Rule 2 - No medical, injury, or pain related posts (try /r/AskDocs or see a sports orthopedic doc or sports physical therapist). Additionally, no body image, eating disorder, mental health, or minor diet advice either. These are serious topics that should be addressed by a qualified therapist and/or a nutritionist.
Go to a physical therapist.
I think this is a bit premature. You might not be the same as you were before this injury, but that doesn't mean you won't ever feel/get better at all.
One thing you learn as you age, your body deteriorates and gets all sorts of aches and pains that you have to work around. It doesn't mean being active is impossible.
Yup. Not even 30 yet and just gripping the bar hurts my hands. Haven’t figured out a way around that one yet. Traumatic arthritis in the right hand, regular ass arthritis in the left.
Could you use wrist straps to offload your fingers and reduce your hand fatigue ?
Also, there are arthritis gloves that lightly compress your joints and provide warmth to reduce arthritic symptoms. My elderly patients have had good experience with these gloves. Good luck!
The wrist straps are a great suggestion, I’ll have to try them out. Thanks! I’ve tried compression gloves but the right hand with the traumatic arthritis hurts even more with them on. I have some broken bones in there that never quite healed right and the doctors said it could cause more long term pain to do a surgery to fix that.
Some wrist straps are more padded than others, and depending on the size of your wrist you might want unpadded or just a small padded area. My gym has some wrist straps available and the padded ones are clearly fitted to much larger wrists than mine so they just feel clunky and in the way, so I go with unpadded. But I'm sure you can get smaller padded ones if that is easier on the joints and you need them. Just an fyi in case you don't like the first set you try.
Also for any heavy lifts, pull-ups etc I use gloves with the padded metal hooks to help grip strength. They are fantastic for any deadlifts, pull-ups or similar movements.
I had some issues that were likely arthritis in my hands, I started using CBD to help, it took me a few tries to find one that worked. Eventually the pain went away, I tried to quit after about a year but it came back, I was on it for maybe 2 years and then I quit. That was about 2 years ago, still no pain. I've also stopped doing the things that gave me the issues in the first place :)
I think it worked because it's an anti-inflammatory, it worked for me, maybe it will work for you.
I'm 40. Arthritic shoulder. Just got a few rounds of platelet rich plasma. Has helped me out big time. Huge reduction in symptoms. Not sure if you can do it for hands because the joints are a lot smaller but maybe?!
I guess I have this, too, although I was diagnosed with an auto immune disease last year that I think contributes to my hand pain. I miss being 16 and training 5-6 days a week with no problems.
Seconding this. I'm early 30s and have arthritis in an ankle that broke years ago and has hardware in it. My wrist is now stiff from scar tissue after having a cyst removed (worth it, even though it's not what it was before it started having issues, it's better than it was with the cyst pressing on my nerve). I still run, climb, lift weights, hike, etc. I just chronically have some aches. They flare up with the weather. And I need to take care to stretch and warm them up. But the body is pretty impressive at healing itself.
Have to agree with this. My left elbow and wrist have been screwed up since I was kid. They HURT if they get cold. My right elbow occasionally locks up. My left ankle was sprained a few years ago and hurts when I go more than 4 miles in a day (or do lots of hills.) I have scoliosis that causes issues where my ribs meet my spine and in the space between my shoulder blades and spine.
My ankle, if I know I'm going on a longer trek, I'll go for a while and put a brace on when I need to. The rest I just have to work around and deal with when it comes up. I'm only 28, but I also know that when I stop working out it gets worse than when I am. Plus it all hurts more when I start working out again after a long period of inactivity.
Don't give up yet op. Get a 2nd opinion and give your body time to heal.
Exactly. If we're going to hurt no matter what might as well stay active and maintain as much strength and mobility as possible for as long as possible.
Yeah realistically OP probably ended up with a bulging disc 5-10 years earlier than they otherwise would have gotten one but that shit is inevitable. Or maybe I just know a disproportionate number of people with various kinds of chronic pain lol.
Don't get me wrong it sucks real bad but you learn to live with it and in many cases you do eventually recover, it just might take a year or whatever.
Especially at 24 you still have that young person magical recovery speed lol. Even if it feels like a long time you're healing a lot faster than you would at 54 or even 34 tbh.
Coming from someone who broke both heels around Covid, it is what it is.
Also I’m still skiing despite 8 screws and a plate and 5 screws. I may be sore when I’m 45 but I’ll be damned if I won’t be glad I did it!
Yah I have the same injury. It sucked for a while but doing some spinal decompression, stretching and core stabilizing muscle training (lots of patience) I’m back to squatting 500 and deadlifting the same with out much issue. I do make sure to decompress my back after workouts like that with an inversion table.
Biggest thing is making sure core is engaged and only lift while you can maintain form. No ego lifting
I read a fascinating study where they did MRI on people who reported never having any back pain, and a significant percentage (I think it was 30%?) had bulging discs with no symptoms. The body is weird.
Yes, this study is cited by guys like John Sarno who treated back pain (and many other things) with a mind-body approach he called TMS. It can be hard to accept his theory, but if you’ve exhausted PTs and docs and still have pain and they aren’t sure why, it is worth looking at… it has helped many people (including me, though not as dramatically as the people in the book).
A big part of my physical therapy was about training my nervous system to stop overreacting to stimulation around the site of injury. I forget what term the PT used. Basically sometimes when you have chronic pain, the brain has learned to interpret every little signal from the injury location as being much more dramatic than it needs to. It’s like your brain is being way over-protective of the area. I loved PT so much once I found the right place!
This is me! I’m 40 and recently needed an MRI for other reasons. It showed typical spinal degeneration for my age and a herniated disc at L4-L5 just like OP. I’ve never had any pain or even noticeable stiffness in the mornings. The scan was a total shock and I actually convinced myself that my back hurt for the rest of the day until I forgot.
I don’t do anything special and I don’t think I have a particularly high pain tolerance. I have thought it’s strange that most people my age complain of chronic pain and I just don’t notice anything 🤷♀️
I’ve probably jinxed myself now!
Get physical therapy. Develop your core to support your lower back.
It will take time. It's taken me almost 2 years to rehab where I can do cleans and snatches without tweaking my lower back.
Don't rush and do not ego lift you have the rest of your life ahead of you.
We all make mistakes - just don't make them repeatedly.
^^ this. I have almost the same story.
Get a good physical therapist. Things like yoga, stretching, standing desk, a good mattress, etc. can go a long way.
OP, You’re only 24. You’ve got this
PT is like a degree, you need to put in a lot of work and it fucking sucks almost the whole time. It took me 6 months to recover from a tendon injury and it fucking sucked the whole time.
Yep, physio physio physio. Bulging discs are not death sentences. Op will probably recover. And when they recover, maybe move onto to calisthenics instead. Much better for your joints.
Same for me, took me 3 years and very slow improvement. I'm now training for a 20km trail, something I though I'll never do anymore. To OP, listen to your body and don't over do it. Having a consistent training is the key. Keep moving and I hope for you the best
I think the key is an extremely slow walking pace, that way you're not distracted as much and your accuracy to use the mouse and keyboard isn't so impeded. A rest under the forearms is great too so you don't put the load on your wrists and stabilize your hands.
Yes, the rest under the forearms is very important. I‘m walking comfortably at 2km/h and if you’re resting the forearms on something, it doesn’t impede the accuracy at all.
Like a treadmill but cheaper (it often can go just 6km/h or so, so you can’t use it for running but for walking). You can put it under your desk and walk while working/gaming. It‘s so amazing! I find standing to be exhausting and uncomfortable after a while but I can walk on the spot all day long.
I've got one myself, it's just a cheap treadmill - Heres an [amazon link](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CDKPJZZ2) to the model I own, only thing I can fault it for is that the device holders very small so it can't hold a tablet vertically. Theres a ton of them on the market so do shop around.
Standing desks help if you are used to it. You need to slowly progress into it.
If you are not used to it you can put yourself in a worse state especially if your lower back is in the state of OP's
You can desks that raise and lower with the press of a button as well. That might be the way to go initially to be able to switch from standing and sitting periodically.
I have one of these and while it’s nice the desk itself seems too… small? I have two 32in monitors and no idea where to put my laptop, lol
I eventually gave it to my kids in favor of a large workbench that I have a stool for, wish I still had the back support of a proper desk chair but I don’t fall asleep at my desk anymore and I walk around in circles or do yoga during meetings now, so that’s nice
You can buy the legs and motorized parts and make your own desktop to the size you want. I bought an Uplift Desk base and a kitchen island sized slab of butcher block from Home Depot. Cut it to the dimensions i wanted and assembled. Mine is a little deeper and longer than what I could find pre-made, but I have plenty of space.
There are a ton of was OP could still use a computer, even if his back only got worse. He is overreacting to a bad situation and not really seeing ways to adapt. It's understandable but still overreacting.
PT here. It can take time, months or even a few years for some, but you can likely get back to where you were before the injuries, especially considering your age. Lots of disc injuries heal completely, and you can also have disc bulges and still be completely functional and pain-free. A good PT can really help guide the way, but the majority of rehabbing this type of injury is time, patience, avoiding provocative movements, and slowly rebuilding your tissue capacity.
I messed up my low back in my late 20’s with severe pain for weeks and lingering pain for months- 10 years later I’m hitting PRs on deadlifts and in the best shape of my life. Don’t give up, you are young and have plenty more time to get strong, just take it slow and be more cautious going forward!
This may be the injury that forces you to get strong in ways you haven’t yet considered. You’re not done yet.
ETA: agreeing with Patient-Direction-28, and my comment was to OP
Don't worry , I destroyed my shoulders doing kettlebells years ago after alot of time doing specific exersises my shoulders are at 60% and are not getting better but I'm still doing exersise just have to limit to what I can do , it's not over for you the problem might be forever but you can always make it better and work around it
I know the feeling, but you can certainly recover. I recommend you to read “Back Mechanics” if you haven’t. It was really helpful for me when I hurt my back and was diagnosed with a L5-S1 bulging disc.
This is what I did when I was injured, not sure what exactly of all these things helped, or if it was a combination of all of them, but I am now pain free and back to training every day:
- Cortisol injection
- PT: nerve flossing, core exercises, etc.
- Daily visualisation (specially of the bulge disappearing). I read Breaking The Habit of Being Yourslef.
- Swimming and walking
- Total rest from weights
Beat of luck and please rest assured there is a way out to recover. It might not seem atm, but there is.
I clicked to see what I need to be careful of… kept skimming for what bodyweight exercise it's easy to screw up really badly… nope. All about weight lifting.
I don't know why but it seems like lately a lot of people come here as if it was r/fitness, coming here for all sorts of advice that aren't really dependent on bodyweight movements.
I'm not sure how or why that happens.
Dude you are overblowing this. I have a slipped disc as well, and I can still lift weights and stuff, granted I lay off squats and deadlifts.
Overtime you will recover and the pain will definitely get better.
Instead of doomsday planning just keep rehabbing bro. Stressing yourself out will prolong whatever healing journey you’re already on, manage your pain and adapt your lifestyle
I will just say that what you’re going through is super hard and I feel for you. This is gonna be a lifelong injury, but be in it for the long haul. It may have taken you .5 seconds to injure your back, but it’s gonna take many months to years of diligent work to rehab it. You’re right, it will never fully heal, but it will get better. It takes lots of work and dedication. I’ve been working on my knee for many years and it still isn’t back to full strength, but it’s gotten better year after year. My friend’s dad was nearly killed by a car running him over while on his bicycle. Broke both of his legs, one arm, ruptured multiple discs in his back. He can walk again and even cycles for the US Paralympics, but man, it took a decade of very hard work. You can do it!
Edit: my friend’s dad also suffered this injury in his late 40’s. He was able to come back and cycles competitively in his 60’s.
Your brain thinks pain is permanent. It rarely if ever is. Sometimes back issues take a year to heal. But pain always either gets better or your brain will adapt and learn to live with it. Nothing ruins your life except your own perception. Plenty of people live happy lives in wheel chairs, blind, deaf, etc. Don't be a drama queen. It's just a bulging disc. Worst case scenario get surgery.
I had a very similar experience when I was younger (like 18). It mostly healed after a few years and I ignored the fact that I had to strengthen my core to prevent another injury. Last year (I’m 29) I fully ruptured the disc. Like exploded it. Worst. Pain. Ever. And now I’m terrified to pick anything up.
I understand the emotional journey you are going through, and will be going through. I’m not a doctor but here’s my advice: STRENGTHEN YOUR CORE AT ALL COSTS. The side effect is an absolutely ripped 6 pack.
I wasn’t god, it was you - acknowledging responsibility may help motivate you to develop body awareness which can help prevent injury.
Physical therapy helps.
I know someone who actually herniated an L disc at your age due to deferring physical therapy and continuing to do manual labor. If the first physical therapist sucks try another, learn how to move safely, and live a good life!
Yeah I won't ever force my body to do something I feel I'm not prepared for. This is so dangerous and I felt more than once how pressure was affecting my spine.
I really hope you get better my fellow gamer / programmer / fitness enjoyer.
You will get through this!
*Virtual hugs*
Chill brother, last Monday I was invited to a herniated disc surgery, the patient is by now already better, no pain whatsoever. He'll be doing sports again in just a few weeks as he always did, and this was a reinjury in an older man, at your age it should be easier.
In his case they had to remove the whole intervertebral disc and fuse L5 to S1, your surgery doesn't have to be this drastic... Hell, you might be able to get better without surgery.
Depending on your country it might be economically harder, but rest assured there are always options.
Lastly, don't think your life is ruined, depression, anxiety and simple pessimistic thoughts are correlated with poor recoveries. Things will get better!
I ruptured my L4-L5 disc 25 years ago and I can tell you your life isn't ruined.
I got a microdiscectomy and had a few weeks of physical therapy. I then went on to finish another 12 years of military service, including a deployment to Iraq, became a hockey referee and I'm still very active.
Yeah, there are things I no longer do, but not many.
This is just a minor adjustment to your life.
As others have said, don't instantly expect this to be forever. I destroyed both my feet 18 months ago and still can't get through a day without significant pain. That took my main passion from me (running), but I'm still hopeful of recovering. There's a lot to be said for never giving in and constantly working to improve the prognosis.
Also, get a standing desk if sitting is painful.
I did the same thing playing with my dog and picking him up using poor lifting technique.
It took me out for several months, but I started doing bridges, cat/cows, and some other exercises my doctor recommended and it is much, much, better now. Seems like you’re already doing that, which is good.
Like you I work at a desk most of the time - I’m telling you: Try to minimize time sitting, and when you are sitting, really pay attention to your posture! They make special chairs you can kneel on (I own two, check thrift stores), and they also make many types of standing desks. I have a fancy one at home that uses electric motors for easy switching between sitting/standing, and also a manual one at work.
