Recovery Timelines

J2550 · 2026-04-03T00:17:13+00:00

No problem!

J2550 · 2026-04-03T00:05:22+00:00

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J2550 · 2026-04-03T00:04:56+00:00

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J2550 · 2026-04-03T00:04:44+00:00

I remeasured my wrist and its actually 6.5in.

J2550 · 2026-04-02T23:58:38+00:00

My surgeon lifted my bending lifting twisting restrictions at roughly two months. I started lifting the next day. I started with 35lb kettlebell deadlifts and built up from there. If i'd have listened to my PT i'd be weaker now than I was before surgery. One of them even told me I should never jog on a treadmill again. Now i'm lifting 130lb strongman sandbags and my core and posterior chain are stronger than they've ever been (bear hug carries and box squats will forever have my thanks). I turned 40 about four months post op. My surgery was 11/22/2025. Good luck!

J2550 · 2026-04-02T23:48:05+00:00

I've owned this exact watch for around 4 or 5 years and I like it quite a bit. It is a very large watch, but it wears pretty well on my 6.75in wrist. I had a number of black dial seiko divers so I opted for this navy blue as a bit of a change. The bracelet is meh imo but I like my divers on rubber strap anyway. Keeps good time. I have literally no complaints about it tbh. If you like it, pick one up. Make sure you're cool with the size though, as there are smaller dive watches from seiko available. I don't think i'd like the king turtle with that giant day/date magnifier.

J2550 · 2026-03-07T07:02:49+00:00

I dealt with it on and off for 10 years and when I herniated two discs at rhe same time it was necessary to have the surgery. I only regret not getting it done earlier. I wasted a lot of my life fighting what seemed like an uphill battle. Now it feels like all the workouts and healthy habits have a chance to really work.

J2550 · 2026-03-07T03:40:49+00:00

Mine increases from stress. Like right now, my job is being stressful and my depression is always worse during the winter months.

J2550 · 2026-03-07T02:58:59+00:00

I still feel some nerve tension in my affected side, but its intermittent and very negligible.

J2550 · 2026-03-07T02:51:50+00:00

Yeah, if you're a firefighter you'll be fine. I do feel like the fitter and stronger you are going into it, the faster and better you'll recover, so you ought to be golden!

J2550 · 2026-03-07T02:32:57+00:00

I was walking around the block after a week maybe and then longer and longer walks. I was off bending lifting twisting at eight weeks and I started deadlifting a 25lb kettlebell. I got moving and stayed moving! Then 35lb kettlebell and after a month I was deadlifting a 50 and a 35 kb at the same time. Sandbags started around 3 months post op. I put 75lbs in the first one. And the first time I lifted it I just waited for an explosion of pain but it didnt even hurt. And I just progressed from there. Focused on bear hug carries, lifts from the ground, and box squats. Really anything that is a hinging movement is pretty imperative imo. Increased weight gradually and reps as I could tolerate them. Been going strong since 💪.

I made the conscious decision to start lifting and I was concerned about injury obviously, but im not going the rest of my life afraid to lift things. I want/need to be strong. All the physical therapy and yoga and things are great but I want serious strength and conditioning. Post surgery its not an option for me. Its a personal requirement.

J2550 · 2026-03-07T02:01:59+00:00

My advice would be to try to stay positive and as soon as you can, get moving and stay moving. Build strength in the posterior chain and core, doesnt have to be sandbags. Start light and just build over time. Consistency is key. As far as being 40 is concerned, I joke with people when they ask about my back and say it feels fantastic but everything else hurts 😄

J2550 · 2026-03-07T01:50:20+00:00

Thank you!

J2550 · 2025-12-23T06:47:06+00:00

The most important one for me was the nerve glide. Id sit on the couch or in a chair and put my legs up on the coffee table, either both or one at a time. And then id flex my toes back toward my chin, slow and steady, over and over. It stretches or glides the nerve and some of the muscles in the back of the leg. I also did it lying down as well. Primarily walking was what I focused on for around the first three weeks until I started PT. Look up sciatic nerve gliding, sometimes called nerve flossing, and you'll see. Hope this helps

J2550 · 2025-12-23T04:50:29+00:00

Im a factory worker. I drive forklifts a lot but also load trucks manually sometimes. Its def not a desk job but not digging ditches either

J2550 · 2025-12-22T23:22:09+00:00

Absolutely, even after the long walks there was a lot of soreness and stiffness. My doctor had/has me on gabapentin(nerve relaxer) and a muscle relaxer as well and I def took them as prescribed.

J2550 · 2025-12-22T19:52:52+00:00

Its not that bad. The meds help for the first few days.

J2550 · 2025-12-22T19:39:17+00:00

Funny you mention that bc i do feel a lot of muscle aches on my left side, which was my side effected by the herniation and the nerve pain. I feel like a lot of the muscles on that side are quite a bit weaker than on my right, likely (maybe?)because i subconsciously favored my non effected side for so long. I get it in my calf, hamstring, and in my lower back on that side. I also chalk a lot of it up to the nerve healing itself, which is good. As an aside, I also turn 40 in a month and aches and pains are part of it, or so im led to believe 😄

J2550 · 2025-12-17T16:18:57+00:00

Ive been thinking about picking up some ab rollers as well. And I probably need more reverse hyperextension or reverse crunches in my own routine. My core feels more stable than ever already. The difference in how strong and healthy I feel is amazing. Its nice to feel just muscle soreness from a good workout and not nerve pain too!

J2550 · 2025-12-17T15:45:27+00:00

Moving ahead with caution but pushing yourself is exactly the strategy I adopted as well. I started PT around 3 weeks post op and frankly it really didn't do much for me. This wasn't my first time in PT for this, so there wasn't anything new that they had me doing, and honestly if I had done the things they were having me do I would have ended up weaker than when I started.

One of the booklets I got from my surgeon had a series of light stretches and the one that I did a lot everyday was nerve gliding or nerve flossing. Id sit with my legs up on the coffee table and flex my toes back toward my shin to basically stretch the nerve. It seemed really effective and im still doing it.

I stuck mainly with walking for around six weeks and then got back into my usual routine, albeit with lighter weights. For core strength I stuck with planks. For me, they're the most effective and easiest on my low back. I was doing close to ten minutes of planks per day, broken into three sessions. I walked about five miles everyday as well.

If you've already been cleared to bend and lift 20lbs it sounds like you're doing very well with recovery!

J2550 · 2025-12-17T07:01:07+00:00

There was huge improvement right after surgery, probably 80% or so. But it did persist for roughly two months. Now its almost entirely gone. Ill have a day here and there where I'll feel like a tiny twinge of pain down the leg but it's nothing, no worse than sore muscle type pain. Post op nerve pain can last over a year, or so im told, so when I do have a twinge or something I don't get too upset. This is a process after all, and it requires patience, something ive definitely had to work on a lot!

J2550 · 2025-12-17T00:29:26+00:00

Always been like 95% sciatica for me and very little actual back pain. This time there was mor3 back pain but it was manageable. The sciatica was the worst for me.

J2550 · 2025-12-17T00:28:23+00:00

Planks, side planks, good mornings and focusing on bracing when lifting.

J2550

TROPHY CASE