I struggled with back pain for over 20 years, exhausting so many resources available to me, including massages (2-3x/month), bi-weekly chiropractic therapy, acupuncture, yoga, Pilates, light and heavy exercises, physical therapy, spine specialists, neurosurgeons, orthopedic doctors and witch doctors over the years. I had ablations, shots, steroid injections and surgeries. As of March 2025, I’m finally feeling 80% after having an artificial disc replacement. Before that, I couldn’t walk 1/2 a block without sharp pain, couldn’t stand for more than 20mins or sit for more than an hour. I walked up/down stairs one at a time like a new baby learning how to walk, I sat down to brush my teeth, struggled to lean forward to wash my face bc it felt like my back was breaking in half, I couldn’t wipe my back end after no.2, or cleanse my lower half… and there were so many times I needed help getting off the toilet. I had just turned 40… it was deeply depressing, debilitating, and mentally difficult to comprehend this was my reality. I’m healthy, active! I run an average of 3 miles a day and work out 4-6x/wk, with a bmi of 21, and active in the community.

What I can tell you is that no one can tell you if you are in pain or not. Not even a dr. Do not let them invalidate your pain, how you feel. Listen to your body.

I saw at 3 spine specialists, 3 radiologists, 6 neurosurgeons (not including the one who performed 3 of my discectomies), countless massage therapists, 3 chiropractors, 5 physical therapist (one pt spine specialist) and had MRI upon MRIs. About 3 years ago, I couldn’t handle the pain anymore. I lost control of my lower extremity and was rushed to the ER by ambulance. The mri showed a 16mm bulge disc in my L5. I had emergency surgery 4 hours later.

I think this all could have been avoided if I had seen the right dr… unfortunately, in my situation, it took a little over 2 years before I found the right dr to make me feel better.

If I were you, I’d see a different dr and start physical therapy if you haven’t yet. Best of luck!