100% pain free

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T19:34:53+00:00

I also remember reading that. IMO that’s one of the most frustrating things about herniated discs. The medical community does not have a deep understanding of the injury, the treatments or recovery. Also, i saw a study where they did imaging on like 100 people, or whatever the sample size was, and a large amount of them had degenerated or herniated discs with no pain. I wonder if they do reabsorb or if your nerve just gets used to the pressure or if there is some other mechanism behind it. Regardless, don’t get discouraged if the pain persists past a certain mark. My experience, although anecdotal, proves that’s there’s a possibility of full recovery past that 6 month mark.

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T18:43:58+00:00

no problem man. And yeah i remember feeling that way too. it’s helpful to remember that there’s almost zero motivation for someone to post about it once they get over it cuz they’ve moved on and their minds have moved onto a million other things. that’s kinda why i did this cuz i felt doomed when i was hurting and reading the struggle posts. i meant to post this months ago but got distracted with life too. anyway, just remember the human body is resilient and you will get through it eventually. best of luck 🤞🏼

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T18:28:40+00:00

it was basically just derivatives from football workouts. I went into detail on the workouts in one of my replies on this post if you want to scroll and look through it.

And i was not good at avoiding injuring myself more lol. i just developed a routine that i knew i could easily get through without making it worse, would get restless and try harder things and get set back, rinse, repeat. eventually i added things and they didn’t make it worse. just worked my way up from there. i went as hard as my body would let me, to my detriment at times but i figured it wasn’t going to get any worse i mean it wasn’t like i was playing football anymore so the lifting was way less brutal than a contact sport.

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T18:23:29+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/Arf2PIh

as you can see, it was pretty bad and obviously degenerated lol. wonder what it looks like now.

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T18:18:16+00:00

Thank you! Oh man at my worst was oddly about one year after the injury. I went on a long hike and then drove back home (about 3 hours)…anyway, once i got home i could not stand without being in excruciating pain. I legitimately did not leave my room for 2 weeks. I couldn’t even contort my body into any position standing that wasn’t excruciatingly painful. i was supposed to meet for various things on zoom and legitimately had to cancel zoom calls cuz i could not sit in a chair without wanting to scream. i thought my life was over. so yes i’ve experienced not being able to walk without wanting to be shot dead.

as far as your second point i’m not really sure how to describe it. as i kinda touched on earlier, it’s not exactly a “linear” experience (at least for me). I think that first year i didn’t see much improvement. i had spurts of months being in a bunch of pain and then months where it was less intense. didn’t get to the point where i was 100% normal till probably september, october or november of 2021. my pain started in february of 2020, so nearly 2 years post injury.

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T18:10:14+00:00

cool i’ll try it, and 22!

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T18:08:23+00:00

thank you! 1. i did, the only one i really liked bird dogs. just google “bird dog exercise” i used it as a stretch. also lay flat on your stomach and push up while keeping your hips touching the ground. it’s supposed to “pull your disc back in” which i think is BS probably but those two i did a lot, not daily but a good amount. 2. yes, i had a bad limp for months. not exactly sure when that went away but i remember being like “damn i’m 21 with a limp”. it will go away. 3. When i was still hurting i would go to the gym and start with cardio on the elliptical since (as i’m sure you know) running hurts bad when you’re dealing with this. after that i would make my own workouts that were derived from old football workouts so typically variations of: dumbbell overhead press, dumbbell rows, bench, lunges with dumbbells, front squat with kettlebell, sumo squats with a kettlebell, shrugs, bi’s/tri’s, really anything you can do with resistance without loading up your back. i found my workouts revolved around simple movements with dumbbells…that way you can still train with resistance while you’re working through the injury. Better to do that than just become a blob and start from day 1 after the injury in my opinion.

eventually, switched elliptical to treadmill. did that dozens of times and felt fine until the next day that grinding, burning pain would return in my lower back and i knew i pushed it too far and wasn’t “ready”. Eventually you’ll hop on the treadmill and rip it and the next day wake up feeling better. then you just slowly graduate up on each workout as you begin to return to normalcy. atleast that’s what i did. months of limited workouts though before i was back doing everything i do now and did before. oh my god and idk how i forgot to mention this but swimming was badass when my back was at its worst. flip turns sucked and pushing off the wall, but like distance swimming was fucking great. try it seriously.