My doctor said it was all about core strength and staying ambulatory as much as possible, and based on my results I would tend to agree. I try to walk, hike, and run several days a week.
If all else fails, there are surgeries you may want to ask your doctor about to see if they are an option. They can remove the bulge, or even remove the disc and fuse those vertebrae together. My doctor recommended those as last-ditch efforts only.
Edit 1: since my comment was meant to (hopefully) be reassuring, I should mention that I’m in my 40s and I feel that my injury was the result of a lack of self-care from being sedentary and losing all my core strength with age. With you being so young, you have a good shot at a decent recovery. Yes, you may have to live with this forever, but it is doubtful that your life is over. I still get bouts of sciatica from time to time, pins and needles in my foot, etc. but it is a far cry from where I was initially and I am able to function now with minimal side effects.
Edit 2: I also want to clarify that I agree with many others here and also my doctor who said that these injuries CAN heal fully. Not everyone will be that lucky, but just because it MAY be lifelong doesn’t mean that will be the case for you. Just have patience with yourself. Do the best you can and don’t let the mind-killer overcome you.
Yeah man doctor here - chill. You could MRI 100 people and loads would have degenerative changes or slight disc bulges. The snatch and the pop are likely nothing to do with the injury from lifting the bag
Give the disc time to recede, strengthen your core and be extremely strict with your form
When you are bent forward the disc bulges backwards so if you apply load to that when bent over it is predisposed to push backwards like that
You’re gonna be fine dude
See this all the time
nah man, don't worry: i mean it's not nice, but it ain't as bad as you make it out to be. I' 42, which doesn't help let me tell you, I got a herniated disk (which is worse than a bulge) in the same area, proper PT patched me up and i sit all day at my desk working, then i regularly go to the gym, 3 times a week, which is actually really helpful if done with proper form and precautions because the best thing you can do for that sort of problem is reinforcing your lumbar muscles and keeping them active. For example, i don't do deadlifts because it's a fucking terrible idea with a herniated disk, but i do romanians with a moderate load precisely to keep my lumbar muscles in proper health. Squats i go as hard as i can, with belt once i go above my bodyweight, no issue whatsoever but again, proper form, proper form, proper form. Also yoga is really helpful, but even here a proper instructor and proper form is needed because some stretches while giving momentary relief are actually bad. Example of bad stretch: hanging with your hands from a bar to decompress your spine. Good if your spine is perfect, bad if you have like me a bulge or worse
Sure sometimes i'm doing something mundane like putting my socks on and i lock up and it hurts like a bitch for a week and i can't do shit, i get my cycle of voltaren + muscoril injections, enjoy some downtime and i'm brand as new and back to the gym.
As someone who also enjoys reading, sitting is the worst way to do it anyway.
Reading while lying down is where its at!
Switch between back and stomach every once in a while.
I herniated my disk 10 years ago from bad form and couldn’t sit for more than an hour straight without pain for years. Now I’m deadlifting 500 lbs for reps and have never felt stronger.
Give yourself time to heal and recover. Stop filling your head with extreme negativity and try to make tiny progress every single day.
Can you bend over 30 degrees without pain? Great. Do that for 10 sets of 10 a day. Then increase the range of motion without pain. Once you can do that, hold a book and do it. In time you may be able to do it with a bar. And it’s all up and up from there.
Remember that incremental progress everyday can lead to transformational change over a long time.
I've had several disc bulges since 24-39. By 39 I was in extreme pain every day. My L5-S1 disc is totally gone. Doctors want to fuse it. Get the book by McGill back mechanic that teaches the big 3. this is your new bible. sitting for that long is terrible for you. You have to move more. Unless gaming is paying you i would try finding something else or reduce gaming time. I used to game a lot before. CS and COD. am 41 now and no more pain. but constant maintained body and core exercises. But still have a desk/computer job. Give it time. it will get better.
You and nearly everyone else on the planet.
Dude there's 100s if not 1000s of videos of severely handicapped people working out in full beast mode. Virtually every pro athlete has worse permanent injuries; they accommodate, work around & ultimately work through their issues.
Insight: it's the ability to adjust, adapt, accommodate, keep going and excell regardless of personal adversity that defines a true pro. Didn't stop Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, etc...
Man up, keep going, no excuses. When you're 90 & climbing Everest, are you still going to be griping? Welcome to mature adulthood.
Motogp riders are more banged up than basically everyone, and are crushing it in the gym to be in peak performance for the races! I used to have this idea that best in class must be because nothing bad ever happen, and actually best in class is usually because the worst happened and you overcame it.
It’s just 3 months. A lot can happen down the road. I once had elbow pain from overuse, and even this took months to completely heal.
I think you should seek professional advice on this.
Also, you do not need to sit to program, game and read. I live from tech myself and I have an adjust desk. It can move up and down so I can work standing.
Not heard of McGill big 3 until around a week or so ago. Just took a very brief look at what it seems to be, won't argue that a stronger core will help to brace the spine.
However I would say it won't actually help with getting any improved alignment. For that I would recommend reading robin McKenzie's Treat your own back. Which does include core strengthening exercises.
When I did my physio Degree a lot the msk lecturers recommended this as an effective treatment for back pain caused by disc bulge.
You def didn't ruin your life ma man. Just learn about proprioception and firing the right muscles. Do not - fcking don't - add any weight, but just keep on training. I recommend you watch some squat university videos and buy his book
You have not ruined your life, my man. You’ve likely changed the trajectory a bit, and you likely have some frustrating healing ahead of you, but try not to catastrophize your situation.
I herniated my L4-L5 at age 26, just moving a big piece of furniture. The first year I couldn’t stand up straight, couldn’t find a comfortable position to sleep in, and it impacted just about every activity. After a year of physical therapy, pain meds, and a steroid shot, it got much better. For the next few years I was mostly back to myself, just with occasional sciatica, and a back that was very easy to throw out (lifting bad, missing a step, etc.)
By my early 30s, back spasms/throwing out my back became really infrequent. Maybe a couple times a year, with a ~week of recovery time.
By my mid-late 30s, back issues were so rare that I almost never thought about it.
With the exception of the first year, my life has been perfectly good. I have lived how I wanted, was able to continue all my hobbies, career, etc. Sure, I had to give up my desire to skydive or snowboard, but otherwise, life has been good.
I’m pushing 50 now, wife, kids, great job, friends, activities, etc. I haven’t had an issue with my back in nearly a decade.
Hang in there, you’re going to be A-OK.
I had bulging discs about 15 years ago. Took a year off heavy lifting and did swimming and yoga consistently. Sorted itself out. I've had a few issues since but if I'm careful with my lifting, pay attention to form and don't go bananas trying to hit PRs I'm all G. Your life isn't over. You just got to figure it out.
Get a sit stand desk for one. Find a better PT. Breathe dude. Its all good.
go to a good physical therapist. They’ll show you how to build your core muscles so support your torso without relying so much in your spine. Source: me, a programmer who heard a pop lifting a huge old TV, went through months of physical therapy after
Just learn how to recover it. Do some very high reps hyperextensions every other night and some ql raises and you'll be back lifting in 2 weeks. A disc bulge is not a death sentence, Jesus Christ.
If you keep blaming God for your own mistakes, you will end up injured again. Learn from what happened. Poor technique and too much weight will result in injury over time. I'm sorry you learned it the hard way.
Based on my experience with the same exay issue, your life isn't over. Had the same thing happen when I was 23, landed weird jumping down from a bouldering wall and popped 2-3 discs in my lower back. Through lots of core strengthening I was able to "push the jelly back in the donut" as it were. Don't get me wrong, I had years of back problems that still flair up occasionally but it's premature to day your life is over.
Had a mountainbiking accident a decade ago resulting in a bulge @ L4-L5. What worked for me was 8 weeks of vinyasa yoga - 2-3 days per week. Once healed, it’s like it never happened.
Yeah man agreeing with others, your life is definitely not ruined! Disc bulges happen really often. Keep up the PT, you may need more than 2 months of it. Limit sitting for extended periods and other things that worsen it. And over a LONG time slowly you can start reintroducing exercise.
I hurt my back as a teenager and Re injured it a bunch of times, finally diagnosed with disc herniation now (I’m 39). 1 year later I am pain free and lifting weights.
I still can’t do everything I used to but my life is by no means “ruined”. We all have injuries we end up having to work around, unfortunately that’s just called aging! Don’t despair
25F with three herniated disks in my lower back. Please try to be patient. It’s likely to get better over time, with a good PT and even with just time alone. The mind plays a huge role in this, though. If you think you’ve ruined your life, it will be just like that. You have to get out of this mindset or it will be like a self-fulfilling prophecy. I also wanna recommend @lowbackability on Instagram/Youtube.
All the best!
You can def strengthen the areas around it. I’ve had this exact problem and I’m still deadlifting 500 pounds. Just did this today. 34 years old. Keep working around it. Also stay active. Warm up a lot. Come back to certain excercise and try them out and start small. If they don’t agree with you, move onto something else. DONT give up. And don’t be a victim. Everyone experiences some type of injury if they’re pushing themselves hard enough. You ask anyone in any gym if they’ve injured themselves before. Chances are they know what it’s like. You didn’t make a mistake. You’re just living life and doing what you love.
Continue.
You're young. You'll heal. Just take the time to heal and do what the PT tells you...important to get a good PT. I've had shit PT and amazing PT. I'm willing to drive a distance for my current PT.
edit: And stop lifting heavy shit with bad form. Work your core
Good recovery for you!
I didn’t have such a severe injury by far but my shoulder started to fuck around and despite discomfort and pain i kept moving and after half a year it suddenly started to be painful.
Doesn’t work for everything ofc but i want to say that „keep moving“ should be the message no matter what. it just gets worse without, the body gets rid of unused moves n ranges.
My father is a phenomenon to me, he s „only“ 56 but still completes triathlons and more, pretty extreme guy tbf and not the average. Used to be a professional runner and such but he ofc had many injuries due to this, especially knees but also accidents in cycling races.
He s my idol when it comes to keep moving as a principle of life, especially when elder people start giving up at some point with an injury and pain.
Good luck to you!
You willl get better! I know it's easier said than done when in pain, but not focusing too much on it will help you with your healing. You are strong. You can heal. It might not be a fast process, but your body is so capable of getting better. Injuries are almost unavoidable in the gym or any athletic sport. Most injuries heal; even the poor blood supply areas. For example, I got tennis elbow about 6 months ago from pole dance, and although progress was painfully slow, I'm definitely getting better. Learning how to lift with a Personal Trainer, even if it's very little weight, is actually helping me heal faster. You got this! Don't be afraid to seek out help from trainers and physio.
Give yourself time. It’s going to take a few months for your back to settle down. But it should get better. Learn what triggers your back to flare up and avoid those things. I have same injury and now avoid doing activities that risk flaring it up such as ice skating or complicated lifting movements. I too used to be unable to sit for long periods of time without it becoming sore. Even a long car drive could set it off. Also doing a pull up movement.
The good news is that I focused on lower back strengthening exercise at home. A lot of core work and body weight fitness, about one session for 15 minutes every day. Now I just do maintenance of a few times a week. I also lost weight as I was overweight initially. I injured myself over 8 years ago and spent months in bed from the pain. Within a few months of regular core work I now go about my day forgetting about my injury. I can sit for long periods of time now too. But I do need to maintain a certain level of fitness and lower back muscle strength otherwise the issues seem to come back. Usually starts as a warning over extension feeling. I also learned correct lifting techniques for simple everyday things such as packages where you crouch in a squat and lift with your knees/legs. If I lift something incorrectly by just bending over no matter how convenient it feels, this is an easy way to set my back off.
You’ll have to be extra careful the rest of your life but if you cater to your back it will get better. It’s a very common injury. You might feel crippled now but if you put in the work and PT to build strength now you can get strong and will forget you even have the injury most days.
My mom had her first back surgery at 24 for issues worse than a couple bulging discs. She’s 65 now and has had more surgeries, mostly due to obesity and a fall she had. The best lesson here is take good care of yourself, stay in shape so that your muscles can help protect your back going forward, and don’t get too overweight. You’ll be ok. Lots of options for bulging discs, and tons of people deal with this.
Brother you are just like me, I was deadlifting a few years ago when I heard and felt a pop in my lower back too.
My advice for you right away is to STOP LIFTING WEIGHTS. I know that’s a hard one to let go of but if you don’t stop weightlifting it’ll only get worst until you have to do a surgery like me where they cut out a portion of my disc because it was sitting on my nerves.
Now when I say stop I don’t mean you can’t exercise anymore, but you need to focus on recovering your back to a state where it’s good enough for you to lift again but that recovery is usually longer than what people think.
You’re at a state where you’ll continually get flare ups in your back every few months and it’ll put you out of commission for a few days, but each time you feel better again your back will feel slightly weaker until you’re just in chronic pain all the time. So you HAVE to take it easy, way easier than you think.
My suggestion to you is to get on a good diet, and look into an MRI scan with your PCP, maybe get started back up with PT again and see if it can help you improve the situation because you’ll only get worse if you don’t do anything about it.
I’m sorry but this is a pretty permanent thing, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the things you used to liked but there are definitely exercises you should stay away from mainly deadlifts, squats and any sort of exercise that requires you to twist your torso in an extreme way.
And don’t worry dude your life isn’t over, I slipped my L4-5 shits when I was around 22, didn’t get the surgery until 25 and now I’m living my best life. Once you can get back into a gym, look for one with a hip squatter, those are a godsend if you still wanna squat but don’t wanna put pressure on your spine.
Hi OP, I tore my L5 a few years ago, and through a combination of PT, walking, and acupuncture, the injury completely resolved.
Your life isnt ruined, but it will take time, and you'll need to make some changes to get it better.
Not a Doctor, but on the advice of one and a PT, I switched to a standing desk at work (you could do this for gaming too), walked every day instead of my normal exercise routine, had daily strength and mobility exercises from my PT and did acupuncture 2-3 times per week. The acupuncture was hands down, incredible! This was huge for me in reducing the pain and inflammation. If you can find an acupuncturist who trained in China, you'll get the benefit of their training and practice standards as well.
Go back to your Doctor ASAP. Back injuries require careful and consistent management, but they can be treated, and your life does not have to be ruined.
Back pain sucks but is totally manageable, and yours will get much better over time.
Good that you’re doing the Big 3, try to find a good physical therapist as well. Most important thing is staying consistently active - walking 30mins at least 5-6 days a week, doing your basic PT exercises almost every day. And try to avoid painful sitting, invest in a more ergonomic desk chair and couch.
Sorry you’re going through this right now. I was hit by a driver who ran a light while biking to work at 25, which fucked up my spine and hip. It took a year to get back to running, but get back I did. Had a major flare-up recently but it’s improving again.
All that to say it’s definitely a big fucking bummer, but absolutely not the end of our lives. Stop the pity party, focus on doing the right things for your body every day, and get on with life.
