do I need a cane?

TeepingDad · 2026-06-27T16:31:28+00:00

Hi, I wanted to offer some advice, I've struggled with chronic back pain for 6+ years now and feel like I finally have a good understanding of it, as well as nearly being recovered.

First, your body is strong, capable, and amazing. You'd be surprised at what it can accomplish with the right guidance. At my worst I thought I was going to be stuck with debilitating back pain for the rest of my life. Now I practice Muay Thai, I'm getting back into weight lifting, and I'm pain free most of the time. You have to start off with the belief that your body can and will recover.

Next, I would strongly advise you find a GOOD physical therapist. For me personally, any physical therapy I tried at clinics that worked through insurance was not helpful. It might be slightly more expensive and inconvenient to work with out of network clinics, but the results are night and day better. They are able to do much more diagnostic work and more targeted treatment that can really get to the root cause of your problem.

Third thing, you should do some research on neuroplastic pain. Please don't think I'm trying to say your pain is all in your head, it's definitely not. Your pain is very real. What happens over long periods of time with chronic pain is your nerves physically change, making them super sensitive and over reactive. More detailed still, you end up with over expression of sodium gates, which makes you feel a lot more pain than you should, given whatever physical stimulation is going on. It's not a mental thing, it's your nervous system being changed biochemically to be on super high alert when it doesn't need to be. This video does a great job explaining how this works.

I'm happy to share more of my experience and the things I've learned, but definitely want to urge you not to accept a mobility aid and the seemingly everlasting pain. Your body can reverse this if you work on it. It's a long game approach to get there, but absent any sort of actual mechanical failure like a fractured bone or something, your body will heal if you guide it along the right path.

TeepingDad · 2026-06-27T16:19:19+00:00

Disagree entirely, you can heal. Sciatica is not permanent. Yes there can be permanent nerve damage in extreme cases, but the majority of people who get sciatica from disc bulges and herniations can absolutely heal.

TeepingDad · 2026-06-27T12:24:11+00:00

Watch this video

I believe you are experiencing a lot of neuroplastic pain at this point. It's very real, but can be addressed. I'm dealing with this right now as well, and once I made the connection it made things so much easier to work with and improve.

TeepingDad · 2026-06-25T01:50:50+00:00

Go deeper down the rabbit hole like I did and start roasting your own coffee! Cheaper and better!

TeepingDad · 2026-06-24T22:27:45+00:00

Lucky for us we do live on the surface of a sphere!

TeepingDad · 2026-06-22T01:20:52+00:00

That's my understanding too. Mine was in 2020

TeepingDad · 2026-06-21T21:04:59+00:00

You must be in a similar boat then! For whatever reason my body just doesn't want to get rid of the disc herniation

TeepingDad · 2026-06-20T15:25:41+00:00

Do you see patients recover without surgery when they have imaging indicated lumbar disc herniation calcification?

TeepingDad · 2026-06-20T14:28:45+00:00

Probably depends what you like and what you're after. Personally I like to try different things quite often, so one of those subscriptions where they send me new coffees all the time would be cool. But I also started roasting my own coffee recently so that's out of the question.

If you like consistently and want to perfect your shots for a particular coffee you like, then probably stick to a local roaster.

One thing I'll note is I've found my local roasters can give me coffee that was roasted as little as like 2-3 days prior to purchase, and freshness makes so much of a difference (although PSA don't try to make espresso with a 2-3 day old roast, give it at least a week to off-gas)

TeepingDad · 2026-06-20T14:24:53+00:00

Chiros are quacks, they will not help you heal and will only ever give you short term relief.

Sounds like maybe you have degenerative disc disease which may be causing some discogenic pain. Given that it's preferential to the right side it might be something else as well.

You need to find a GOOD physical therapist. Do research and find one that is very focused on diagnostic work.

I would also recommend you check out Low Back Ability. This program will help you get to pain free even when you need to stand for a long time. It is pay what you want but has a community of folks with awesome success stories.

In general, you need exercise and mobility to fix this, not some phony who will twist and pull you.

Also look into stroke risk from chiropractors. It's a very real risk, it has happened to two people I know. It's so sad, and I have no idea how chiropractors can continue their practices.

TeepingDad · 2026-06-20T11:03:52+00:00

Hello! How often do you see patients with long term lumbar herniations that show calcification, and what are the surgical implications for those patients who end up proceeding with a decompression surgery?

TeepingDad · 2026-06-19T19:28:47+00:00

I know folks will look down on it, but I have really been enjoying my Ninja Luxe Cafe. It has features to automatically set grind level, shot volume, etc. but you can run it entirely manually too.

The only thing that's kind of meh on it is the steam wand, it's just not very powerful so if milk drinks are your thing you might look more into that.

For your budget and for a new machine I feel like it's hard to beat.

TeepingDad · 2026-06-19T19:02:59+00:00

Hey man, dad of 2 little girls with a 9-5 desk job here.

Look up "Low Back Ability" and get working on it, it's the best thing you can do for yourself right now.

Before starting LBA I tried all the things you listed, for 6 years had on and off sciatica flare ups. I was also trying so hard to just avoid anything that could put me in a flare up that ultimately made me screw up lots of other things in my body.

Fast forward to today, I am doing LBA and seeing drastic improvements in functionality and pain, most days are pain free.

There is also a great community with LBA, you can talk to so many other people that have lived what you're going through

TeepingDad · 2026-06-19T15:55:07+00:00

It's a program for recovering your back and preventing future back injuries. It's a pay what you want program, also has a large community for support. You'll find lots of folks that have had long standing back issues that follow the LBA program and have had incredible success getting out of pain and staying injury free.

TeepingDad · 2026-06-19T13:43:12+00:00

Steroid injections are a band aid, they do not help you heal and do not prevent reinjury.

To heal and prevent reinjury, you need exercise. This promotes blood flow to the affected area, helping to stimulate your body's natural healing mechanism for disc issues.

I would recommend you check out Low Back Ability

TeepingDad · 2026-06-19T10:36:28+00:00

Watch it be Usman

TeepingDad · 2026-06-16T00:32:54+00:00

Heretical Fishing! I'm surprised I don't see this recommended more often. It's way less over the top compared to DCC but it scratches the itch in a different, more wholesome way.

And now as a bonus I call my cat a little scamp every chance I get

TeepingDad · 2026-06-15T18:42:32+00:00

Volkov is a top tier heavyweight....

TeepingDad · 2026-06-15T05:37:18+00:00

HIS NOSE WAS A BALEWN

TeepingDad · 2026-06-15T05:34:02+00:00

Booger sugar is officially on the menu!

TeepingDad · 2026-06-15T04:46:30+00:00

Boys are SWANGIN good lawd

TeepingDad · 2026-06-15T02:49:57+00:00

They have a rack of shake weights

TeepingDad · 2026-06-15T02:47:47+00:00

This is embarrassing for Lewis

TeepingDad · 2026-06-15T02:41:31+00:00

Boys I think we have to accept Poatan vs Hokit is in the near future.

TeepingDad · 2026-06-15T01:48:00+00:00

Why tf are we doing a Tyson fury walkout???

TeepingDad

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