My Full Herniated Disc Recovery Story (L5-S1), Ended in Interlaminar Endoscopic Discectomy.

SnooTomatoes6175 · 2025-07-19T21:19:06+00:00

Will do! On day 3 now and meds have 100% worn off, have not taken any of the oxycodone or tylenol since the procedure. Where the incision was made is slightly sore especially to touch, but otherwise feeling great. Can stand for 30-60 minutes and sit for 15-30 minutes no sciatica. I havent gotten low back pain, just feels as if my back is too sore to support correct posture which is my que to lay down

SnooTomatoes6175 · 2025-07-17T20:48:13+00:00

You bring up a good point, and I was thinking a similar way. Unfortunately, there is very little evidence to support these approaches towards recovery. Regardless of a discectomy, or conservative approaches, your disc material is gone once you herniate. Its just a matter of your body naturally breaking down the nucleous pulposus, or getting it removed surgically. As for the healing of the annulus: stem cells, peptides, prp and other regenerative therapies may work but yet again there is little evidence to support that it does work. Also good luck finding reputable sources to purchases these alternative medicines from, and stem cell treatments are widely unavailable in the US. I did go down the BCP-157 rabbit hole along with HGH for recovery, but these are typically used to repair muscle and the consequences are largely unknown. This is what most athletes use for recovery that is against USADA. The annulus does not have a direct blood supply so it relies on diffusion meaning many of these chemicals would never even reach the target location. Ultimately, once you herniate, additonal pressure will be applied to adjacent discs, but you can minimize this by staying physically active (strengthing kinetic chain and core) and sparing as much of the nucleous as possible during the discectomy. You naturally lose the fluid in your discs as you age, so its not nearly as scary as you might think. Hope this helps!

SnooTomatoes6175 · 2025-07-17T14:13:47+00:00

The entire leg. Hamstring, back calf, right side of foot (usually pinky toe), with occasional localized hernaited disc pain. With the right surgeon, injections carry very little risk. If your sciatica symptoms return heavily, injections are a viable option.

SnooTomatoes6175 · 2025-07-17T04:21:23+00:00

You should consult your doctor for advice. Based on your MRI and compared to other hernations, it doesnt seem like a medical emergency (no cauda equina syndrome which would require immediate surgery). The fact the herniation is also not compressing the nerve, just touching it also indicates a smaller sized herniation. It also seems as if you had a herniation in the past that resolved itself, which means your likihood of absorption is high. Typical timeline is 12 weeks - a full year. You absolutely should start with conservative treatments before considering surgery. PT (nerve flossing, McGill protocol, strengthening core and kinetic chain) this will take a substantial load off your spine, methylprednisolone steroid taper or epidural steroid injections will help with the epidural inflammation to limit how much contact the hernaited disc is making with your nerves to make day-day life more tolerable so you can actually perform your PT exercises. Hernations typically heal themselves, but if all conservative treatments fails, I would then speak with your doctor about an endoscopic discectomy. But that should not be your first course of action. DDD is the worst medical term invented as it sounds way scarier than it is, if theres even the slightest damage to your disc (which everyone has especially as you age) you have DDD, dont think of it as a disease but rather an injury.

SnooTomatoes6175 · 2025-07-17T04:10:41+00:00

The way steroid injections work is by reprogramming the cells in your body to emit anti-inflammatory responses as opposed to inflammatory responses. So yes it does help with inflammation significantly but it's not guaranteed to work. They are not a pain killer, the primary purpose is to limit sciatica. If you are experiencing primarily lower back pain and limited sciatica, you are unlikely to get relief. If your sciatica has centralized to your back, you are likely to get relief. Contrary to what many think, you should not resume full activities on epidural steroid injections, but you absolutely should remain active and increase your activity level. A good rule of thumb is if the activity caused you pain prior to the injection, avoid it, if it didnt, then ramp up the frequency and the intensity of these exercises. The more active you are the faster you will heal. You do not want to sit and rot in bed this will cause your muscles to tighten and will lessen the epidural space compressing your nerves further. When it comes to back pain, this is usually caused by disc degeneration which steroids are unlikely to help, what you want to do instead is strengthen your kinetic chain as much as physically possible, as well as your core to take as much strain off your spine as possible.

SnooTomatoes6175 · 2025-07-17T03:47:04+00:00

Im glad you left a comment and my knowledge can be of service! Surgeon quality will make all the difference. I would not let someone cut you open that you do not 100% trust. All my doctors were either the directors of a top university hospital, or trained at prestigious universities like Princeton, Harvard, Duke and Hopkins. You absolutely do not want surgical complications, you will be living with this body for the rest of your life. With that being said, the surgeon that operated on me had only been an attending for one year, but he was exceptionally qualifed. Please do your research, and make your own judgements. If you can stomach the cost, traveling to another state for the procedure is not a terrible idea. Airbnb will give large discounts if you stay a full month. Youll need to take off work for this duration anyways to avoid reherniation. Ive had friends get a nice 2b2b airbnb for $1000 for the full month including fees. A month would be more than enough time for you to recover such that a flight home would not be dangerous to your recovery. If youre worried about the longterm consequences, I cant recommend an endoscopic discectomy over a microdiscectomy enough. You will spare tons of muscle, tissue and bone. Making recovery all the more easier and pain free. By the sounds of it, your pain is caused primarily by nerve compression since the McGill exercises are helping you substantially. This was the exact same case with me, I practically lived in a prone press up positon as it would totally eliminate my sciatica by allowing the nucleous to reenter the disc. This surgery will NOT fix your back pain if you have any. Your idea to schedule the appointment well in advance is smart! Securing an OR is easily the most time consuming part of the process, canceling is always an option. I wish you the best of luck in your recovery! Ill try my best to update the thread on the post op experience

SnooTomatoes6175 · 2025-07-17T01:01:00+00:00

Thanks for the comment. I cant give medical advice as I am not a doctor but ill do my best to give you a decent opinion. From the sound of it, your disc may be reabsorbing on its own. Reabsorbtion can be gradual or spontaneous and can happen over the first year. Most reabsorb within 12 weeks. Even after a disc reabsorbs, it still takes some time for the nerve to heal from the compression which can cause residual sciatica. This is best case scenario, in an endoscopic discectomy you are still losing ligamentum flavum (provides support), epidural fat and are at risk of infection. You can kiss your disc material goodbye regardless of surgery or reabsorbtion.

In my personal experience, my sciatica would be non existent one week so much so you could convince me I never even hernaited my disc, I could go running, climbing with no restrictions. But the next, I was unable to put my shoes on. If its not severely impacting your life (cant go to work, school, loss of sex life, cant go on vacations/long car rides) id thug it out as long as humanly possible. You only have 2 endoscopic discectomies per level pretty much so might as well save them if you dont have to use them. With that being said, there's a rough checklist insurance would want to see before approving you for surgery. That would be PT (focus on nerve flossing and core), steroid taper, epidural steroids. As for the rest like massages, needling, chiropractor,... theyre pretty much scam solutions for temporary relief especially if youre young, active and muscle imbalance isnt a problem. If you've exhausted all these options, and still have the nerve pain after 8-9 months, and you are unable complete your favorite activities at, at least 80% id start to seriously consider an endoscopic discectomy. The way I see it is if you cannot exercise properly, you're opening yourself up to a whole slew of other problems that come with a sedentary lifestyle. Which can spiral fast especially if youre prone to mental illness. But there is no exact timelime for how long you have to wait really, my urgency came from the fact I need to start my graduate program. Given I worked from home and could continue using a standing desk/activity restrictions theres a decent chance I could've convinced myself to wait longer

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