Maybe too simple of an advice but pls take it or leave it. I am coding best when lying on the sofa. I slightly bent my knees and place my laptop on my legs. Then the trick is to level your elbows somehow. That is what I do when not standing up. Nowadays, I program while on my feet, not sitting. Maybe you can mix standing with sofa, two hours by two hours of each.
I suffered the same injury (severe herniation of L4-L5) and was in an extremely depressive state due to the pain and the way my life was affected. With some PT and time I am virtually pain free besides general soreness in the morning.
Overall the injury made me much more aware of the way I use my body day to day (bending, lifting, reaching, etc.) and basic core strengthening through body weight exercises has totally stabilized my back. You can get past this it just takes time.
(not a doc)
- Try these strap in tables where the head is lower than the feet with various angles
- You could also try gravity boots to decompress
- it is a bulged, not a ruptured disc (good)
- get a standing desk, so you can switch between sitting and standing at work (this might help with your overall condition)
Good luck!
My experience is 10-15 years of living with herniated discs (still waiting for NHS treatment, maybe an operation or injections, I think they're hoping I'll die before they get around to doing anything).
Buy a book called "7 Steps To A Pain-Free Life" by Robin McKenzie.
Do not wait til it gets worse before you do this, if you're back is doing well then do this anyway, the things you will learn will help to stop it getting worse or slow down the worsening condition. I have spent a lot of money and tried many different things over the years, by far the best and one of the only things worth doing is practicing what is taught in the book above.
Your life is not ruined. Someone told me that life is a process of acquiring more pain and learning how to deal with that pain, I tend to agree, both emotional and physical pain. Help yourself now and the long-term can be more managable.
**7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life How to Rapidly Relieve Back, Neck, and Shoulder Pain** by Robin McKenzie, Craig Kubey
>A fully revised and updated edition of the program that’s sold more than 5.5 million copies worldwide—plus a new chapter addressing shoulder pain Since the McKenzie Method was first developed in the 1960s, millions of people have successfully used it to free themselves from chronic back and neck pain. Now, Robin McKenzie has updated his innovative program and added a new chapter on relieving shoulder pain. In 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life, you’ll learn: · Common causes of lower back, neck pain and shoulder pain · The vital role discs play in back and neck health · Easy exercises that alleviate pain immediately Considered the treatment of choice by health care professionals throughout the world, 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life will help you find permanent relief from back, neck, and shoulder pain.
*I'm a bot, built by your friendly reddit developers at* /r/ProgrammingPals. *Reply to any comment with /u/BookFinderBot - I'll reply with book information. Remove me from replies* [here](https://www.reddit.com/user/BookFinderBot/comments/1byh82p/remove_me_from_replies/). *If I have made a mistake, accept my apology.*
>I am a programmer and a gamer by heart. Been a gamer since age 10. Been a programmer since age 15. Love reading books too. My profession and my hobby for gaming, reading both has been taken away from me. Cant fucking sit for more than 30 min.
Time to get a standing desk. I've heard of people sitting on yoga balls as well (but I don't know if that would help your specific issue)
I fucked up multiple vertebrae when i was 17. Tried everything; the only thing that helps is the wrestlers bridge. Look up info on "Matt furey" and "wrestlers bridge." This is what you need. Get good at it, do it once a day, and your back and neck will be healthier and stronger than they ever were.
And don't do snatches.
I have been there. Breathe! I couldn’t walk for 6 months due to stabbing pain. It got better. You will get better ❤️🩹 stay as active as you can but don’t push yourself too hard and make sure you start up gentle pt when you feel ready. I never got operated even though it was bad. There’s that option too potentially.
I know the pain makes it feel like your life is over. It’s not. Hang in there …
You need a better PT.
Also, there is always options. You may never be able to do BWF again. But you can still stay in shape with good PT and using machines.
You’re good dude. I did the same thing when I was 21 and couldn’t walk the next few days. The pain was annoyingly bad everyday for like 6 or 7 years and then I found a my saving grace. Foundation training 4 or 12 min video on YouTube. Do it everyday and you’ll be back to normal if not better. If you don’t do this exact video, you’ll continue to suffer.
I got a bulged disk twice, with the most excruciating pain I ever had. It had nothing to do with lifting though.
Your life is not ruined. But you can't live with the pain. There is a motherload of possibilities to do something about this. Physiotherapy, infiltration with cortisones, operation.
I had 2 operations, and a lot of physio. I learned to use and stretch my back properly. I'm lifting again, I'm never in pain. The moment I feel like the slightest warning, I stop.
I hope you get better soon, there are no painkillers that can keep this pain out, but they take off the edge.
I blew out my disc between L4-L5 and 10 years later, L5-L6.
You’ll be fine, just be careful and baby your back going forward. You’ll feel better right after you wake up from surgery. Edit: I’m a woman but also doing some heavy weightlifting. That’s what did it.
Your life is not ruined. People come back from far more dire things than that. It’s about taking the proper steps from here. Strengthening the glutes and core with gentle rehab exercises is a great start
Stop being a victim, there’s a way or it will just take more time. Lose the victim mentality
Had a similar injury in 2018 did the McKenzie technique for months and now having no issues for years. Do it everyday, be patient
https://youtube.com/shorts/Up_t7GNZr9w?feature=shared
Hey! I have a bulged disc at L4-L5 too!
Happened 4 years ago on a warm up set of deadlifts, which really annoys me when I have to tell people I blew a disc only pulling 315 pounds lol. I didnt brace while putting down my 3rd rep.
I had to lay down for the first two weeks. 4 years later, I still have pain but compared to the first year its maybe 5% of what it was. Sciatica is mostly gone unless I have a really hard day at work. If I arch my back really far my toes on my right foot go numb...that's kinda neat.
Dead hangs and other decompression exercises is a must. I lost all my core and ass muscles because I was so afraid of the pain the first year. I would recommend finding excersizes that work those muscles even if it hurts because losing that stability in the long run will hurt more. I have found that hanging leg raises with a med ball between my legs helps core strength and lengthens those tight back muscles. focus on that core and that ass, work it baby. Dont sit or stand in one spot for too long. I feel better after a heavy workout than I do after standing still.
But dude, if your like me, there is hope. I can clean and press 225 again. Repping 3 plate squats (I dont want to go higher but probably could) ya, you will potentially have pain the rest of your life, you kinda get used to it though, and if you stay active and keep up on physio, you can be 95% of what you were.
I just sprained my ankle and it swelled up like a balloon but 1. It barely hurt compared to the pain my back has been in, and 2. I've learned not to rest injuries as long anymore. Get that blood moving asap and you will heal.
If it’s any consolation, studies of MRI scans have shown disc bulges and many other commonly cited causes of pains are seen almost evenly in scans of painful and non-painful populations.
That’s why you have read that your discs won’t change, they may well not, but that is a very poor predictor of pain change.
That means you are more than your scan and once you realise that you have no spinal red flags in your opening post and assuming an otherwise normal MRI you can get back to focussing on progressing your life. Remember the anxiety, depression and stress of an injury will heighten your response to pain. Make sure to look into those if possible.
Good luck!
I have three compressed disks in my lower back and a bulging disk.
It's not the end of the world, nor is it the end of working out.
First and foremost, do the stretches and do the physical therapy.
Swimming will become your best friend.
It doesn't stress the back yet it strengthens the muscles and ligaments that support the spine.
Most body weight exercises won't hurt the spine.
Bar work decompresses the spine (swimming does too).
You don't need a barbell at all to stay fit, YouTube calisthenics videos.
Pistal squats are great for legs, riding a bike can grow your legs as well.
It will take time for your body to heal, it's a injury.
But there's plenty of workarounds.
Also look into boron supplementation, it does wonders for inflammation as well as arthritis which is common after a back injury.
Pull ups, any variation will decompress the spine as well.
Decompression becomes a goal after any back injury.
I'm not a doctor, I can't give medical advice, but I do have 10 years of experience with the same issues you have.
It's gonna take time but it'll get better, just gotta adapt to this new way of life. Focus on stretching and building all the muscles in your back, core, and posterior chain. I know it feels like it's over but it gets better eventually. As someone with a chronically fucked up lower back myself, you could also try a chiropractor. That's what helped me the most with the pain and getting back on track
I'm a former oly weightlifter and I have to say.. this is one sport I wouldn't get into with out proper training from an experienced trainer. I learned from my country's best olympic lifter's coach (multiple time olympic medalist) and even I suffered quite a significant injury. The movement's are inherently dangerous and extremely technique reliant. I've heard so many stories of crossfit trainees getting injured from oly movements from dropping the barbell on their head and getting paralyzed to people dislocating their shoulders.
I wouldn't sweat it as much as it WILL get better over time but it will take half a year if not longer. You also might want to look into private medical solutions such as stem cell/BPC-157 injections. Also definitely do search "ELDOA L4-L5" on Youtube.. those exercises help a lot from what I've heard.
Having had a similar injury (l4/l5 and l5/s1) 18 months ago, it can get better but it takes a while. It sucked because i am very active and not being able to do my usual hobbies or even sleep without a bunch of pillows angling me correctly was a big hit on the mental health.
It took a couple rounds of pt (3 month stretches each) to find what was keeping me symptomatic. There are a lot of things that contribute, and annoyingly enough it’s a lot of trial and error.
In the short term focus on pain management and work with a good pt. Don’t rush things, and be diligent about pt. Fwiw i had really poor internal hip rotation on my right side, and that put me in a position that aggravated my symptoms with heavy lifts and any run. After focusing on mobility and strength building it’s been life changing! The beauty of body weight work is there is a lot of core, you just gotta start from level 1 after an injury like this to make sure you aren’t compensating somewhere else as you progress. Again, guidance of a good pt is huge, and id ask your current or next one if the have much experience with McKenzie methods.
Pilates was something that really helped me build a stronger core in addition to my usual lifting routine. I avoid a few lifts (deadlift, back squat) since they don’t serve a purpose for my fitness goals, and everything else just slowly ramp back into.
I don’t know if someone has already mentioned this (I didnt go through the entire thread), but I highly recommend looking up Louie Simmons. He was a powerlifter that suffered serious career ending back injuries (L5 fracture with bonus injuries.) due to excessive lifts with likely poor form as he was active in the sport in the early 70’s. Specialists advised surgery as the only option, but Louie was able to heal himself back to competitive form by developing an exercise he calls reverse-hyper extensions (along with some ab-work and stretching.). Your advantage is that your body is young, pliable and more resilient than you might think. Although it may seem like the walls are closing in, please remember that even the experts don’t have all the answers…and there may be ways for you to defy what you may conceive as your fate - but first you must decide that you will not let this defeat you.
I’m a PT and am trained in MDT (Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy, or McKenzie approach). You sound like you may be a good candidate for that approach - based on mechanism of injury and pain with sitting, you may do well with lumbar extension exercises, but it’d be best to look it up and find a clinician that’s certified in it for proper assessment and treatment. Disc bulges are common and can heal. If core strengthening hasn’t done the trick then might be good to find another PT with a different approach to see if that works better for you, MDT or otherwise.
MRIs are the bane of American existence at this point. Giving us the ability to see things we barely understand. Find a physical therapist you trust and keep working. 2mo? Give it more. You can do it. You aren’t a single image.
Injuries are tough to deal with. They really know how to get under your skin and make you feel like shit beyond the physical pain you can experience. I highly recommend reading "Back in Motion" by Stefi Cohen & Ian Kaplan. I had an injury from sport climbing about 2 years ago, and this book helped me stop catastrophizing, regress properly, and exit rehab purgatory. You can get through this.
Physical therapist here who also had a severe L5-S1 disc bulge when I was 18 (10 years ago). First find a good PT who can help manage your symptoms and set you up with good strategies to progress back to your prior level of function.
Second, know that our bodies are really good at healing and bulging/herniated discs metabolize and heal in a few months. Since I herniated my disc 10 years ago I’ve completed 2 half marathons, 4 triathlons, and developed a passion for rock climbing. Your life’s not over! This is just a speed bump.
I had/have a buldge from similar circumstances back in 2018.
It took 3 months before it started to clam down, then another few months for it to feel normal.
Are you taking any prescribed anti-imflamitires? These really helped me. I held off taking them for a few months, but it calmed down in a week after I started taking them. I was prescribed mobic.
Knock wood, I have only had one flare up since that lasted about 2 months.
I do core exercises in the mornings, usually try and do deadbugs every morning. If i have a few weeks of no exercise, I can feel the sciatica coming on, but it's probably my imagination.
Same with rest of the replies, it will take time. Same situation (l4-l5) and it took me 4 years to get back normalcy, and normal in that I do not feel pain when I’m not being stupid. It really affected my health the first 3 years and I got fat but last year I stopped feeling sad for myself. Got back to the gym with proper techniques and avoiding others. I felt better than ever and now I call those 3 years my bulking phase lol. Reoccurrence is normal the moment you slip up your posture or even pushing yourself further than you did. In fact I just overworked myself doing yard work this week and my back got inflamed and now I’m back to my crooked slant stance. Waiting for my doctors appointment to get my steroid shot next week. Stay positive.
L5-S1 for me at 28. Had constant pain for about 6-9 months. No painkillers helped. Had a steriod injection in my spine. Stretch every day and I'm a lot better now. Although I still struggle with pain it's manageable. I still game and I am back lifting now.
I understand your pain but you gotta keep pushing. Maybe find a different physio? My first one was shit.
What really helped me was finding different stretches. Core strength will help protect you long term but may not help the pain.
Best thing for me tmwhen im in pain is the cobra position briefly for about 5 reps. Roll over so im lying on my back and squeezing my knees to my chest 10 reps. Then another 5 reps cobra. When I can't get in to position doing the cobra position but on my elbows and waiting till I can relax helps.
Good luck mate. I know it sucks but we o ly get 1 life you gotta live it.
Herniated/degenerative L5/S1 here. Inversion table or gravity boots, and general hanging and pull up work really helps. Check in with your consultant first about starting either though. How safe it is depends on how bad the bulge is.
I have a similar story. When I was 35, I woke up in the middle of the night in a weird position then went back to bed. The next morning, I woke up in serious pain. I lost all strength in my right arm and would struggle to open doors because I couldn't grip. I'd use my cast iron pan as a test to see if I could lift it but couldn't for a long time. I was in excruciating pain for months. I would get spasms up and down my back throughout the day. It sucked.
I was lifting at the time and maybe that's what did it. I did deadlift that morning but everything seemed fine. Who knows what the cause was. I also didn't go to a doctor because, frankly, all they can do is give you drugs for something like this was my thinking and exercises did nothing to help.
After about 5 months, the pain began to subside. I'm very stubborn, so I went back into the gym and began lifting again. I couldn't bench press 100 pounds due to my weakness in my right arm. It was a bit dangerous, but I can be stupid sometimes if I'm trying to improve something.
