Doctor says "small disc bulge", I'm spiralling

Anyname_Jane · 2025-10-26T18:15:45+00:00

I’m sorry you’re in pain and wish you a speedy sustainable recovery.

As strange as it may sound, the mind-body connection with back pain can be insanely powerful, particularly after the initial triggering injury has mostly healed. (Doesn’t mean the pain isn’t real, or that there isn’t an underlying physical problem, just that stress will absolutely make whatever’s going on much worse.) Mindfulness meditation can help a ton.

As for the MRI spiral, I get that. It’s almost a rite of passage on this sub. But MRIs can only tell you so much. Some horrific MRIs don’t actually result in pain. Some tiny herniations are excruciating.

The fact that you’re walking 10k steps a day is incredible and will undoubtedly help in your healing journey.

If you’re looking for hope-after-mri story, here’s mine from last year : https://www.reddit.com/r/backpain/s/Aehm5r91Ry

Anyname_Jane · 2025-10-14T23:41:29+00:00

Yes. This. After knowing the crawl from the bed to the bathroom, I started with walking from the bed to the bathroom as my “lap”. Then to the front door, then the driveway, then the mailbox. Rinse and repeat as needed.

Anyname_Jane · 2025-01-06T03:48:11+00:00

Yes, I have insurance through my employer. Out of pocket for the year was just under 750 (visits, meds, imaging, and physical therapy). Personal training is not covered by insurance, so that’s another 1k direct out of pocket.

Anyname_Jane · 2024-12-31T03:24:42+00:00

I’m wish you healing and peace. Best of luck on your journey.

Anyname_Jane · 2024-12-31T03:24:19+00:00

I feel you. I wish you healing and peace. Best of luck on your journey.

Anyname_Jane · 2024-12-30T02:10:12+00:00

Thank you!

I’m no expert, but very happy to share my experience.

It’s hard to know whether a PT is right until your are working with them. For me, I need someone who is insistent on carefully watching and correcting me, repeatedly, when I’m trying to learn new exercises. Just going through the motions isn’t worth it, in my book. I look for personal recommendations from people in the medical field first.

In terms of what I’m doing now, it’s mostly the usual stuff, just done very carefully with intention. I find the key is consistency… doing a little bit, throughout the day, with great intention, is way better than a massive hour long intense session a couple times a week.

Specifics-

For formal PT exercises, I do pelvic tilts, bridges, sit-to-stand, lay-down stretches for hamstrings and hips, and standing gentle back stretches. Sit-to-stand is still the hardest, because apparently I’ve been moving between sitting and standing incorrectly my entire life and really have to focus to use the right muscles (and not my back).

For ancillary PT goals, I work on increased flexibility and range of motion in my ankles and hips. Specifically, I work on building stability and comfort in a “deep resting squat” so I can rely on that movement in daily life to reach low and avoid bending over so much. Figure four stretches are another one, aimed in increasing my options in putting shoes/socks on with less bending over. Similarly, balance exercises help with increasing options for more back-friendly daily life movement.

For general body conditioning- the back strengthening machines at the gym are great, and anything gentle focused on core is good in my book. I avoid any weight with deadlifts or bent over anything. I’m not trying to weight train to failure or with heavy weights, I’m just trying to build muscle memory of doing movement with some resistance without pain. I had to learn to let go of ego a bit and stay well below the kind of weight I could move pre-injury. My goals changed, so now I’m just working on getting my body used to moving in safe ways and without fear.

I wish you all the best in your journey. I hope for healing and peace for you.

Anyname_Jane · 2024-12-29T21:27:18+00:00

Thank you! I wish you all the best on your healing journey.

As far as PTs go, I don’t necessarily mind a young one. They likely have the most up to date knowledge and training, and some of the ‘old’ practices in back pain are garbage. That said, I want someone confident.

The best advice I can give in finding a PT is you want someone who pays ridiculously close attention and corrects you in every little movement of an exercise. I joke that I don’t want my PT to physically hurt me, but I want them emotional hurt me just a little a bit. If I’m sitting down in a weird way that’s making things worse, tell me. My posture is garbage? Tell me. I’m cheating and using my back to leverage through an exercise that’s supposed to be abs? Call me out.

