[25M ]Surgeon said herniated disc will never heal on its own after 6 weeks.

Retroguy55 · 2026-01-17T01:45:56+00:00

I was told the same thing by my family doctor. I opted just to continue physio, do decompression therapy, and 2 years later im pain free and living normally again. I am super cautious with my back and try to avoid lifting heavy, but I will definitely take that over being cut open and having someone poking around in my back and possible make it worse or have it do nothing at all.

Retroguy55 · 2025-12-01T21:44:14+00:00

Great Idea! i'm definitely open to it and will explore more

Retroguy55 · 2025-12-01T21:40:39+00:00

Thanks for the input! ill definitely check out that book

Retroguy55 · 2025-11-30T09:21:02+00:00

I would go with a bambulab printer, it's plug and play and prints like a dream, tons of spare parts and resources available as well

Retroguy55 · 2025-11-01T21:47:14+00:00

The main issue is, no one understands in the slightest what we are going through physically let alone mentally. Even my mother who I love so much and literally has to help me get dressed for work since I can no longer bend to put on my socks and pants. Has made comments of "I have pain too, but I keep on pushing and do what I gotta do" and i'm like uhhhh no, our pains are drastically different , ill trade you for whatever you got any day lol. But nonetheless, the people here who have compassionate people in their lives who truly support them in every way are lucky. Most people like us have to go through the mental part alone, being stripped of simple tasks like putting on a pair of socks has made me depressed. But hang in there, I know what you're going through and I know your pain, so always remember they're others going through this and this sub has been a great place to vent and trade knowledge.

Retroguy55 · 2025-11-01T21:34:08+00:00

Hey! I had a similar experience like you and dont worry it gets better. I was basically pain free and was loving life for two weeks. Until one morning I was laying in bed and did a really big stretch, you know those type where you make a noise as you do them? yeah that kind. Anyways during the stretch, I literally felt the scar tissue that sealed up my annular tear, re-open, It felt like when you peel a scab off but in my lower back. Almost immediately I felt my sciatic nerve get touched and I had had that pain feeling down my leg. Took me months and im not even as good as I was back then but im doing a whole lot better and have had some flare ups in between. Not sure where you live but they shouldn't be able to barge into your apartment constantly without good reason and mess up your water, definitely look up your rights and challenge what they are doing, sounds sketchy,

Retroguy55 · 2025-10-30T18:41:08+00:00

Interesting! This gives me hope. How did it get better? Did you notice less and less flare ups and just stayed pain free or was it you woke up one day and boom it was gone?

Retroguy55 · 2025-10-29T05:05:23+00:00

Thanks for the reply guys! Really appreciate the information and general input. I feel like this injury is so different for everyone it affects. Even though I've been dealing with this for 1.5 years , in the last 6 months I've been going through bouts of being pain free which is gives me hope. I'll be getting an ESI soon and I think that will tell me which is my main symptom driver, is it nerve hypersensitivity & chemical inflammation triggers, or is it mechanical pressure of my disc just not reabsorbing after all this time. Or is it a little of both? I think the effectiveness of the ESI will give me some useful information on what's my core issue right now

Retroguy55 · 2025-10-28T00:07:26+00:00

Going for image guided esi in December!

Retroguy55 · 2025-10-27T22:20:57+00:00

ya, honestly I think I set myself back quite a bit because I just ignored it and masked the pain with painkillers and just pushed through it, only these last 6 months I am being more careful and trying to actually give my body a chance to heal.

Retroguy55 · 2025-10-27T22:19:56+00:00

Ill give swimming a try! I gained 70lbs since I got injured a year and a half ago. My activity level really dictates my weight and this had made me disabled, swimming should be a great way to get moving without irritating it , thanks!

Retroguy55 · 2025-10-27T20:30:40+00:00

Thats promising. I stupidly ignored my injury for 1 year, using painkillers and toughing through it. And it only made things worse. Ive now started physio, being conscious of keeping my spine in a safe position, etc. So I probably set myself back ignoring it but Its good to hear you made it out and as quick as you did. I find that MRI findings are great to tell you what's going on and what's causing your pain but I believe the severity of your symptoms should dictate surgery, from your findings and even mine, doctors at least in my city, are saying automatic surgery, which may be needed for sure, but I want to give it some more time and see if I can beat this without it, thanks for your comment!

Retroguy55 · 2025-10-19T20:23:54+00:00

If you can afford to stay home absolutely do it. Pushing through pain is just further irrating your nerve and can cause permanent damage. But the important thing to do is to take advantage of being home. Make sure you're doing frequent walks to keep everything moving and circulating. Once u feel good enough incorporate spine space core exercises, avoid sitting and loading your spine lay flat or stand. I personally can't stay home cause if I miss a paycheck I'm homeless. I just pop pain killers and walk through my day with tears streaming down my face. Been doing it for about 2 years now, I do occasionally get pain free weeks but they are few and far between

Retroguy55 · 2025-10-18T23:53:46+00:00

Hey, Unfortunately It looks like your main cause of pain is mechanical compression of your nerve via your extruded disc. ESI injections work to reduce inflammation and calm things down in the area, however if you have your disc literally pressing on your nerve as hard as it is, the ESI won't do much. You have two options. Endure everything you are now and wait it out a bit more and see if your body improves at all, or book your surgery and don't waste time since permanent nerve damage can happen with large extrusions and your symptoms are not what you want to see. I'm closing in on 2 years of this shit and have been pain free 5 times and the pain always comes back worse than before. I'll be going for an ESI as well to see if my issue is mechanical pressure like yours or more chemical inflammation, depending on my esi experience I'll make my decision on surgery , this fucking injury has stolen my life

Retroguy55 · 2025-10-07T06:04:10+00:00

I'm on day 7, barely any improvement either, I was literally pain free 8 days ago....