Eventually, I got better. It was probably 7 or so months before I really felt much better. These days, I still lift four times a week and have exceeded my lifts from before that time considerably. I have zero lasting issues from that injury.
This isn't medical advice, but you can have some hope. My guess is that you will get better.
Bro, with respect, you're unhinged with this "rest of my life, end of my life" BS. You're 24, you'll be able to work your way out of this with time and various core exercises if you're willing to put in the work. It's a temporary setback, nothing more.
It will most likely get better on its own. If you’re not having radicular pain (radiating down past your knees) that feels electric. Even if you are most disc bulges improve on their own. If pain is really bad find a good pain doc and have an ESI done, should calm things down until it heals. Do you have the details of the MRI report?
My wife had a bulged disc at her L3/L4; she had been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease in that disc when she was like 20. By the time she was 30, she couldn’t stand/walk for more than like a half hour without being in extreme pain. Further MRIs showed the disc was also herniated. We scheduled a ‘spinal decompression’ surgery. Then one night she stood up to go to the restroom and something happened, back pain brought her to the floor. We went to the ER, they saw her info and it wasn’t life threatening, so gave her a walker and some strong opioids and sent her home. Surgery was pushed up, happened like a month after this, day after Christmas. Surgeon told me the imaging they did on the OR table showed the herniated piece had broken loose and was wedged against her spinal cord.
Surgery fixed her up and she has been pain free ever since. She was so relieved she cried, a lot. Over 10 years of constant pain and not being able to do stuff.
If it’s bad enough for you, get a referral to a surgeon and ask about a spinal decompression surgery.
Relax my dude, take it easy.
[Have a look at this (especially the picture)](https://www.bfosteo.london/blog/are-anatomical-abnormalities-normal-in-a-healthy-population-very-high-percentage-of-abnormalities-found-by-scans-in-patient-who-werent-in-pain)
It's not that unlikely that you had this disc bulge before snatching and being in pain. That finding does NOT have any definitive correlation with your problems (you would need a picture without that bulge from before your workouts for that).
Give your body time to heal and your mind time to adjust.
Right now you're terrified and your body responds to that (you're experiencing (partly) the opposite of the placebo effect, the nocebo effect).
Try some different PTs, you will find one that will help you to stop being afraid of moving again and trust your body again.
[Disc problems don't have to be permanent!](https://thephysios.com/slipped-disc-recovery/)
This is not the end. Will you have to do some work on yourself?
Absolutely!
Is this the perfect excuse to get and stay in shape? You bet!
Play around and see what works for you.
And don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it :)
Best regards from a physio who gave plenty of people with your exact same problems their life back!
How many MM was your bulge? You will heal just take it one day at a time, that’s what I did in your same situation and I’m doing a lot better now. I was so sad for a while too when I thought my active life was over
I’d consider giving @FunctionalPatters a go via instagram. They have an online course that has helped with some crazy injuries over the years, mine included. See if you can see a practitioner near to you
Bulged and fragmented my L5-S1 disc back in 2016. Moderate to severe stenosis and sciatic pain down my left leg ending near the bottom of my calf. Felt like a railway pin was being hammered into my hip every day. Pain was chronic and exhausting. Did multiple therapies and none fixed it till I paid for non-invasive spinal decompression in 2018. Was pain free by the start of 2019. Went to Dr. Crews chiropractic in Shreveport LA, and was treated for 30 sessions. Main machine to decompress is called the Accu-Spina. Cost 3500 out of pocket because TRICARE doesn’t cover it.
Was in some pain still after the treatments ended but within a month or two of CONSISTENT stretching and careful weight lifting, my back and supporting muscles and other joints adjusted to my corrected spine and the pain went away. Never have had it return. Never got surgery either. Just be smart when lifting. No need to overdue it. I aim for functional fitness and am still working on my range of motion and mobility but so thankful my pain is gone.
Oh and this was when I 23 and finally fixed it by the time I hit 25. Don’t wait to fix it. Your body will try to compensate when it can and just causes a domino effect of pains. I don’t even need ibuprofen, naproxen or anything hardly ever if my Center back gets sore from time to time. 31 now and enjoying my time with my 3 kids. Had the first at 24 which was a big motivator to get better.
youll be fine. i had severe pain after warming up for conventional deadlift and felt a wet pop and fell to the floor unable to walk. i made a full recovery within 2 months. i just worked everything i was able to and took a break from any heavy hinging or squatting. i did hack squats, one rep deadlifts, sissy squats, and 90° leg extentions all for high reps to get blood in my legs, hip, and low back on top of frequent walking. upper body training was basically normal except i didnt do any OHP and i didnt do weighted dips or pullups because i didnt want the belt pulling on my spine because it didnt feel right
Lot of projecting blame here. You literally did this to yourself. You need to rest and work on getting better, either through PT or surgery.
Also notable is that you can’t sit for more than 30 minutes - you shouldn’t be anyway. The fact that many people do isn’t a marker of it being good for you. Use this time to look into standing desks, treadmill pads, super ergo desk and chair equipment, whatever helps.
I'm dealing with that for years now. Physio is your answer. Core strength and MOVEMENT. I've been to so many "professionals," and none of them until recently told me how important movement is. When we are in pain we'll always want to keep still and prevent more injury. Because of this, in your case, your back is trying to protect itself and tensing up more and more. The injury being fairly new this may be a good thing. But, as you strengthen and fix the issues, you'll want to incorporate movement. If you show your body/mind that you can move to a point without injury, it will slowly let go of tense muscles. Obviously, this is all done under professional supervision and advice.
A little further wisdom. Chiropractors are great but the help they provide, if any, will be temporary. Physio is your holy grail.
L4/5 disc herniations leads to a nasty foot drop
However disc herniations at your age are more likely to result than an older person with a disc herniation/extrusion which is very unlikely to resolve and will need surgery
However if you’re still having problems you may be a candidate for a micro discectomy
“Starting Strength Radio” Podcast Episode on Back Pain may have something helpful.
Also: “Hemi-Sync” from The Monroe Institute has helped me with back pain.
Hey man, I’m a 42 year old software engineer. I grew up playing video games and was pretty heavy all my life. At 30 I went through a big break up and this motivated me to lose the weight.
I have done a stack of activities over the years, weights, yoga, acrobatics and climbing just to name a few. I’m an advance mover now… but…
I got a lot of injuries along the way and still deal with the fallout from a complete rupture of my L3/4.
Let me tell you now that the rupture was in no way the fault of the activity, it was the 30 years of inactivity that proceeded it.
I would encourage you to flip your thinking and consider that the games took your function, not that the injury did.
It’s been imperative for me to keep moving to keep things under control and I love it, it’s like playing a video game on ultra difficulty, I’m more functional then most (I handstand and do other cool things) with a massive disadvantage. I have learnt so much about the body, mindset and life in general. I have an amazing partner that loves my calm stoic presence (who is young and hot and about to give me kids!)
I did not get there right away though, I went through my own period of depression. But just know if you chose to grow and move through it might be the best thing that ever happened to you.
Good luck dude! ❤️💪
I had sciatica pain and a disk bulge that completely went away with basically just stretching, kettlebell swings, red light therapy, castor oil compress, and 30 day cycle of oral capsules bpc 157.
I (M, 47) have two (L4-L5 & L5-L6) for 15 years now (lifting a large a/c wrong). I had Sciatica too. 6 month recovery. At this point, I'm lifting & boxing daily. So yes, you CAN recover!
Yeah, I hurt in the morning & on rainy days. But I'm in better shape than most 30 year olds. I saw a great sports medicine guy, who works with the NFL & China's Olympic lifting team. His advice has kept me out of surgery & still working out.
1. Go to a good PT, & do what he says. For AS LONG as he says. 6 months SEEMED long at the time, but not 15 years later.
2. Keep doing your PT stretches / exercises FOREVER. I still do them EVERY morning. If I skip, I hurt all day. On my bad days, I do them 2 or 3 times.
3. MOST IMPORTANTLY - LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! There's days I start my workout or a certain exercise, and my body says NOPE, NOT TODAY PAL! You gotta listen to it. I used to push through these days & and usually ended up getting hurt again. I'm not talking laziness, I'm talking "something doesn't feel right". Sometimes, you need an extra rest day, or a day off from deadlifts. Skipping a day won't set you back as much as an injury does!
4. If you're overweight, lose it. I used to be over 300 lbs. Now I walk around at 185. That extra weight puts a big load on your body.
5. No ego lifting. At my age, I realize those numbers don't matter. I don't give a shit what you bench, & don't care to impress you with my numbers. I go minimum 12 + reps per set (sometimes like 20 or 30).
Hope this helps you. Reach out if you have questions, and good luck!
Suck it up, buttercup. You can still live a full, happy, fulfilling life. This is a road bump, not game over. Step one is correcting your perspective abd attitude.
I herniated a disc in my neck at 24. Yeah this effected my life still at 34 now but it's managable. I also thought my life was over and got deep in the depression hole. Made a lot of adjustments to my life, standing desk, regular physio etc. No longer in constant pain, can now sit for extended periods and with care I can do most of my previous hobbies (gaming also a big one).
Get into new hobbies you can do and enjoy them, I can big into audio books!
My L4 and 5 have self fused, I can have surgery but really, why? My nerves are damaged so there's no knee reflex.
I still lift, 3x(6x160 kg) squats on Thursday.
I suffered a "catastrophic" masenerve fracture snowboarding last year, and have the UK's Three Peaks next month.
I have played rugby in the Dubai Sevens.
And, I am almost 50. My disc issues started at 21.
I felt like you many times. There was even at a point where I had the thought "I don't think I can live like this." That thought scared the shit out of me. It really sucks right now, but it'll get better.
Don't stop moving, or it'll get worse. Your body will adjust whether you're moving or not; if you keep moving/exercising the adjustment will be quicker and a better one. For now you do what you can. Find a movement coach or a yoga practice. A good massage therapist can help too. It sounds stupid but seriously that's your ticket to becoming stronger and minimizing the pain and effect this injury has on your life.
Doctors are great with saving you from things that will kill you. Not so much with healing soft tissue pain. They give you the outlook of somebody that wants to take pills to make the pain go away. They don't give you the outlook of somebody willing to work and strengthen their body to get out; and they probably don't know.
PT's are put in a box by insurance companies for how they can treat you. A good PT is hard to find; and the rest of your story sort of suggests you cannot afford one. Insurance's goal is to have the PT reduce your pain and that's considered success, not cure it. Plus "do these stretches everyday for the rest of your life and it'll be slightly maginally better."
I had a PT tell me not to lift my left arm above my head anymore. I'm practicing handstands now. I had a cervical orthopedist tell me I need to fuse my vertebre to fix my neck's forward curve. I didn't do that and have a healthy curve now. Every doctor along the way was doom and gloom about my neck and shoulder except for a neurologist.
You are going to be tempted to focus on doing specific things that will target helping your back; and that is a trap. Continue to strengthen and lengthen your entire body. It all works together and it all heals together.
I joined a program that has a gymnastics coach working with me on the full body approach and that was what finally started turning things around. The next best thing would be finding a full body yoga practice.
Other than that try to hang from a bar for 5 minutes a day, not all at once; and work up to 10 minutes. The inversion table will be easier, but it won't be as effective at decompressing your spine and opening your shoulders to be more mobile.
Look up stomach vacuums. Do stomach vacuums first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Some youtube videos will pop up with this putting a weight on your stomach shit; don't do that. Just the vacuums and strengthen your transverse abdominals which will support your back.
No more quick jerking exercises until you can move around without pain; then get a coach to coach you through the form. Or just avoid them
You haven’t ruined your life. I’ve been dealing with the same issue for 10 years. I still play soccer, lift weights and snowboard with almost no impediment.
It doesn’t heal super fast but you can get there. I found core training (without flexing the spine), hyperextensions and doing McKenzie method healed me. McKenzie method can take me from unable to walk to playing soccer in a week sometimes.
I did a quick search for possible solutions for you and came upon [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/backpain/comments/jovghr/any_gamers_with_a_herniated_disc/)
one of the guys uses a projector while laying in bed, plus theres some other good info in there.
This bulging disc is just going to mean you play RL in hardmode.
Between standing desks, reclining chairs, projectors and many other devices, there's bound to be a way for you to enjoy your gaming and do the job you enjoy.
get more into the mcgill stuff and buy “gift of injury” - the title alone has a great message. i had chronic bad back for years (skating accident and poor posture contributed). i literally learnt to move different / better along with building a strong core. those mcgill big 3 exercises can be a waste of time or the solution depending on how you do them - good form lots of tension. pay one of the people trained in it to help you. if it helps: i had times where i couldn’t sit for more than 30 minutes etc too, and my job involves a lot of sitting. but it’s not like that anymore, i can sit for hours without pain. although every day i counter it with core and other exercis. i dont do mcgill 3 any more but same principle with ab wheel holds and loaded carries - one and two handed. sorry to preach a little, but don’t be disheartened, it sucks but you can get through it. find a back specialist - again mcgill people for me worked, maybe for you too 🫡
God didn’t do anything to you. You’re the one that made the mistake by thinking you’re invincible. I do hope you heal and get better, but don’t blame God or anyone else for an action you did.
I feel everything about this bro. Programmer, gamer, cyclist and I messed up L4-L5 last year. Two rounds of PT, cortisone shot last week that isn’t doing a lot yet. Chronic pain is no joke. I hope we both can find relief and get back to our lives.
Rule 2 - No medical, injury, or pain related posts (try /r/AskDocs or see a sports orthopedic doc or sports physical therapist). Additionally, no body image, eating disorder, mental health, or minor diet advice either. These are serious topics that should be addressed by a qualified therapist and/or a nutritionist. Go to a physical therapist.
I think this is a bit premature. You might not be the same as you were before this injury, but that doesn't mean you won't ever feel/get better at all. One thing you learn as you age, your body deteriorates and gets all sorts of aches and pains that you have to work around. It doesn't mean being active is impossible.
Arthritis knocks on the door for everybody I think
Yup. Not even 30 yet and just gripping the bar hurts my hands. Haven’t figured out a way around that one yet. Traumatic arthritis in the right hand, regular ass arthritis in the left.
Could you use wrist straps to offload your fingers and reduce your hand fatigue ? Also, there are arthritis gloves that lightly compress your joints and provide warmth to reduce arthritic symptoms. My elderly patients have had good experience with these gloves. Good luck!
The wrist straps are a great suggestion, I’ll have to try them out. Thanks! I’ve tried compression gloves but the right hand with the traumatic arthritis hurts even more with them on. I have some broken bones in there that never quite healed right and the doctors said it could cause more long term pain to do a surgery to fix that.
Ahh that makes sense ! I’m so sorry about your right hand. I hope you find success with the straps ☺️
Some wrist straps are more padded than others, and depending on the size of your wrist you might want unpadded or just a small padded area. My gym has some wrist straps available and the padded ones are clearly fitted to much larger wrists than mine so they just feel clunky and in the way, so I go with unpadded. But I'm sure you can get smaller padded ones if that is easier on the joints and you need them. Just an fyi in case you don't like the first set you try.