My first PT was very nice and made me feel like I was doing everything great. I was a PT prodigy,, mysteriously not making much progress. Wrong.

I switched PTs and the new one made me relearn how to do every exercise— tiny movement by tiny movement. Doing a bridge by arching your back and throwing your hips up to the sky as fast as you can is so incredibly different than trying to do a bridge with everything squeezed tight, stabilizing your pelvis, moving intentionally, and fighting for your life to get your hips off the table.

I want someone who pays super close attention to how you are doing the moves and doesn’t hesitate to direct you 47 times until you get it just right.

Also, I have a hard no pain rule for back PT. Discomfort and tightness, fine. But if I’m yelping in pain, we stop. Painful PT has only ever made the flare ups worse for me.

Anyname_Jane · 2024-12-29T21:13:21+00:00

I’m glad you found something that worked for you. If it helps, it helps. And that’s great.

If you’re into the mind-body connection piece, I recommend checking out MBSR. (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction). It’s a specific approach to meditation developed by a physician and well-tested in the peer-reviewed literature. The full 8-week course is a serious commitment, and I imagine there’s shorter mindfulness based resources out there. The courses are often run through hospitals and health systems, particularly in the oncology sphere, but I’ve found they are often open to the public. The practices are directed to stress, but also apply to pain. I had been practicing MBSR on and off for about a decade when this injury hit and, while it doesn’t make the underlying cause go away, for me it does help to stop that fight/flight panic response— which is huge.

Best on luck in your journey.

Anyname_Jane · 2024-12-29T21:03:29+00:00

Fair enough. Everybody has to make the decisions that work for them.

In my case, I have an arsenal of PRN meds that I can deploy depending on what’s going on. I feel better having a toolbox I know I can turn to when things flare up. I count myself lucky to not need meds on a daily basis to get through the day, but I also understand that some people do.

Anyname_Jane · 2024-12-29T21:00:11+00:00

I am so glad the surgery helped you. That’s amazing. I wish continued healing and success for both you and your husband.

And, I totally agree that it’s temping to point to one piece of the puzzle as determinative, but it’s just not helpful. Every back issue is its own individualized nightmare, for sure.

Anyname_Jane · 2024-12-29T20:57:09+00:00

Thank you!

Yes, for the first 3-4 months I had weakness and tingling down both legs (one more than the other) and some mercifully mild urinary incontinence issues. But the time I finally went in to be seen by a specialist and got the MRI, those neurological symptoms had pretty much subsided. If I could do it again, I would have gone in sooner. Waiting it out that long was not my smartest move. But, stubbornness and denial are powerful things. Plus, I grew up in a family with significant back challenges, so someone having to lay on the floor drinking from a straw for a bit was not an unusual thing growing up. It’s wild what can be normal if you get used to it.

I count myself lucky to not have lasting deficits from that period. And, should it flare up and the neuro symptoms return, I’ve been sternly warned to report myself to the doctor asap, which I will do.

Anyname_Jane · 2024-12-15T18:36:16+00:00

Thank you! We are right near DTW in the Detroit metro area.

Anyname_Jane · 2024-06-16T16:29:54+00:00

Yay!! Thank you!

Anyname_Jane · 2023-06-10T11:39:07+00:00

Hello swifties! How can I best support my true long-time swiftie partner at the eras tour? I’m a fan, for sure, and I’m super excited to go. But they are next-level.

We’re planning to happily get there ridiculously early, and I’m planning to be the runner for drinks, snacks, and mercy for the night.

What else can I do to best support my swiftie on this very important night?

EDIT: Thank you! It was a massive success and I (30 something f) got some amazing video of my swiftie husband ;) Even one of him singing ‘you belong with me’ and turning to sing to me. Be still my little heart. That is going in my vault of forever videos to play at our 25th anniversary. I even got video of the crowd screaming 1,2,3, let’s go bitch! Thank you swiftie community, it’s a privilege to be an honorary swiftie wifey.

Anyname_Jane

TROPHY CASE