Herniated Disc - Please Help!

I have what’s called sciacta, or something like that, it’s probably spelled wrong. Anyway, it’s a herniated disc in my left low back that’s pushing on a nerve and sending a sensation down to foot that’s causing my foot to feel like it’s half asleep.

My question is to anyone out there that has had a herniated disc or something similar to mine. What kind of rehab exercises did you do, what kind of treatment too? Granted all of these would have to be somethintg I can do at home. My insurance doesn’t kick in for about another month when I will be able to go back to the chiropractor. Also any websites or books would be helpful too.

If your getting numbness, that is bad. See a Doc asap. If you don’t want to see a surgeon, see an orthopaedic physician. Or even your local Doc (you might need a referral anyway). Make the appointment now for the day after your health insurance kicks in. The numbness can mean the nerve is being crushed. If it gets bad it can take up to 10yrs to heal, its called dropfoot.

another piece of advice to consider…
make an appt with a specialist now…
they book out for new patients around 6 weeks…
So if you make it now, by the time you have the appt, you will have insurance.
Do not wait until you have insurance to book the appt.

[quote]gotaknife wrote:
If your getting numbness, that is bad. See a Doc asap. If you don’t want to see a surgeon, see an orthopaedic physician. Or even your local Doc (you might need a referral anyway). Make the appointment now for the day after your health insurance kicks in. The numbness can mean the nerve is being crushed. If it gets bad it can take up to 10yrs to heal, its called dropfoot.[/quote]

I’'ve already seen a chiropractor. He says it’s perfectly normal for what I have, said he knew what I had b4 he even examined me just from my symptoms. He said there’s no way I need surgery.

[quote]Slyfan wrote:
gotaknife wrote:
If your getting numbness, that is bad. See a Doc asap. If you don’t want to see a surgeon, see an orthopaedic physician. Or even your local Doc (you might need a referral anyway). Make the appointment now for the day after your health insurance kicks in. The numbness can mean the nerve is being crushed. If it gets bad it can take up to 10yrs to heal, its called dropfoot.

I’'ve already seen a chiropractor. He says it’s perfectly normal for what I have, said he knew what I had b4 he even examined me just from my symptoms. He said there’s no way I need surgery.
[/quote]

A chiropractor IS NOT a doctor. You need to see a D.O. Trust me, I have the same thing, bulging disk with an annular tear. Happened over 10 years ago, couldn’t walk right for about 3 months. It doesn’t go away. Still flares up once in a while. You just learn to live with it. Super heavy lifting is a no-go. My advice: forget the chiropractor and go see a doctor.

I dealt with all types of treatment for two herniated discs c5-6 and 6-7 which caused arm pain for years. Finally I got a fusion. I know train brazillian jiu jitsu pretty hard again so that’s good. It’s a personal thing. I know a lot of docs, pt’s and chiros so I had the luxury of seeing all of them. I tried several pain mgmt procedures but found that they are temp or don’t work at all in my case. Traction, light traction, from a chiro and ART actually gave some relief. PT helped, but when it got bad none of that worked anymore so I got the fusion. It was good. My sister is a PT, initially her, my best friend who’s a chiro and a friend who is an orthopedic surgeon said do not get surgery. Later they told me to see a neurologist and to ask their opinion. Since they are not a surgeon, they will usually shoot you straight. IF you go right to a neurosurgeon, they may be apt to cut right away and you only want to do it if you need it. Anyway, the neurologist said surgery would help, my orthopedic surgeon sent me to a neurosurgeon and the fusion helped. Low back is differnt with fusions though. The fusion does bare more of a load and all cases are different. I believe Joe Defranco’s experience with surgery on his lower back was not as succesful as the one I had on my neck. Many different EDUCATED opinions are good, but you shouldn’t live in pain. If you believe a surgery can relieve pain and help you resume your favorite activites great. If most of the educated people think surgery is some kind of 50/50 shot in your case you may want to exhaust all other therapies. In my case, I wish I just got the surgery right away but at the time I couldn’t have known that without trying other things first.

[quote]Slyfan wrote:
gotaknife wrote:
If your getting numbness, that is bad. See a Doc asap. If you don’t want to see a surgeon, see an orthopaedic physician. Or even your local Doc (you might need a referral anyway). Make the appointment now for the day after your health insurance kicks in. The numbness can mean the nerve is being crushed. If it gets bad it can take up to 10yrs to heal, its called dropfoot.

