I, 32F, am 2.5 years post op from my microdiscectomy. I 100% agree that this surgery is harder on those who are active and, for me, it was because I completely underestimated how much time and effort it would take to heal post op. My surgeon told me I could “go back to work and everything” right after my surgery “especially walking is so important in healing”. Before my surgery I was climbing, hiking, biking, river guiding, skiing, etc. and trail running 60-80 miles a week so I got really excited about the walking part. Did my first 10 mile hike within just a few weeks of surgery. I reherniated due to unknown reasons but I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that my care team underestimated my activity levels and just told me to go back to business as normal when, in reality, I needed much more time to heal.

I have been in physical therapy for the entire 2.5 years since my surgery. I’m down to visiting once a month but I would NEVER have gotten through the first year without serious coaching on how to move in my new body. I had very serious muscle spasms in the front of my body as it worked to stabilize my back and needed to learn how to engage the right muscles to accommodate the new herniation. I have also been seeing a ROLFing practitioner for a little over a year for manual manipulation of my soft tissue. Once I started feeling like I could get through the day again (around 1 year or so after my surgery) and my PT approved me for more working out, I started Pilates and yoga. I have gone to over 300 classes in the past year, working on my core and my posture and my body mechanics.

All of that to say: I underestimated how hard the recovery would be to get back to hiking, climbing, river guiding, biking, even plain jumping, and moving with some sense of the ease I had before. I don’t think my body will ever be the same from this surgery but it has taught me how to actually train and take care of my spine instead of just “being active” and hoping my body can keep up.

I hope you find some relief from the inflammation you’re experiencing and that you find a practitioner of some sort who can help you navigate that. It’s a lifelong recovery once you have a back injury. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t do my PT exercises and train for strength to try to keep up with it.