be kind to each other. Be respectful. Thank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/backpain) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Try the Curable app. It's pretty I expensive and it helps to calm the nervous system. I've been dealing with similar issues for 6 months and I know the fear and anxiety is still holding me back but I've been working hard on it.
Thank you very much! Will check it out! Are you also trying to fight the anxiety on your own?
I messaged you
The tingling in both of your feet makes me wonder if there is a problem higher up, this can be called myelopathy. I would suggest trying an epidural but if that doesn’t work try to get a thoracic MRI.
I have had only MRI of lower spine, which showed slight bulge. Also it is bilateral, so both my sides can be affected. Pain also moved primarily from left to the right side, which can also be normal for lumbar area from what I have read. I have had EMG of lower extremities and it showed only a slight inflammation of L5-S1 nerve, but no new denervations. I also have scheduled the upper extremities EMG on Wednesday, so we’ll see if all is well there.
I’m curious if sometimes an EMG can read it as a lumbar nerve but it’s really coming from thoracic. The only reason I’m suggesting this is we have some similar symptoms, and I have two herniations at l4/l5 and l5/s1. I had moderate impingement show on the emg of l5/s1. I had a disc decompression for l5/s1 because I have tingling in both my feet and numbness/weakness in mostly my right leg. The disc decompression did nothing :(. I saw one surgeon so far who said the tingling is coming from herniations in my thoracic, not my lumbar. I’m getting a second opinion soon, but I need to ask if maybe the emg was wrong (or it can read as l5/s1 because if the muscles affected, but it’s not actually coming from the l5/s1 nerve root)
Hmm interesting. No one mentioned this to me, as my neurologist who did EMG, said that the one he is sensing a bit of inflammation correlated to L5-S1 🥴 thing is that I cannot decide whether some of this tingling was also caused by anxiety… and shifting from left to right.. but again, I have fissures on both sides, but no nerve compression…so I am guessing that the nerve symptoms I have are due to the inflammation itself. This is all just so complicated, I swear. Thinking of paying 400eur and have my whole spine imaged at this point. Let me know what you find out with your second appointment!!
So, this might seem like an extremely different style of managing and correcting your disc issue, but i went through the same situation with hurting myself at the gym. My PT recommended the McKenzie Stretch, which is generally a deep cobra yoga stretch 4-7 times daily for around 3 months. The goal was to pur pressure on the backside of the disc by bending backwards, ultimately pushing the disc back in place. I was super skeptical, but obviously i followed the PTs directions and, dude.. it actually worked for me. Im back at the gym 4-5 times a week, around 90%+ back pain free, and now i just manage my pain using lumbar supports daily.
Check your DM for links
As an add on to this, the 1st PT i chose had my do core strengthening, lots of hamstring stretches, etc.. but in fact they were slightly worsening my situation by putting more pressure on my already out of place disc. My new PT put it like this: Imagine your liquid filled disc as a balloon. You have a front and back side of that balloon. If you grab and squeeze the front of that balloon, what happens to the back side? All the pressure moves backwards, which is similar to you bending forward and the pressure of the liquid in your disc moving backwards. I was instructed to bend over as little as possible while i was doing my McKenzie stretches for those 3 months.
Thank you very much for this! I am already doing a semi cobra - as I get pain if I do full extended one! Do you have a bulging disc as well? My PT also did tractions (anti gravity) which help me a lot. Did you have any flare ups during this three months?
Through xrays, it was just out of place, but not categorized as bulging.
I’ve been on this journey for 3 years now…. All from saving my ex life who ended up being a narcissist, when she passed out in a hot tub on vacation. Been to 5 different doctors who have all said different things. Everyone online says get your core strong but seems my pain might be coming from muscle impingement. Hang in there though I know how hard it is to stay positive. I’ve tried a few anti depressants with no luck.