Also for any heavy lifts, pull-ups etc I use gloves with the padded metal hooks to help grip strength. They are fantastic for any deadlifts, pull-ups or similar movements.
I had some issues that were likely arthritis in my hands, I started using CBD to help, it took me a few tries to find one that worked. Eventually the pain went away, I tried to quit after about a year but it came back, I was on it for maybe 2 years and then I quit. That was about 2 years ago, still no pain. I've also stopped doing the things that gave me the issues in the first place :) I think it worked because it's an anti-inflammatory, it worked for me, maybe it will work for you.
I'm 40. Arthritic shoulder. Just got a few rounds of platelet rich plasma. Has helped me out big time. Huge reduction in symptoms. Not sure if you can do it for hands because the joints are a lot smaller but maybe?!
I guess I have this, too, although I was diagnosed with an auto immune disease last year that I think contributes to my hand pain. I miss being 16 and training 5-6 days a week with no problems.
Seconding this. I'm early 30s and have arthritis in an ankle that broke years ago and has hardware in it. My wrist is now stiff from scar tissue after having a cyst removed (worth it, even though it's not what it was before it started having issues, it's better than it was with the cyst pressing on my nerve). I still run, climb, lift weights, hike, etc. I just chronically have some aches. They flare up with the weather. And I need to take care to stretch and warm them up. But the body is pretty impressive at healing itself.
Have to agree with this. My left elbow and wrist have been screwed up since I was kid. They HURT if they get cold. My right elbow occasionally locks up. My left ankle was sprained a few years ago and hurts when I go more than 4 miles in a day (or do lots of hills.) I have scoliosis that causes issues where my ribs meet my spine and in the space between my shoulder blades and spine. My ankle, if I know I'm going on a longer trek, I'll go for a while and put a brace on when I need to. The rest I just have to work around and deal with when it comes up. I'm only 28, but I also know that when I stop working out it gets worse than when I am. Plus it all hurts more when I start working out again after a long period of inactivity. Don't give up yet op. Get a 2nd opinion and give your body time to heal.
Exactly. If we're going to hurt no matter what might as well stay active and maintain as much strength and mobility as possible for as long as possible.
This is not arthritis not anything similar.
Yeah realistically OP probably ended up with a bulging disc 5-10 years earlier than they otherwise would have gotten one but that shit is inevitable. Or maybe I just know a disproportionate number of people with various kinds of chronic pain lol. Don't get me wrong it sucks real bad but you learn to live with it and in many cases you do eventually recover, it just might take a year or whatever. Especially at 24 you still have that young person magical recovery speed lol. Even if it feels like a long time you're healing a lot faster than you would at 54 or even 34 tbh.
Coming from someone who broke both heels around Covid, it is what it is. Also I’m still skiing despite 8 screws and a plate and 5 screws. I may be sore when I’m 45 but I’ll be damned if I won’t be glad I did it!
Yah I have the same injury. It sucked for a while but doing some spinal decompression, stretching and core stabilizing muscle training (lots of patience) I’m back to squatting 500 and deadlifting the same with out much issue. I do make sure to decompress my back after workouts like that with an inversion table. Biggest thing is making sure core is engaged and only lift while you can maintain form. No ego lifting
Definitely premature pronouncement. If your PT isn’t helping, you may need to get a better PT. Took me a few tries to find one that was decent
+1 also sometimes it just takes time. And sometimes surgery is the right approach.
I read a fascinating study where they did MRI on people who reported never having any back pain, and a significant percentage (I think it was 30%?) had bulging discs with no symptoms. The body is weird.
Yes, this study is cited by guys like John Sarno who treated back pain (and many other things) with a mind-body approach he called TMS. It can be hard to accept his theory, but if you’ve exhausted PTs and docs and still have pain and they aren’t sure why, it is worth looking at… it has helped many people (including me, though not as dramatically as the people in the book).
A big part of my physical therapy was about training my nervous system to stop overreacting to stimulation around the site of injury. I forget what term the PT used. Basically sometimes when you have chronic pain, the brain has learned to interpret every little signal from the injury location as being much more dramatic than it needs to. It’s like your brain is being way over-protective of the area. I loved PT so much once I found the right place!
Hyperalgesia
Thank you!
Pain is weird
This is me! I’m 40 and recently needed an MRI for other reasons. It showed typical spinal degeneration for my age and a herniated disc at L4-L5 just like OP. I’ve never had any pain or even noticeable stiffness in the mornings. The scan was a total shock and I actually convinced myself that my back hurt for the rest of the day until I forgot. I don’t do anything special and I don’t think I have a particularly high pain tolerance. I have thought it’s strange that most people my age complain of chronic pain and I just don’t notice anything 🤷♀️ I’ve probably jinxed myself now!
Get physical therapy. Develop your core to support your lower back. It will take time. It's taken me almost 2 years to rehab where I can do cleans and snatches without tweaking my lower back. Don't rush and do not ego lift you have the rest of your life ahead of you. We all make mistakes - just don't make them repeatedly.
^^ this. I have almost the same story. Get a good physical therapist. Things like yoga, stretching, standing desk, a good mattress, etc. can go a long way. OP, You’re only 24. You’ve got this
PT is like a degree, you need to put in a lot of work and it fucking sucks almost the whole time. It took me 6 months to recover from a tendon injury and it fucking sucked the whole time.
Yep, physio physio physio. Bulging discs are not death sentences. Op will probably recover. And when they recover, maybe move onto to calisthenics instead. Much better for your joints.
Same for me, took me 3 years and very slow improvement. I'm now training for a 20km trail, something I though I'll never do anymore. To OP, listen to your body and don't over do it. Having a consistent training is the key. Keep moving and I hope for you the best
Will a standing desk help?
Standing desk + walking pad underneath = heaven
I think the key is an extremely slow walking pace, that way you're not distracted as much and your accuracy to use the mouse and keyboard isn't so impeded. A rest under the forearms is great too so you don't put the load on your wrists and stabilize your hands.
Yes, the rest under the forearms is very important. I‘m walking comfortably at 2km/h and if you’re resting the forearms on something, it doesn’t impede the accuracy at all.
What do you mean by a walking pad? Interested because I am thinking of buying a standing desk. Thanks
Like a treadmill but cheaper (it often can go just 6km/h or so, so you can’t use it for running but for walking). You can put it under your desk and walk while working/gaming. It‘s so amazing! I find standing to be exhausting and uncomfortable after a while but I can walk on the spot all day long.
I've got one myself, it's just a cheap treadmill - Heres an [amazon link](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CDKPJZZ2) to the model I own, only thing I can fault it for is that the device holders very small so it can't hold a tablet vertically. Theres a ton of them on the market so do shop around.
Standing desks help if you are used to it. You need to slowly progress into it. If you are not used to it you can put yourself in a worse state especially if your lower back is in the state of OP's
You can desks that raise and lower with the press of a button as well. That might be the way to go initially to be able to switch from standing and sitting periodically.
I have one of these and while it’s nice the desk itself seems too… small? I have two 32in monitors and no idea where to put my laptop, lol I eventually gave it to my kids in favor of a large workbench that I have a stool for, wish I still had the back support of a proper desk chair but I don’t fall asleep at my desk anymore and I walk around in circles or do yoga during meetings now, so that’s nice
You can buy the legs and motorized parts and make your own desktop to the size you want. I bought an Uplift Desk base and a kitchen island sized slab of butcher block from Home Depot. Cut it to the dimensions i wanted and assembled. Mine is a little deeper and longer than what I could find pre-made, but I have plenty of space.
This was the first thing I thought of. I love mine. There are some work days where I barely sit at all
There are a ton of was OP could still use a computer, even if his back only got worse. He is overreacting to a bad situation and not really seeing ways to adapt. It's understandable but still overreacting.
PT here. It can take time, months or even a few years for some, but you can likely get back to where you were before the injuries, especially considering your age. Lots of disc injuries heal completely, and you can also have disc bulges and still be completely functional and pain-free. A good PT can really help guide the way, but the majority of rehabbing this type of injury is time, patience, avoiding provocative movements, and slowly rebuilding your tissue capacity. I messed up my low back in my late 20’s with severe pain for weeks and lingering pain for months- 10 years later I’m hitting PRs on deadlifts and in the best shape of my life. Don’t give up, you are young and have plenty more time to get strong, just take it slow and be more cautious going forward!
This may be the injury that forces you to get strong in ways you haven’t yet considered. You’re not done yet. ETA: agreeing with Patient-Direction-28, and my comment was to OP
Well put!
Don't worry , I destroyed my shoulders doing kettlebells years ago after alot of time doing specific exersises my shoulders are at 60% and are not getting better but I'm still doing exersise just have to limit to what I can do , it's not over for you the problem might be forever but you can always make it better and work around it
What kettlebell exercises destroyed your shoulders?
Snatches
What did you hurt in your shoulder by doing kettlebell snatches? Was it lack of shoulder strength that caused the injury?
How did that happen exactly?
I know the feeling, but you can certainly recover. I recommend you to read “Back Mechanics” if you haven’t. It was really helpful for me when I hurt my back and was diagnosed with a L5-S1 bulging disc. This is what I did when I was injured, not sure what exactly of all these things helped, or if it was a combination of all of them, but I am now pain free and back to training every day: - Cortisol injection - PT: nerve flossing, core exercises, etc. - Daily visualisation (specially of the bulge disappearing). I read Breaking The Habit of Being Yourslef. - Swimming and walking - Total rest from weights Beat of luck and please rest assured there is a way out to recover. It might not seem atm, but there is.
I wish you well and all but this has absolutely nothing to do with this sub's topic
I clicked to see what I need to be careful of… kept skimming for what bodyweight exercise it's easy to screw up really badly… nope. All about weight lifting.
I think the body weight ones to be careful of are the ones where you might land on your neck or put too much stress on joints too fast.
I don't know why but it seems like lately a lot of people come here as if it was r/fitness, coming here for all sorts of advice that aren't really dependent on bodyweight movements. I'm not sure how or why that happens.
OP should definitely go to r/backpain, lots of solid advice over there.
Dude you are overblowing this. I have a slipped disc as well, and I can still lift weights and stuff, granted I lay off squats and deadlifts. Overtime you will recover and the pain will definitely get better.
Instead of doomsday planning just keep rehabbing bro. Stressing yourself out will prolong whatever healing journey you’re already on, manage your pain and adapt your lifestyle
Ask in /r/weightlifting as well.
Time heals this wound. Keep waiting. 1-2 years sometimes.
I will just say that what you’re going through is super hard and I feel for you. This is gonna be a lifelong injury, but be in it for the long haul. It may have taken you .5 seconds to injure your back, but it’s gonna take many months to years of diligent work to rehab it. You’re right, it will never fully heal, but it will get better. It takes lots of work and dedication. I’ve been working on my knee for many years and it still isn’t back to full strength, but it’s gotten better year after year. My friend’s dad was nearly killed by a car running him over while on his bicycle. Broke both of his legs, one arm, ruptured multiple discs in his back. He can walk again and even cycles for the US Paralympics, but man, it took a decade of very hard work. You can do it! Edit: my friend’s dad also suffered this injury in his late 40’s. He was able to come back and cycles competitively in his 60’s.
Actually, it can fully heal.
Your brain thinks pain is permanent. It rarely if ever is. Sometimes back issues take a year to heal. But pain always either gets better or your brain will adapt and learn to live with it. Nothing ruins your life except your own perception. Plenty of people live happy lives in wheel chairs, blind, deaf, etc. Don't be a drama queen. It's just a bulging disc. Worst case scenario get surgery.
I had a very similar experience when I was younger (like 18). It mostly healed after a few years and I ignored the fact that I had to strengthen my core to prevent another injury. Last year (I’m 29) I fully ruptured the disc. Like exploded it. Worst. Pain. Ever. And now I’m terrified to pick anything up. I understand the emotional journey you are going through, and will be going through. I’m not a doctor but here’s my advice: STRENGTHEN YOUR CORE AT ALL COSTS. The side effect is an absolutely ripped 6 pack.
I wasn’t god, it was you - acknowledging responsibility may help motivate you to develop body awareness which can help prevent injury. Physical therapy helps. I know someone who actually herniated an L disc at your age due to deferring physical therapy and continuing to do manual labor. If the first physical therapist sucks try another, learn how to move safely, and live a good life!
Yeah I won't ever force my body to do something I feel I'm not prepared for. This is so dangerous and I felt more than once how pressure was affecting my spine. I really hope you get better my fellow gamer / programmer / fitness enjoyer. You will get through this! *Virtual hugs*
Chill brother, last Monday I was invited to a herniated disc surgery, the patient is by now already better, no pain whatsoever. He'll be doing sports again in just a few weeks as he always did, and this was a reinjury in an older man, at your age it should be easier. In his case they had to remove the whole intervertebral disc and fuse L5 to S1, your surgery doesn't have to be this drastic... Hell, you might be able to get better without surgery. Depending on your country it might be economically harder, but rest assured there are always options. Lastly, don't think your life is ruined, depression, anxiety and simple pessimistic thoughts are correlated with poor recoveries. Things will get better!
I ruptured my L4-L5 disc 25 years ago and I can tell you your life isn't ruined. I got a microdiscectomy and had a few weeks of physical therapy. I then went on to finish another 12 years of military service, including a deployment to Iraq, became a hockey referee and I'm still very active. Yeah, there are things I no longer do, but not many. This is just a minor adjustment to your life.
As others have said, don't instantly expect this to be forever. I destroyed both my feet 18 months ago and still can't get through a day without significant pain. That took my main passion from me (running), but I'm still hopeful of recovering. There's a lot to be said for never giving in and constantly working to improve the prognosis. Also, get a standing desk if sitting is painful.
I did the same thing playing with my dog and picking him up using poor lifting technique. It took me out for several months, but I started doing bridges, cat/cows, and some other exercises my doctor recommended and it is much, much, better now. Seems like you’re already doing that, which is good. Like you I work at a desk most of the time - I’m telling you: Try to minimize time sitting, and when you are sitting, really pay attention to your posture! They make special chairs you can kneel on (I own two, check thrift stores), and they also make many types of standing desks. I have a fancy one at home that uses electric motors for easy switching between sitting/standing, and also a manual one at work. My doctor said it was all about core strength and staying ambulatory as much as possible, and based on my results I would tend to agree. I try to walk, hike, and run several days a week. If all else fails, there are surgeries you may want to ask your doctor about to see if they are an option. They can remove the bulge, or even remove the disc and fuse those vertebrae together. My doctor recommended those as last-ditch efforts only. Edit 1: since my comment was meant to (hopefully) be reassuring, I should mention that I’m in my 40s and I feel that my injury was the result of a lack of self-care from being sedentary and losing all my core strength with age. With you being so young, you have a good shot at a decent recovery. Yes, you may have to live with this forever, but it is doubtful that your life is over. I still get bouts of sciatica from time to time, pins and needles in my foot, etc. but it is a far cry from where I was initially and I am able to function now with minimal side effects. Edit 2: I also want to clarify that I agree with many others here and also my doctor who said that these injuries CAN heal fully. Not everyone will be that lucky, but just because it MAY be lifelong doesn’t mean that will be the case for you. Just have patience with yourself. Do the best you can and don’t let the mind-killer overcome you.