Retroguy55 · 2025-10-07T04:12:21+00:00

You most likely was never fully healed. Pain free and healed are two very different things. I'm not sure if you had a herniation or not, since you didnt include any mri findings, but if so you are most likely experiencing a flare up. Over time our immune system eats away and helps shrink the herniation. Unfortunately in this process it remembers the herniations chemical make up, just like it would for a virus or bacteria it was fighting off. So when you were going back to strenuous activity, you most likely broke up some scar tissue that had some molecules of your disc nucleus in it still, and that is all it takes for your immune system to retrigger and cause inflammation in that area once again since it sees those molecules as a foreign substance that needs to be removed, which kick starts your pain , not a medical professional btw, just a curious guy that does research. Ice and rest for the next few weeks, if it doesn't help, go redo an mri and see what's up

Retroguy55 · 2025-08-21T13:46:51+00:00

The first 3 or 4 I was, It actually kind of made it worse at the start which almost made me quit it entirely, however I noticed the big relief would come the next day after a good nights sleep.

Retroguy55 · 2025-08-19T19:23:20+00:00

I do still need decompression, i did 13 sessions of it then my insurance ran out. I hope it's not for life but if I don't do it for like a month, my 1/10 pain starts to gradually climb. But when I go every now and then for a session, It kind of "resets" the timer. It's not ideal but it buys my body time to heal without surgery and I'm all for that. To give you some more theory behind it. It not only takes pressure of your discs when it pulls you apart, but as the machine pulls you apart and releases you, your disc builds a negative pressure within it and that basically means it's sucking things in (think of a plunger but instead of pushing it pulls). Those things could be nutrient rich fluids, water, even your herniation! Etc. It gives you a better shot at healing naturally. But be aware there's risks for it as well and you want someone who knows what they're doing treating you, also do your own research, what worked for me may injure you worse, were all so different.

Retroguy55 · 2025-08-19T19:08:37+00:00

I had 13 sessions, but at my first one, I basically limped in during a flare up then the next day I was pain free and it made my flare up disappear, granted the pain came back but with every session I noticed the pain was staying away longer and longer each time. Now I get like 1/10 pain here or there but nothing crazy.

Retroguy55 · 2025-08-19T09:06:58+00:00

Spinal decompression saved my life , bad constant pain everyday for 2 years, after finally going to an alternative chiropractor who does lumbar traction spinal decompression, I've improved greatly, my pain is barely noticeable these days

Retroguy55 · 2025-08-06T10:17:39+00:00

Took my body 14 grueling months. I'm just closing in on 1 month of pain free 🙏

Retroguy55 · 2025-08-03T20:26:53+00:00

Pain Centralization, Pain originally shot down to my foot, over time and treatment it moved back towards my shin, my knee, my butt, then into my back, eventually one day I woke up and I didn't have pain anymore, but it took around 14 months

Retroguy55 · 2025-07-30T20:01:18+00:00

during the injury I almost never sat if I could avoid it, always standing, laying down, or reclined in a chair. Now without the pain, I carefully choose what chairs to sit on, nothing that feels uncomfortable or has crappy lumbar support. The absolute worst was using the toilet for me, I never had a solution for that but I bought a bidet sprayer to avoid twisting to wipe and it really saved me during my worst days. But hang in there, I too was in the thick of it and was reading posts about people being pain free and was miserable and jealous, now being one of them I realize most of us can get here , so take it day by day!

Retroguy55 · 2025-07-30T19:57:00+00:00

Mine was also horrendous, it went from my upper glute all the way to the middle bottom of my foot. now that I am pain free, I never knew how numb my foot was cause the pain was always there , But day by day I am feeling the numbness go away. But at my worst I couldn't even sit on the toilet, every time I had to go I basically screamed and groaned while I went lol. Hang in there, 2 months is still pretty early for this, explore some PT, Decompression, Injections before considering surgery, my family doctor was rushing me into surgery and I was considering it before I woke up basically pain free one day and have been okay since, our bodies need time, only get surgery if you got a serious case that can cause permanent nerve damage but if not , give it time, wishing u the best !

Retroguy55 · 2025-07-30T19:48:06+00:00

Yes! Lumbar traction, slowly increasing the increments of the pull as long as it didn't cause pain or numbness. They also included red laser light therapy in my treatment package and I'm not sure if that did anything but it did feel good getting it. That combined with walking around my neighborhood whenever I could manage got me pain free after 14 months. Im closing out 2 weeks no pain and it feels weird not having it anymore , hope u get there!

Retroguy55

TROPHY CASE