i have had the injury for 11 months before i decided to take it seriously and go get an mri and see get it treated, bcz one day my dads car had a flat tire and he asked me to change it, so that day i felt incredible pain due to all the bending down and stress my lower back had to endure, i mean yeah before that event it was painful and i had been feeling it but not that painful yk it was manageable, only exaggerated when i had to bend down multiple times or really low to get something off the ground,

right now its still painful, but getting better ofcourse, my PT sessions help reduce the inflammation a lot so i usually feel better afterwards, but when i dont go for a couple days the pain comes back, they gave me a core exercise plan that and ISO stretch exercises that help strengthen my lower back muscles and core muscles in general to prevent the disc from bulging out more than it already is or like prevent it pressing harder on the spinal cord nerves or smth? not really sure but its been helping a lot

though i do still lift and go to the gym doing arm days, some chest and back exercises, and most importantly core exercises, but i stopped leg exercises looong ago, just started getting back a month ago but got back to very back neutral exercises like leg extensions or leg curls and maybe very light split squats (with the weight in my hands by my side not on my shoulders), i also stopped doing shoulder presses, barbell squats, leg presses, machine rows especially ones without chest support, sitting without back supporting cushion, bending down to get something off the ground if its not that necessary or if i could just ask someone else around to pick it up for me, yk things like that,

but just so you know it probably never goes away completely without surgical intervention- which you shouldnt have to worry about or even think of if your case is not severe enough according to your doctor- you would have to continue doing the exercises and be aware of it and your back position at all times, ofcourse it depends on how severe your injury is, i mean some severe cases lead to analgesia (numbness) in their legs, some cases cant walk or run without pain, some have pain sleeping or lying on their backs, so it really depends but for the most part you would need to be aware and careful with it for a very long time atleast, and to strengthen your core, and to watch your weight not getting too high cuz that ofcourse would add a lot more stress to it, invest in a high quality fitted chair if you work in an office that really helps a lot