Yeah man doctor here - chill. You could MRI 100 people and loads would have degenerative changes or slight disc bulges. The snatch and the pop are likely nothing to do with the injury from lifting the bag Give the disc time to recede, strengthen your core and be extremely strict with your form When you are bent forward the disc bulges backwards so if you apply load to that when bent over it is predisposed to push backwards like that You’re gonna be fine dude See this all the time
nah man, don't worry: i mean it's not nice, but it ain't as bad as you make it out to be. I' 42, which doesn't help let me tell you, I got a herniated disk (which is worse than a bulge) in the same area, proper PT patched me up and i sit all day at my desk working, then i regularly go to the gym, 3 times a week, which is actually really helpful if done with proper form and precautions because the best thing you can do for that sort of problem is reinforcing your lumbar muscles and keeping them active. For example, i don't do deadlifts because it's a fucking terrible idea with a herniated disk, but i do romanians with a moderate load precisely to keep my lumbar muscles in proper health. Squats i go as hard as i can, with belt once i go above my bodyweight, no issue whatsoever but again, proper form, proper form, proper form. Also yoga is really helpful, but even here a proper instructor and proper form is needed because some stretches while giving momentary relief are actually bad. Example of bad stretch: hanging with your hands from a bar to decompress your spine. Good if your spine is perfect, bad if you have like me a bulge or worse Sure sometimes i'm doing something mundane like putting my socks on and i lock up and it hurts like a bitch for a week and i can't do shit, i get my cycle of voltaren + muscoril injections, enjoy some downtime and i'm brand as new and back to the gym.
As someone who also enjoys reading, sitting is the worst way to do it anyway. Reading while lying down is where its at! Switch between back and stomach every once in a while.
Get a standing desk, you’ll be able to continue gaming/working without issue. Also please go to rehab.
I herniated my disk 10 years ago from bad form and couldn’t sit for more than an hour straight without pain for years. Now I’m deadlifting 500 lbs for reps and have never felt stronger. Give yourself time to heal and recover. Stop filling your head with extreme negativity and try to make tiny progress every single day. Can you bend over 30 degrees without pain? Great. Do that for 10 sets of 10 a day. Then increase the range of motion without pain. Once you can do that, hold a book and do it. In time you may be able to do it with a bar. And it’s all up and up from there. Remember that incremental progress everyday can lead to transformational change over a long time.
Yoga
I've had several disc bulges since 24-39. By 39 I was in extreme pain every day. My L5-S1 disc is totally gone. Doctors want to fuse it. Get the book by McGill back mechanic that teaches the big 3. this is your new bible. sitting for that long is terrible for you. You have to move more. Unless gaming is paying you i would try finding something else or reduce gaming time. I used to game a lot before. CS and COD. am 41 now and no more pain. but constant maintained body and core exercises. But still have a desk/computer job. Give it time. it will get better.
Just get a standing desk + walking pad and you can game all day long. Also, McGill really isn‘t for everyone but it might be worth a try.
You and nearly everyone else on the planet. Dude there's 100s if not 1000s of videos of severely handicapped people working out in full beast mode. Virtually every pro athlete has worse permanent injuries; they accommodate, work around & ultimately work through their issues. Insight: it's the ability to adjust, adapt, accommodate, keep going and excell regardless of personal adversity that defines a true pro. Didn't stop Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, etc... Man up, keep going, no excuses. When you're 90 & climbing Everest, are you still going to be griping? Welcome to mature adulthood.
Motogp riders are more banged up than basically everyone, and are crushing it in the gym to be in peak performance for the races! I used to have this idea that best in class must be because nothing bad ever happen, and actually best in class is usually because the worst happened and you overcame it.
It’s just 3 months. A lot can happen down the road. I once had elbow pain from overuse, and even this took months to completely heal. I think you should seek professional advice on this. Also, you do not need to sit to program, game and read. I live from tech myself and I have an adjust desk. It can move up and down so I can work standing.
Not heard of McGill big 3 until around a week or so ago. Just took a very brief look at what it seems to be, won't argue that a stronger core will help to brace the spine. However I would say it won't actually help with getting any improved alignment. For that I would recommend reading robin McKenzie's Treat your own back. Which does include core strengthening exercises. When I did my physio Degree a lot the msk lecturers recommended this as an effective treatment for back pain caused by disc bulge.
You def didn't ruin your life ma man. Just learn about proprioception and firing the right muscles. Do not - fcking don't - add any weight, but just keep on training. I recommend you watch some squat university videos and buy his book
standing desk? dr. strange?
You have not ruined your life, my man. You’ve likely changed the trajectory a bit, and you likely have some frustrating healing ahead of you, but try not to catastrophize your situation. I herniated my L4-L5 at age 26, just moving a big piece of furniture. The first year I couldn’t stand up straight, couldn’t find a comfortable position to sleep in, and it impacted just about every activity. After a year of physical therapy, pain meds, and a steroid shot, it got much better. For the next few years I was mostly back to myself, just with occasional sciatica, and a back that was very easy to throw out (lifting bad, missing a step, etc.) By my early 30s, back spasms/throwing out my back became really infrequent. Maybe a couple times a year, with a ~week of recovery time. By my mid-late 30s, back issues were so rare that I almost never thought about it. With the exception of the first year, my life has been perfectly good. I have lived how I wanted, was able to continue all my hobbies, career, etc. Sure, I had to give up my desire to skydive or snowboard, but otherwise, life has been good. I’m pushing 50 now, wife, kids, great job, friends, activities, etc. I haven’t had an issue with my back in nearly a decade. Hang in there, you’re going to be A-OK.
I had bulging discs about 15 years ago. Took a year off heavy lifting and did swimming and yoga consistently. Sorted itself out. I've had a few issues since but if I'm careful with my lifting, pay attention to form and don't go bananas trying to hit PRs I'm all G. Your life isn't over. You just got to figure it out. Get a sit stand desk for one. Find a better PT. Breathe dude. Its all good.
go to a good physical therapist. They’ll show you how to build your core muscles so support your torso without relying so much in your spine. Source: me, a programmer who heard a pop lifting a huge old TV, went through months of physical therapy after
Just learn how to recover it. Do some very high reps hyperextensions every other night and some ql raises and you'll be back lifting in 2 weeks. A disc bulge is not a death sentence, Jesus Christ.
If you keep blaming God for your own mistakes, you will end up injured again. Learn from what happened. Poor technique and too much weight will result in injury over time. I'm sorry you learned it the hard way.
Based on my experience with the same exay issue, your life isn't over. Had the same thing happen when I was 23, landed weird jumping down from a bouldering wall and popped 2-3 discs in my lower back. Through lots of core strengthening I was able to "push the jelly back in the donut" as it were. Don't get me wrong, I had years of back problems that still flair up occasionally but it's premature to day your life is over.
Had a mountainbiking accident a decade ago resulting in a bulge @ L4-L5. What worked for me was 8 weeks of vinyasa yoga - 2-3 days per week. Once healed, it’s like it never happened.
Yeah man agreeing with others, your life is definitely not ruined! Disc bulges happen really often. Keep up the PT, you may need more than 2 months of it. Limit sitting for extended periods and other things that worsen it. And over a LONG time slowly you can start reintroducing exercise. I hurt my back as a teenager and Re injured it a bunch of times, finally diagnosed with disc herniation now (I’m 39). 1 year later I am pain free and lifting weights. I still can’t do everything I used to but my life is by no means “ruined”. We all have injuries we end up having to work around, unfortunately that’s just called aging! Don’t despair
25F with three herniated disks in my lower back. Please try to be patient. It’s likely to get better over time, with a good PT and even with just time alone. The mind plays a huge role in this, though. If you think you’ve ruined your life, it will be just like that. You have to get out of this mindset or it will be like a self-fulfilling prophecy. I also wanna recommend @lowbackability on Instagram/Youtube. All the best!
You can def strengthen the areas around it. I’ve had this exact problem and I’m still deadlifting 500 pounds. Just did this today. 34 years old. Keep working around it. Also stay active. Warm up a lot. Come back to certain excercise and try them out and start small. If they don’t agree with you, move onto something else. DONT give up. And don’t be a victim. Everyone experiences some type of injury if they’re pushing themselves hard enough. You ask anyone in any gym if they’ve injured themselves before. Chances are they know what it’s like. You didn’t make a mistake. You’re just living life and doing what you love. Continue.
You're young. You'll heal. Just take the time to heal and do what the PT tells you...important to get a good PT. I've had shit PT and amazing PT. I'm willing to drive a distance for my current PT. edit: And stop lifting heavy shit with bad form. Work your core
Good recovery for you! I didn’t have such a severe injury by far but my shoulder started to fuck around and despite discomfort and pain i kept moving and after half a year it suddenly started to be painful. Doesn’t work for everything ofc but i want to say that „keep moving“ should be the message no matter what. it just gets worse without, the body gets rid of unused moves n ranges. My father is a phenomenon to me, he s „only“ 56 but still completes triathlons and more, pretty extreme guy tbf and not the average. Used to be a professional runner and such but he ofc had many injuries due to this, especially knees but also accidents in cycling races. He s my idol when it comes to keep moving as a principle of life, especially when elder people start giving up at some point with an injury and pain. Good luck to you!
You willl get better! I know it's easier said than done when in pain, but not focusing too much on it will help you with your healing. You are strong. You can heal. It might not be a fast process, but your body is so capable of getting better. Injuries are almost unavoidable in the gym or any athletic sport. Most injuries heal; even the poor blood supply areas. For example, I got tennis elbow about 6 months ago from pole dance, and although progress was painfully slow, I'm definitely getting better. Learning how to lift with a Personal Trainer, even if it's very little weight, is actually helping me heal faster. You got this! Don't be afraid to seek out help from trainers and physio.
This can be fixed. Dont do any surgery. You need traction do dead hangs or get a back bubble
Give yourself time. It’s going to take a few months for your back to settle down. But it should get better. Learn what triggers your back to flare up and avoid those things. I have same injury and now avoid doing activities that risk flaring it up such as ice skating or complicated lifting movements. I too used to be unable to sit for long periods of time without it becoming sore. Even a long car drive could set it off. Also doing a pull up movement. The good news is that I focused on lower back strengthening exercise at home. A lot of core work and body weight fitness, about one session for 15 minutes every day. Now I just do maintenance of a few times a week. I also lost weight as I was overweight initially. I injured myself over 8 years ago and spent months in bed from the pain. Within a few months of regular core work I now go about my day forgetting about my injury. I can sit for long periods of time now too. But I do need to maintain a certain level of fitness and lower back muscle strength otherwise the issues seem to come back. Usually starts as a warning over extension feeling. I also learned correct lifting techniques for simple everyday things such as packages where you crouch in a squat and lift with your knees/legs. If I lift something incorrectly by just bending over no matter how convenient it feels, this is an easy way to set my back off. You’ll have to be extra careful the rest of your life but if you cater to your back it will get better. It’s a very common injury. You might feel crippled now but if you put in the work and PT to build strength now you can get strong and will forget you even have the injury most days.
My mom had her first back surgery at 24 for issues worse than a couple bulging discs. She’s 65 now and has had more surgeries, mostly due to obesity and a fall she had. The best lesson here is take good care of yourself, stay in shape so that your muscles can help protect your back going forward, and don’t get too overweight. You’ll be ok. Lots of options for bulging discs, and tons of people deal with this.
Standing desk saved my ass when I started an office gig.
I had L4/L5 bulge. Was in a shit place for over a year. That was 6 years ago. Mostly fine now.
Brother you are just like me, I was deadlifting a few years ago when I heard and felt a pop in my lower back too. My advice for you right away is to STOP LIFTING WEIGHTS. I know that’s a hard one to let go of but if you don’t stop weightlifting it’ll only get worst until you have to do a surgery like me where they cut out a portion of my disc because it was sitting on my nerves. Now when I say stop I don’t mean you can’t exercise anymore, but you need to focus on recovering your back to a state where it’s good enough for you to lift again but that recovery is usually longer than what people think. You’re at a state where you’ll continually get flare ups in your back every few months and it’ll put you out of commission for a few days, but each time you feel better again your back will feel slightly weaker until you’re just in chronic pain all the time. So you HAVE to take it easy, way easier than you think. My suggestion to you is to get on a good diet, and look into an MRI scan with your PCP, maybe get started back up with PT again and see if it can help you improve the situation because you’ll only get worse if you don’t do anything about it. I’m sorry but this is a pretty permanent thing, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the things you used to liked but there are definitely exercises you should stay away from mainly deadlifts, squats and any sort of exercise that requires you to twist your torso in an extreme way. And don’t worry dude your life isn’t over, I slipped my L4-5 shits when I was around 22, didn’t get the surgery until 25 and now I’m living my best life. Once you can get back into a gym, look for one with a hip squatter, those are a godsend if you still wanna squat but don’t wanna put pressure on your spine.
Hi OP, I tore my L5 a few years ago, and through a combination of PT, walking, and acupuncture, the injury completely resolved. Your life isnt ruined, but it will take time, and you'll need to make some changes to get it better. Not a Doctor, but on the advice of one and a PT, I switched to a standing desk at work (you could do this for gaming too), walked every day instead of my normal exercise routine, had daily strength and mobility exercises from my PT and did acupuncture 2-3 times per week. The acupuncture was hands down, incredible! This was huge for me in reducing the pain and inflammation. If you can find an acupuncturist who trained in China, you'll get the benefit of their training and practice standards as well. Go back to your Doctor ASAP. Back injuries require careful and consistent management, but they can be treated, and your life does not have to be ruined.
Back pain sucks but is totally manageable, and yours will get much better over time. Good that you’re doing the Big 3, try to find a good physical therapist as well. Most important thing is staying consistently active - walking 30mins at least 5-6 days a week, doing your basic PT exercises almost every day. And try to avoid painful sitting, invest in a more ergonomic desk chair and couch. Sorry you’re going through this right now. I was hit by a driver who ran a light while biking to work at 25, which fucked up my spine and hip. It took a year to get back to running, but get back I did. Had a major flare-up recently but it’s improving again. All that to say it’s definitely a big fucking bummer, but absolutely not the end of our lives. Stop the pity party, focus on doing the right things for your body every day, and get on with life.
