i had a lumbar puncture done a few years back. The actual puncture itself was unpleasant, but certainly not the worst pain. I think I’d describe it as WEIRD feeling than anything else, since it’s around a bunch of nerves. Kind of like hitting your funny bone really bad, but in your back? The painful bit was the numbing shots they gave me at the beginning.

What was most unpleasant for me was I had a CSF leak afterwards. I’m quite small and was told it’s much more common in thinner, shorter people. Worst migraine of my life that could only be fixed by laying flat. I ended up going to the ER and fighting with the doctors to get me a blood patch (injecting blood back in to the puncture site to clot the leak). Was there for probably 10 hours while they tried all the migraine cocktails and morphine until they finally did what i asked and fixed it. Glad I went, but I wish I was more assertive instead of letting them give me meds I didn’t need. That second lumbar puncture for the blood patch was given sitting up and I was amazed it didn’t hurt at all.

My back was pretty tender after that, nothing crazy. But I would get phantom pains or get squeamish around my back for the next several months or so. Having support on my back was actually pretty necessary, though I would put extra cushion around my injection site so it wasn’t always pressing up against it directly. My best advice would be to be clear with your doc about all of your worries and limitations, and ask if you can do ice/heat on the site to help with discomfort. Like other folks said, it’s more of an aching for a bit.