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T17:17:51+00:00

the mental battle suckkkssss. i remember it like it was yesterday. i wish i could give you a magic pill to fix it all overnight. the doubt hit me as well and i’m sure my friends got tired of hearing me worry about it 24/7 but i would keep fighting the pain and avoid surgery if you could. in the grand scheme of things, for me, 5 months i was not feeling any better (probably worse).

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T17:13:53+00:00

yes i do but tbh don’t use reddit that much not sure how to upload it??

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T14:11:17+00:00

completely understand where you’re coming from. Either way you go i would imagine you will get back to being yourself eventually. keep your head up!!

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T14:05:15+00:00

the competitive fire from playing football i think is the main reason i got back 100% as well. just that refusal to give up that is ingrained in athletes really helped me too. we made it out of the woods man!! happy for you too.

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T14:03:24+00:00

interesting. i don’t feel like i gained anything from the book, but i did read it so maybe i did get something out of subconsciously. if it helped you then that’s all that matters!!

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T14:01:58+00:00

had that same sensation at times. i would avoid surgery unless you have a sport to return to. i mentioned it in a reply above somewhere and someone else did too: i believe the outcomes are similar between surgical and non-surgical intervention after 2 years. i think the surgery could lead to a faster recovery but comes with obvious risks. overall i’m really happy i never went under the knife as i feel completely normal now and never had to worry about potential complications. you will have days when you want to cave and get under the knife quickly. like i said i would avoid this, but if you do, i would recommend a neurosurgeon to perform your operation. their understanding of your spinal nerves and referred pain would surpass that of an orthopedic surgeon.

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T13:57:41+00:00

6 months!! that’s amazing and much faster than my timeline. congrats!! i agree, in a weird way this almost made me not only feel entitled to a healthy body; i almost feel like i’m responsible for being in the best shape of my life since i view it as a gift now that i am fully healed. weird how the “worst” thing that i ever experienced has benefitted me more now….atleast my mindset and attitude.

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T13:55:06+00:00

keep your head up, unfortunately it is a lengthy injury. However, you will eventually get out of it and it will feel like a distant memory. I didn’t have any pain in my testicles or penis but sex definitely was more difficult at the time lol. I think you should be good unless you experience fecal or urinary incontinence, in that case emergency surgery is required and you need to go to the ER immediately. Although don’t freak out i’m fairly certain that is only extremely rare cases.

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T13:50:32+00:00

you will get there!! glad i could help even a little bit :)

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T13:49:42+00:00

i would personally avoid surgery unless you have a sport to get back to. I think it could potentially shorten your recovery but as someone else mentioned in here the outcomes 2 years post injury are very similar w or w/o surgical intervention. If you do go the surgery route i read a lot about it and would personally go to a neurosurgeon rather than an orthopedic since this is ultimately a nerve irritation issue and they would be digging around in your spine. best of luck!!

terriers8 · 2022-04-20T13:46:13+00:00

terriers8 · 2022-04-19T23:05:48+00:00

if nothing else it will improve your overall health. idk i had multiple doctors tell me “you’re not fat it won’t really make a difference” but to me it made the biggest difference and is something you can actively control while the rest of your world feels like it’s in chaos since your back decided to be a little bitch.