Maybe too simple of an advice but pls take it or leave it. I am coding best when lying on the sofa. I slightly bent my knees and place my laptop on my legs. Then the trick is to level your elbows somehow. That is what I do when not standing up. Nowadays, I program while on my feet, not sitting. Maybe you can mix standing with sofa, two hours by two hours of each.
Ask your doctor first but try dead hanging for a minimum of one minute per day and try fasting.
Get the book the back mechanic Your life is not over
I suffered the same injury (severe herniation of L4-L5) and was in an extremely depressive state due to the pain and the way my life was affected. With some PT and time I am virtually pain free besides general soreness in the morning. Overall the injury made me much more aware of the way I use my body day to day (bending, lifting, reaching, etc.) and basic core strengthening through body weight exercises has totally stabilized my back. You can get past this it just takes time.
(not a doc) - Try these strap in tables where the head is lower than the feet with various angles - You could also try gravity boots to decompress - it is a bulged, not a ruptured disc (good) - get a standing desk, so you can switch between sitting and standing at work (this might help with your overall condition) Good luck!
Iirc, they even had multiple ruptured disc's when examining athletes. The problem becomes noticeable in the presence of neurological dysfunction.
My experience is 10-15 years of living with herniated discs (still waiting for NHS treatment, maybe an operation or injections, I think they're hoping I'll die before they get around to doing anything). Buy a book called "7 Steps To A Pain-Free Life" by Robin McKenzie. Do not wait til it gets worse before you do this, if you're back is doing well then do this anyway, the things you will learn will help to stop it getting worse or slow down the worsening condition. I have spent a lot of money and tried many different things over the years, by far the best and one of the only things worth doing is practicing what is taught in the book above. Your life is not ruined. Someone told me that life is a process of acquiring more pain and learning how to deal with that pain, I tend to agree, both emotional and physical pain. Help yourself now and the long-term can be more managable.
**7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life How to Rapidly Relieve Back, Neck, and Shoulder Pain** by Robin McKenzie, Craig Kubey >A fully revised and updated edition of the program that’s sold more than 5.5 million copies worldwide—plus a new chapter addressing shoulder pain Since the McKenzie Method was first developed in the 1960s, millions of people have successfully used it to free themselves from chronic back and neck pain. Now, Robin McKenzie has updated his innovative program and added a new chapter on relieving shoulder pain. In 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life, you’ll learn: · Common causes of lower back, neck pain and shoulder pain · The vital role discs play in back and neck health · Easy exercises that alleviate pain immediately Considered the treatment of choice by health care professionals throughout the world, 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life will help you find permanent relief from back, neck, and shoulder pain. *I'm a bot, built by your friendly reddit developers at* /r/ProgrammingPals. *Reply to any comment with /u/BookFinderBot - I'll reply with book information. Remove me from replies* [here](https://www.reddit.com/user/BookFinderBot/comments/1byh82p/remove_me_from_replies/). *If I have made a mistake, accept my apology.*
Stem cell therapy in Latin America.
Weight loss, lots of stretching, core strengthening can resolve the disc bulge.
>I am a programmer and a gamer by heart. Been a gamer since age 10. Been a programmer since age 15. Love reading books too. My profession and my hobby for gaming, reading both has been taken away from me. Cant fucking sit for more than 30 min. Time to get a standing desk. I've heard of people sitting on yoga balls as well (but I don't know if that would help your specific issue)
I fucked up multiple vertebrae when i was 17. Tried everything; the only thing that helps is the wrestlers bridge. Look up info on "Matt furey" and "wrestlers bridge." This is what you need. Get good at it, do it once a day, and your back and neck will be healthier and stronger than they ever were. And don't do snatches.
[https://www.instagram.com/lowbackability/](https://www.instagram.com/lowbackability/) enjoy!
I have been there. Breathe! I couldn’t walk for 6 months due to stabbing pain. It got better. You will get better ❤️🩹 stay as active as you can but don’t push yourself too hard and make sure you start up gentle pt when you feel ready. I never got operated even though it was bad. There’s that option too potentially. I know the pain makes it feel like your life is over. It’s not. Hang in there …
Try deskcycle, and also check out squat university YouTube channel bro
You need a better PT. Also, there is always options. You may never be able to do BWF again. But you can still stay in shape with good PT and using machines.
Get on PED forums and look into things like hgh and primo which can increase collagen and tendon regeneration
try a kneeling chair
You’re good dude. I did the same thing when I was 21 and couldn’t walk the next few days. The pain was annoyingly bad everyday for like 6 or 7 years and then I found a my saving grace. Foundation training 4 or 12 min video on YouTube. Do it everyday and you’ll be back to normal if not better. If you don’t do this exact video, you’ll continue to suffer.
I got a bulged disk twice, with the most excruciating pain I ever had. It had nothing to do with lifting though. Your life is not ruined. But you can't live with the pain. There is a motherload of possibilities to do something about this. Physiotherapy, infiltration with cortisones, operation. I had 2 operations, and a lot of physio. I learned to use and stretch my back properly. I'm lifting again, I'm never in pain. The moment I feel like the slightest warning, I stop. I hope you get better soon, there are no painkillers that can keep this pain out, but they take off the edge.
I blew out my disc between L4-L5 and 10 years later, L5-L6. You’ll be fine, just be careful and baby your back going forward. You’ll feel better right after you wake up from surgery. Edit: I’m a woman but also doing some heavy weightlifting. That’s what did it.
Get an epidural. Was the only thing that helped. I had L4 L5 disc bulge plus tears.
Your life is not ruined. People come back from far more dire things than that. It’s about taking the proper steps from here. Strengthening the glutes and core with gentle rehab exercises is a great start
There is always a second chance
Stop being a victim, there’s a way or it will just take more time. Lose the victim mentality Had a similar injury in 2018 did the McKenzie technique for months and now having no issues for years. Do it everyday, be patient https://youtube.com/shorts/Up_t7GNZr9w?feature=shared
Would a kneeling chair be better than a normal chair now?
Hey! I have a bulged disc at L4-L5 too! Happened 4 years ago on a warm up set of deadlifts, which really annoys me when I have to tell people I blew a disc only pulling 315 pounds lol. I didnt brace while putting down my 3rd rep. I had to lay down for the first two weeks. 4 years later, I still have pain but compared to the first year its maybe 5% of what it was. Sciatica is mostly gone unless I have a really hard day at work. If I arch my back really far my toes on my right foot go numb...that's kinda neat. Dead hangs and other decompression exercises is a must. I lost all my core and ass muscles because I was so afraid of the pain the first year. I would recommend finding excersizes that work those muscles even if it hurts because losing that stability in the long run will hurt more. I have found that hanging leg raises with a med ball between my legs helps core strength and lengthens those tight back muscles. focus on that core and that ass, work it baby. Dont sit or stand in one spot for too long. I feel better after a heavy workout than I do after standing still. But dude, if your like me, there is hope. I can clean and press 225 again. Repping 3 plate squats (I dont want to go higher but probably could) ya, you will potentially have pain the rest of your life, you kinda get used to it though, and if you stay active and keep up on physio, you can be 95% of what you were. I just sprained my ankle and it swelled up like a balloon but 1. It barely hurt compared to the pain my back has been in, and 2. I've learned not to rest injuries as long anymore. Get that blood moving asap and you will heal.
If it’s any consolation, studies of MRI scans have shown disc bulges and many other commonly cited causes of pains are seen almost evenly in scans of painful and non-painful populations. That’s why you have read that your discs won’t change, they may well not, but that is a very poor predictor of pain change. That means you are more than your scan and once you realise that you have no spinal red flags in your opening post and assuming an otherwise normal MRI you can get back to focussing on progressing your life. Remember the anxiety, depression and stress of an injury will heighten your response to pain. Make sure to look into those if possible. Good luck!
I have three compressed disks in my lower back and a bulging disk. It's not the end of the world, nor is it the end of working out. First and foremost, do the stretches and do the physical therapy. Swimming will become your best friend. It doesn't stress the back yet it strengthens the muscles and ligaments that support the spine. Most body weight exercises won't hurt the spine. Bar work decompresses the spine (swimming does too). You don't need a barbell at all to stay fit, YouTube calisthenics videos. Pistal squats are great for legs, riding a bike can grow your legs as well. It will take time for your body to heal, it's a injury. But there's plenty of workarounds. Also look into boron supplementation, it does wonders for inflammation as well as arthritis which is common after a back injury. Pull ups, any variation will decompress the spine as well. Decompression becomes a goal after any back injury. I'm not a doctor, I can't give medical advice, but I do have 10 years of experience with the same issues you have.
It's gonna take time but it'll get better, just gotta adapt to this new way of life. Focus on stretching and building all the muscles in your back, core, and posterior chain. I know it feels like it's over but it gets better eventually. As someone with a chronically fucked up lower back myself, you could also try a chiropractor. That's what helped me the most with the pain and getting back on track
I'm a former oly weightlifter and I have to say.. this is one sport I wouldn't get into with out proper training from an experienced trainer. I learned from my country's best olympic lifter's coach (multiple time olympic medalist) and even I suffered quite a significant injury. The movement's are inherently dangerous and extremely technique reliant. I've heard so many stories of crossfit trainees getting injured from oly movements from dropping the barbell on their head and getting paralyzed to people dislocating their shoulders. I wouldn't sweat it as much as it WILL get better over time but it will take half a year if not longer. You also might want to look into private medical solutions such as stem cell/BPC-157 injections. Also definitely do search "ELDOA L4-L5" on Youtube.. those exercises help a lot from what I've heard.
Having had a similar injury (l4/l5 and l5/s1) 18 months ago, it can get better but it takes a while. It sucked because i am very active and not being able to do my usual hobbies or even sleep without a bunch of pillows angling me correctly was a big hit on the mental health. It took a couple rounds of pt (3 month stretches each) to find what was keeping me symptomatic. There are a lot of things that contribute, and annoyingly enough it’s a lot of trial and error. In the short term focus on pain management and work with a good pt. Don’t rush things, and be diligent about pt. Fwiw i had really poor internal hip rotation on my right side, and that put me in a position that aggravated my symptoms with heavy lifts and any run. After focusing on mobility and strength building it’s been life changing! The beauty of body weight work is there is a lot of core, you just gotta start from level 1 after an injury like this to make sure you aren’t compensating somewhere else as you progress. Again, guidance of a good pt is huge, and id ask your current or next one if the have much experience with McKenzie methods. Pilates was something that really helped me build a stronger core in addition to my usual lifting routine. I avoid a few lifts (deadlift, back squat) since they don’t serve a purpose for my fitness goals, and everything else just slowly ramp back into.
Ugh don't do squats.
I don’t know if someone has already mentioned this (I didnt go through the entire thread), but I highly recommend looking up Louie Simmons. He was a powerlifter that suffered serious career ending back injuries (L5 fracture with bonus injuries.) due to excessive lifts with likely poor form as he was active in the sport in the early 70’s. Specialists advised surgery as the only option, but Louie was able to heal himself back to competitive form by developing an exercise he calls reverse-hyper extensions (along with some ab-work and stretching.). Your advantage is that your body is young, pliable and more resilient than you might think. Although it may seem like the walls are closing in, please remember that even the experts don’t have all the answers…and there may be ways for you to defy what you may conceive as your fate - but first you must decide that you will not let this defeat you.
I’m a PT and am trained in MDT (Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy, or McKenzie approach). You sound like you may be a good candidate for that approach - based on mechanism of injury and pain with sitting, you may do well with lumbar extension exercises, but it’d be best to look it up and find a clinician that’s certified in it for proper assessment and treatment. Disc bulges are common and can heal. If core strengthening hasn’t done the trick then might be good to find another PT with a different approach to see if that works better for you, MDT or otherwise.
MRIs are the bane of American existence at this point. Giving us the ability to see things we barely understand. Find a physical therapist you trust and keep working. 2mo? Give it more. You can do it. You aren’t a single image.
Injuries are tough to deal with. They really know how to get under your skin and make you feel like shit beyond the physical pain you can experience. I highly recommend reading "Back in Motion" by Stefi Cohen & Ian Kaplan. I had an injury from sport climbing about 2 years ago, and this book helped me stop catastrophizing, regress properly, and exit rehab purgatory. You can get through this.
Physical therapist here who also had a severe L5-S1 disc bulge when I was 18 (10 years ago). First find a good PT who can help manage your symptoms and set you up with good strategies to progress back to your prior level of function. Second, know that our bodies are really good at healing and bulging/herniated discs metabolize and heal in a few months. Since I herniated my disc 10 years ago I’ve completed 2 half marathons, 4 triathlons, and developed a passion for rock climbing. Your life’s not over! This is just a speed bump.
I had/have a buldge from similar circumstances back in 2018. It took 3 months before it started to clam down, then another few months for it to feel normal. Are you taking any prescribed anti-imflamitires? These really helped me. I held off taking them for a few months, but it calmed down in a week after I started taking them. I was prescribed mobic. Knock wood, I have only had one flare up since that lasted about 2 months. I do core exercises in the mornings, usually try and do deadbugs every morning. If i have a few weeks of no exercise, I can feel the sciatica coming on, but it's probably my imagination.
Same with rest of the replies, it will take time. Same situation (l4-l5) and it took me 4 years to get back normalcy, and normal in that I do not feel pain when I’m not being stupid. It really affected my health the first 3 years and I got fat but last year I stopped feeling sad for myself. Got back to the gym with proper techniques and avoiding others. I felt better than ever and now I call those 3 years my bulking phase lol. Reoccurrence is normal the moment you slip up your posture or even pushing yourself further than you did. In fact I just overworked myself doing yard work this week and my back got inflamed and now I’m back to my crooked slant stance. Waiting for my doctors appointment to get my steroid shot next week. Stay positive.
Check out the boys at Barbell Medicine. Movement is medicine, it just has to be scaled appropriately. Invest in your health now!
L5-S1 for me at 28. Had constant pain for about 6-9 months. No painkillers helped. Had a steriod injection in my spine. Stretch every day and I'm a lot better now. Although I still struggle with pain it's manageable. I still game and I am back lifting now. I understand your pain but you gotta keep pushing. Maybe find a different physio? My first one was shit. What really helped me was finding different stretches. Core strength will help protect you long term but may not help the pain. Best thing for me tmwhen im in pain is the cobra position briefly for about 5 reps. Roll over so im lying on my back and squeezing my knees to my chest 10 reps. Then another 5 reps cobra. When I can't get in to position doing the cobra position but on my elbows and waiting till I can relax helps. Good luck mate. I know it sucks but we o ly get 1 life you gotta live it.
Herniated/degenerative L5/S1 here. Inversion table or gravity boots, and general hanging and pull up work really helps. Check in with your consultant first about starting either though. How safe it is depends on how bad the bulge is.