I’'ve already seen a chiropractor. He says it’s perfectly normal for what I have, said he knew what I had b4 he even examined me just from my symptoms. He said there’s no way I need surgery.
[/quote]

I have had this exact same condition, its a bitch, to say the least, mine was so bad I couldnt even piss standing up. I opted for the epidural steroid injection in between the discs, to alleviate the inflammation, it helped me alot, and I have not had to have another one in 20 years. This is one option, it works for some, and not for others, also, once you complete treatment yoy need to really work your core muscles everyday, to strengthen them, and you`ll also have to get good at stretching, alot.

I’ve had it happen to me 2 times. I was in very bad pain and could hardly walk or get out of my car. The pain and numbness went on for around a month then it got slightly better and was a little more tolerable. It took 6 months to get me about back to normal. I would give it ice treatments 30 minutes then no ice for 2 hours then repeat. This is to get fresh blood pumped into the area which accellerates shrinkage of the bulging disc. Get the ice on your lower back as well as glutes. This helps relieve some of the pain. Of course I’m not a doctor or a specialist so I’d wait to get their opinion, but for mine I hurt my L5 region.

Doing cat stretches throughout the day and getting up out of my desk and walking around frequently helped. Keep active and moving, never stay bedridden, walking on a treadmill always made it feel good. No heavy lifting squats or deadlifts are definately out for a while. The good news is I became a pretty good bench specialist while letting my back get better. And now I’m powerlifting again and am stronger than I ever was. The 2nd time I messed up my back this was due to squatting heavy before I was ready. Even after you feel completely normal and think your ready to lift heavy again the back is still in a vulnerable state and you may not realize it. I know I made that mistake. That’s about all I can think of. Good luck.

I had to edit this further just in case. You do need to see a doctor not a chiropractor and get an MRI. The chiropractor may be of help later on, but right now you need to see a doctor.

Bro, I’m here to tell you, find someone who does ART right this second. I went to a chiro in the beginning when I had back probs. Felt great when I was getting treated and not training, then when I put a load on my back I was at square 1 again.

Start stretching EVERY DAY, get a foam roller, train the hell outta your core, and get a good ART person. I truly believe that anyone with back probs could get results with the above treatment. Good luck, PM me if you want some more info.

Monopoly

I am currently going through this as well, and it is a tricky situation. I have had good luck with chiros in the past, and I am seeing one currently. He is very good being that he is knowledgeable about several different methods and continues to educate himself. He knows that I do a lot of research on my own, often on this site, and he is completely honest with me.

I had sciatica down my right leg, but no numbness. He had me doing Mackenzie exercises (Google this) which focus on de-loading your spine. These helped relieve the sciatica quite a bit as long as I consistently did them every day. They are named after an Australian physio named Robin Mackenzie.

But, once they stopped working he sent me for an MRI immediately. I have a herniated disc at L5/S1 that is degenerative, and mild herniations at L5/L4 and L4/L3. He sent me to my GP (general practitioner) for steroidal inflammatories (Medrol) to reduce some of the swelling, which worked a little bit.

Of course, my GP tried to send me to an orthopaedic surgeon right away to cut into me, but I politely declined. I am still working through it and getting better every day. For me the next step is an epidural, which is typically a cycle of three epidurals, if I don’t continue to improve.

I recently had a full cycle of X-rays on my lumbar, and they revealed that I have no side-to-side movement (I don’t recall the medical terminology) of my spine when bending forwards or back. After that, it would be spinal fusion or disc replacement, both of which aren’t particularly attractive options since the risk of back pain again down the road with both procedures is high.

I would treat this as your absolute last resort as there is no going back after you’ve had this done.

I have tried ART and it has helped, I constantly strengthen my core, concentrate on posture, get massages, ice, and may try acupuncture. My suggestion would be to educate yourself (spine-health.com & texasback.com are both very good) and exhaust all means of treatment.

I think going to an orthopod or a neurosurgeon (which would probably be better) is still a good idea if you know that you are not going to one that is a “cutter”. Call your chiro and see who he would suggest, I’m sure he/she has a good one.

Be careful who your GP tells you because they often will refer each other business and personally I am more distrustful of them since they don’t have a grasp of the back (and are very conservative) as well as a chiro does.

Best of luck, and if you have any questions, let me know.