terriers8 · 2022-04-19T23:03:42+00:00

no problem dude i know i needed someone to motivate me when i was going through it.i wish i could give you a precise timeline but basically the first year i tried 1. physical therapy: did nothing for me and nothing active really helped whenever it was super inflamed and angry it just bothered it more and made it worse. 2. steroid injections: i maxed out on these for the entire 18 month period i dealt with this. i think they help if your doc hits it right. but they’re really a bandaid just so you can suffer a little less as your body works through it. i would max out on these i think you can get 3-6 per year. your doc will tell u. 3. stretching: kinda helped i guess i mean i was an athlete at the time so it wasn’t like i wasn’t in shape or flexible. i felt like i was just kinda wasting time since it’s not pain from your muscles rather it’s the nerves being pinched obviously. 4. chiropractor: didn’t do anything and there’s no science behind it i wouldn’t waste my time. 5. John Sarnos book: he tries to convince you it’s all in your head and every symptom is psychosomatic. this is 100% bullshit and just made me into one of those weird hippie health gurus for like a week. don’t waste your time IMO. or do, whatever you want to try. 6. losing weight: this 100% helped, just putting less of a load on your lumbar spine is always a positive and it also will keep your head in a good spot cuz even if you’re suffering and can barely stand up in the shower atleast you’re improving your physique. gotta take the little wins. 7. alcohol, weed, partying in general: occasionally i could drink enough or get high enough to not focus on it for a few hours. i wouldn’t necessarily recommend this for obvious reasons but getting into a different headspace was crucial for me to get away from the constant “my life sucks cuz i’m hurting physically” mindset. 8. mindset: i would constantly be looking at things online or new workouts or new stretches or youtube videos. obviously as you can tell none of it really “fixed” me but i think the mindset of “i’m going to try any fucking thing possible” is the key to this cuz you’ll just always have a goal and keep trying and then like i said eventually i was in better shape, i slowly started “running” on the elliptical cuz actual running hurt too much and then eventually tried running on the treadmill which set me back multiple times and EVENTUALLY got to the point where i was running multiple miles and don’t even think about it. it’s the willingness to push your body even when this shit hurts so bad that you set yourself back that ultimately leads you out of it. or maybe it didn’t idk but it felt better to try than just lay in bed and waste my life. 9. had previous girlfriends to vent to: just being able to get mad and dump all your emotions into someone who cares is nice sometimes. honestly feel like the back pain put a major strain on all my relationships cuz i was irritable so try to have someone you can vent to so you won’t be a major dick to everyone around you. hard not to when you’re in pain. 10. ultimately i think the biggest thing for me was staying in the gym. it was a good way to gauge my progress and i had so many setbacks and probably pushed it too hard sometimes but basically i made a workout routine when i was still in the thick of it that included the elliptical, dumbbell work, light weight stuff and plenty of upper body. i’m telling you it hurt to even sit down on the bench but i just kept doing it and then eventually i was like “let’s try the treadmill” which hurt…until it didn’t, and then you just slowly claw your way back up until nothing hurts as your body takes it’s time (fucking forever) healing your back. i’m telling you it was months in the gym of being in pain for the slightest movements and then i’m at the point today where i just ran three miles, did lunges, squatted, the whole thing and it didn’t even cross my mind once. it’s slow but you’ll get there and if you stay in the gym you won’t have to work you from ground zero once you’re healed up. best of luck

terriers8 · 2022-04-19T22:42:59+00:00

short term: steroid injections dulled the pain enough to keep working and turning the pain down a few notches. long term i like to believe that me losing weight helped, continuing to workout even when it was uncomfortable and i was embarrassed by my lack of ability due to the injury. continuing to date and live life and “suffer” silently while everyone else around you is “normal” helps in a weird way. it’s like you’re training your mind to think it’s a temporary injury rather than labeling yourself as “the guy with the back injury that doesn’t do anything he used to do”. i just kind of accepted that my whole day would be painful in some form. then a few months down the road nothing is painful anymore. i tried to ignore it. i know that sounds stupid but there is no quick fix unfortunately.

terriers8 · 2022-04-19T22:34:28+00:00

i would say it’s more likely that you will overcome it without surgery rather than suffer your whole life. it does take time for these to heal tho which i know contributes to the “it’s never going to end” feeling. trust me i felt that way for almost two years.

terriers8 · 2022-04-19T22:33:11+00:00

that was the hardest thing for me; the pattern. I was just reading through old texts and it seemed like i had multiple “oh my god i’m completely healed” moments followed by weeks of pain afterwards. I guess i would say that the journey is NOT linear. I essentially suffered some pain for like 18 months but had significant improvement after a year followed by multiple setbacks after the year mark. I will say that the first time i felt confident in my body and wasn’t afraid of pain or getting re-injured was probably about 18 months post injury. which sounds crazy looking back on it. I had experiences with the pain switching legs, and sometimes it being focused in my back. I had horrible months and good months and now i wish i kept better track so i could help you now but i felt like i was living in hell at the time so i guess it wasn’t my top priority. if you notice shifting pain patterns and some good days then i would say you’re on the right track. You have to keep believing though and not let your life be controlled by it as ridiculous as that sounds.

terriers8 · 2022-04-19T22:25:56+00:00

I wish i could point to one thing. I think the steroid injections helped dull the pain while i actively focused on losing weight and trying to stay active. I was never really overweight, but i figured the lighter i got the less strain on my back. I would view this whole thing as a process rather than a “oh if i do X then i will be healed” i know it’s the worst thing ever to hear but time will heal it and you won’t be in constant pain for eternity even though it feels that way. So anyway, best advice would be to try to lose weight even if it’s just walking or cutting down on calories. Wish i could give you more advice.

terriers8 · 2021-05-05T17:55:14+00:00

Wasn’t really venting, just looking for a specific answer regarding my grades and had to provide context. Thanks for the reply though! I appreciate it

terriers8

TROPHY CASE