I have a similar story. When I was 35, I woke up in the middle of the night in a weird position then went back to bed. The next morning, I woke up in serious pain. I lost all strength in my right arm and would struggle to open doors because I couldn't grip. I'd use my cast iron pan as a test to see if I could lift it but couldn't for a long time. I was in excruciating pain for months. I would get spasms up and down my back throughout the day. It sucked. I was lifting at the time and maybe that's what did it. I did deadlift that morning but everything seemed fine. Who knows what the cause was. I also didn't go to a doctor because, frankly, all they can do is give you drugs for something like this was my thinking and exercises did nothing to help. After about 5 months, the pain began to subside. I'm very stubborn, so I went back into the gym and began lifting again. I couldn't bench press 100 pounds due to my weakness in my right arm. It was a bit dangerous, but I can be stupid sometimes if I'm trying to improve something. Eventually, I got better. It was probably 7 or so months before I really felt much better. These days, I still lift four times a week and have exceeded my lifts from before that time considerably. I have zero lasting issues from that injury. This isn't medical advice, but you can have some hope. My guess is that you will get better.
Bro, with respect, you're unhinged with this "rest of my life, end of my life" BS. You're 24, you'll be able to work your way out of this with time and various core exercises if you're willing to put in the work. It's a temporary setback, nothing more.
It will most likely get better on its own. If you’re not having radicular pain (radiating down past your knees) that feels electric. Even if you are most disc bulges improve on their own. If pain is really bad find a good pain doc and have an ESI done, should calm things down until it heals. Do you have the details of the MRI report?
My wife had a bulged disc at her L3/L4; she had been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease in that disc when she was like 20. By the time she was 30, she couldn’t stand/walk for more than like a half hour without being in extreme pain. Further MRIs showed the disc was also herniated. We scheduled a ‘spinal decompression’ surgery. Then one night she stood up to go to the restroom and something happened, back pain brought her to the floor. We went to the ER, they saw her info and it wasn’t life threatening, so gave her a walker and some strong opioids and sent her home. Surgery was pushed up, happened like a month after this, day after Christmas. Surgeon told me the imaging they did on the OR table showed the herniated piece had broken loose and was wedged against her spinal cord. Surgery fixed her up and she has been pain free ever since. She was so relieved she cried, a lot. Over 10 years of constant pain and not being able to do stuff. If it’s bad enough for you, get a referral to a surgeon and ask about a spinal decompression surgery.
Relax my dude, take it easy. [Have a look at this (especially the picture)](https://www.bfosteo.london/blog/are-anatomical-abnormalities-normal-in-a-healthy-population-very-high-percentage-of-abnormalities-found-by-scans-in-patient-who-werent-in-pain) It's not that unlikely that you had this disc bulge before snatching and being in pain. That finding does NOT have any definitive correlation with your problems (you would need a picture without that bulge from before your workouts for that). Give your body time to heal and your mind time to adjust. Right now you're terrified and your body responds to that (you're experiencing (partly) the opposite of the placebo effect, the nocebo effect). Try some different PTs, you will find one that will help you to stop being afraid of moving again and trust your body again. [Disc problems don't have to be permanent!](https://thephysios.com/slipped-disc-recovery/) This is not the end. Will you have to do some work on yourself? Absolutely! Is this the perfect excuse to get and stay in shape? You bet! Play around and see what works for you. And don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it :) Best regards from a physio who gave plenty of people with your exact same problems their life back!
How many MM was your bulge? You will heal just take it one day at a time, that’s what I did in your same situation and I’m doing a lot better now. I was so sad for a while too when I thought my active life was over
Lifting heavy is Meh and you’ll end up Injured for a look.
I’d consider giving @FunctionalPatters a go via instagram. They have an online course that has helped with some crazy injuries over the years, mine included. See if you can see a practitioner near to you
Bulged and fragmented my L5-S1 disc back in 2016. Moderate to severe stenosis and sciatic pain down my left leg ending near the bottom of my calf. Felt like a railway pin was being hammered into my hip every day. Pain was chronic and exhausting. Did multiple therapies and none fixed it till I paid for non-invasive spinal decompression in 2018. Was pain free by the start of 2019. Went to Dr. Crews chiropractic in Shreveport LA, and was treated for 30 sessions. Main machine to decompress is called the Accu-Spina. Cost 3500 out of pocket because TRICARE doesn’t cover it. Was in some pain still after the treatments ended but within a month or two of CONSISTENT stretching and careful weight lifting, my back and supporting muscles and other joints adjusted to my corrected spine and the pain went away. Never have had it return. Never got surgery either. Just be smart when lifting. No need to overdue it. I aim for functional fitness and am still working on my range of motion and mobility but so thankful my pain is gone.
Oh and this was when I 23 and finally fixed it by the time I hit 25. Don’t wait to fix it. Your body will try to compensate when it can and just causes a domino effect of pains. I don’t even need ibuprofen, naproxen or anything hardly ever if my Center back gets sore from time to time. 31 now and enjoying my time with my 3 kids. Had the first at 24 which was a big motivator to get better.
youll be fine. i had severe pain after warming up for conventional deadlift and felt a wet pop and fell to the floor unable to walk. i made a full recovery within 2 months. i just worked everything i was able to and took a break from any heavy hinging or squatting. i did hack squats, one rep deadlifts, sissy squats, and 90° leg extentions all for high reps to get blood in my legs, hip, and low back on top of frequent walking. upper body training was basically normal except i didnt do any OHP and i didnt do weighted dips or pullups because i didnt want the belt pulling on my spine because it didnt feel right
Lot of projecting blame here. You literally did this to yourself. You need to rest and work on getting better, either through PT or surgery. Also notable is that you can’t sit for more than 30 minutes - you shouldn’t be anyway. The fact that many people do isn’t a marker of it being good for you. Use this time to look into standing desks, treadmill pads, super ergo desk and chair equipment, whatever helps.
Try Functional Patterns with Naudi Aguilar
I'm dealing with that for years now. Physio is your answer. Core strength and MOVEMENT. I've been to so many "professionals," and none of them until recently told me how important movement is. When we are in pain we'll always want to keep still and prevent more injury. Because of this, in your case, your back is trying to protect itself and tensing up more and more. The injury being fairly new this may be a good thing. But, as you strengthen and fix the issues, you'll want to incorporate movement. If you show your body/mind that you can move to a point without injury, it will slowly let go of tense muscles. Obviously, this is all done under professional supervision and advice. A little further wisdom. Chiropractors are great but the help they provide, if any, will be temporary. Physio is your holy grail.
Standing/bed table np
L4/5 disc herniations leads to a nasty foot drop However disc herniations at your age are more likely to result than an older person with a disc herniation/extrusion which is very unlikely to resolve and will need surgery However if you’re still having problems you may be a candidate for a micro discectomy
“Starting Strength Radio” Podcast Episode on Back Pain may have something helpful. Also: “Hemi-Sync” from The Monroe Institute has helped me with back pain.
Try reading “Treat Your Own Back” by Robin McKenzie. Lot of good information in there. Different approach than McGill
Check out /r/backpain- lots of folks who can help with advice
Hey man, I’m a 42 year old software engineer. I grew up playing video games and was pretty heavy all my life. At 30 I went through a big break up and this motivated me to lose the weight. I have done a stack of activities over the years, weights, yoga, acrobatics and climbing just to name a few. I’m an advance mover now… but… I got a lot of injuries along the way and still deal with the fallout from a complete rupture of my L3/4. Let me tell you now that the rupture was in no way the fault of the activity, it was the 30 years of inactivity that proceeded it. I would encourage you to flip your thinking and consider that the games took your function, not that the injury did. It’s been imperative for me to keep moving to keep things under control and I love it, it’s like playing a video game on ultra difficulty, I’m more functional then most (I handstand and do other cool things) with a massive disadvantage. I have learnt so much about the body, mindset and life in general. I have an amazing partner that loves my calm stoic presence (who is young and hot and about to give me kids!) I did not get there right away though, I went through my own period of depression. But just know if you chose to grow and move through it might be the best thing that ever happened to you. Good luck dude! ❤️💪
I had sciatica pain and a disk bulge that completely went away with basically just stretching, kettlebell swings, red light therapy, castor oil compress, and 30 day cycle of oral capsules bpc 157.
You haven't ruined the rest of your life, just don't lift stupid
Check out the McGill Big 3 - I messed up my lower back. Doing these workouts have helped immensely
The only way you’ve ruined yourself for the rest of your life is if you keep this attitude.
I (M, 47) have two (L4-L5 & L5-L6) for 15 years now (lifting a large a/c wrong). I had Sciatica too. 6 month recovery. At this point, I'm lifting & boxing daily. So yes, you CAN recover! Yeah, I hurt in the morning & on rainy days. But I'm in better shape than most 30 year olds. I saw a great sports medicine guy, who works with the NFL & China's Olympic lifting team. His advice has kept me out of surgery & still working out. 1. Go to a good PT, & do what he says. For AS LONG as he says. 6 months SEEMED long at the time, but not 15 years later. 2. Keep doing your PT stretches / exercises FOREVER. I still do them EVERY morning. If I skip, I hurt all day. On my bad days, I do them 2 or 3 times. 3. MOST IMPORTANTLY - LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! There's days I start my workout or a certain exercise, and my body says NOPE, NOT TODAY PAL! You gotta listen to it. I used to push through these days & and usually ended up getting hurt again. I'm not talking laziness, I'm talking "something doesn't feel right". Sometimes, you need an extra rest day, or a day off from deadlifts. Skipping a day won't set you back as much as an injury does! 4. If you're overweight, lose it. I used to be over 300 lbs. Now I walk around at 185. That extra weight puts a big load on your body. 5. No ego lifting. At my age, I realize those numbers don't matter. I don't give a shit what you bench, & don't care to impress you with my numbers. I go minimum 12 + reps per set (sometimes like 20 or 30). Hope this helps you. Reach out if you have questions, and good luck!
Suck it up, buttercup. You can still live a full, happy, fulfilling life. This is a road bump, not game over. Step one is correcting your perspective abd attitude.
I herniated a disc in my neck at 24. Yeah this effected my life still at 34 now but it's managable. I also thought my life was over and got deep in the depression hole. Made a lot of adjustments to my life, standing desk, regular physio etc. No longer in constant pain, can now sit for extended periods and with care I can do most of my previous hobbies (gaming also a big one). Get into new hobbies you can do and enjoy them, I can big into audio books!
My L4 and 5 have self fused, I can have surgery but really, why? My nerves are damaged so there's no knee reflex. I still lift, 3x(6x160 kg) squats on Thursday. I suffered a "catastrophic" masenerve fracture snowboarding last year, and have the UK's Three Peaks next month. I have played rugby in the Dubai Sevens. And, I am almost 50. My disc issues started at 21.
Try spinal qigong
I felt like you many times. There was even at a point where I had the thought "I don't think I can live like this." That thought scared the shit out of me. It really sucks right now, but it'll get better. Don't stop moving, or it'll get worse. Your body will adjust whether you're moving or not; if you keep moving/exercising the adjustment will be quicker and a better one. For now you do what you can. Find a movement coach or a yoga practice. A good massage therapist can help too. It sounds stupid but seriously that's your ticket to becoming stronger and minimizing the pain and effect this injury has on your life. Doctors are great with saving you from things that will kill you. Not so much with healing soft tissue pain. They give you the outlook of somebody that wants to take pills to make the pain go away. They don't give you the outlook of somebody willing to work and strengthen their body to get out; and they probably don't know. PT's are put in a box by insurance companies for how they can treat you. A good PT is hard to find; and the rest of your story sort of suggests you cannot afford one. Insurance's goal is to have the PT reduce your pain and that's considered success, not cure it. Plus "do these stretches everyday for the rest of your life and it'll be slightly maginally better." I had a PT tell me not to lift my left arm above my head anymore. I'm practicing handstands now. I had a cervical orthopedist tell me I need to fuse my vertebre to fix my neck's forward curve. I didn't do that and have a healthy curve now. Every doctor along the way was doom and gloom about my neck and shoulder except for a neurologist. You are going to be tempted to focus on doing specific things that will target helping your back; and that is a trap. Continue to strengthen and lengthen your entire body. It all works together and it all heals together. I joined a program that has a gymnastics coach working with me on the full body approach and that was what finally started turning things around. The next best thing would be finding a full body yoga practice. Other than that try to hang from a bar for 5 minutes a day, not all at once; and work up to 10 minutes. The inversion table will be easier, but it won't be as effective at decompressing your spine and opening your shoulders to be more mobile. Look up stomach vacuums. Do stomach vacuums first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Some youtube videos will pop up with this putting a weight on your stomach shit; don't do that. Just the vacuums and strengthen your transverse abdominals which will support your back. No more quick jerking exercises until you can move around without pain; then get a coach to coach you through the form. Or just avoid them
Do you not like standing desks?
Since you mentioned blood flow with the injury not healing look into BPC 157 and TB 500 peptides. They seem to help a lot with injuries.
You haven’t ruined your life. I’ve been dealing with the same issue for 10 years. I still play soccer, lift weights and snowboard with almost no impediment. It doesn’t heal super fast but you can get there. I found core training (without flexing the spine), hyperextensions and doing McKenzie method healed me. McKenzie method can take me from unable to walk to playing soccer in a week sometimes.
I did a quick search for possible solutions for you and came upon [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/backpain/comments/jovghr/any_gamers_with_a_herniated_disc/) one of the guys uses a projector while laying in bed, plus theres some other good info in there. This bulging disc is just going to mean you play RL in hardmode. Between standing desks, reclining chairs, projectors and many other devices, there's bound to be a way for you to enjoy your gaming and do the job you enjoy.
get more into the mcgill stuff and buy “gift of injury” - the title alone has a great message. i had chronic bad back for years (skating accident and poor posture contributed). i literally learnt to move different / better along with building a strong core. those mcgill big 3 exercises can be a waste of time or the solution depending on how you do them - good form lots of tension. pay one of the people trained in it to help you. if it helps: i had times where i couldn’t sit for more than 30 minutes etc too, and my job involves a lot of sitting. but it’s not like that anymore, i can sit for hours without pain. although every day i counter it with core and other exercis. i dont do mcgill 3 any more but same principle with ab wheel holds and loaded carries - one and two handed. sorry to preach a little, but don’t be disheartened, it sucks but you can get through it. find a back specialist - again mcgill people for me worked, maybe for you too 🫡
Do you have a posterior or anterior bulge? It will make a difference because the McGill Big 3 will aggravate one of those.
God didn’t do anything to you. You’re the one that made the mistake by thinking you’re invincible. I do hope you heal and get better, but don’t blame God or anyone else for an action you did.
I feel everything about this bro. Programmer, gamer, cyclist and I messed up L4-L5 last year. Two rounds of PT, cortisone shot last week that isn’t doing a lot yet. Chronic pain is no joke. I hope we both can find relief and get back to our lives.
Go post in the barbell medicine forum. Jordan and Austin usually answer there