Recover from prolapsed/herniated disc?

Had an MRI done recently after pain from squat and dead lift, nothing heavy as I'm not strong in those movements, looks like I've got a protrusion on the disc as discussed in the attachment below. This is impacting on my sciatic nerve and giving me some genuine discomfort down my left leg whenever I sit down/stand/bend/twist/load up etc.

Physio said we can work on "managing" it through core strength and wants me to get stuck in straight away while I decide if I want to go that route longer term or opt for surgery. He said there are some good conservative surgeons he knows who will do a microdisectomy (I think that's what it was called) and cut that 5mm protrusion off and sew me back up.

He said I'm the perfect candidate for it and should see immediate relief as the rest of my back is in good health. He also said he rarely recommends surgery and only suggests it if he thinks it will have a extremely positive outcome.

That said he's happy for me to work on managing it for the moment.

How have any of you gone about dealing with this? So far it's been a good month or two of planking/core work and while that's been good for my abs and I' getting stronger, it's not helping my back. The only leg work I'm doing at the moment is very light lunges and calf raises.

Here's the medical report.

[MENTION=11621]taurus[/MENTION] will be on to this

Did my L4/L5/S1 just over 2 years ago. Had to take off 6 months complete from Squats/Deadlifts, still did upper body work though. Started getting back into light deads/squats and lower back exercises. Thought I was going OK then nearly 12 months to the day...did it again warming up with 140. Not as bad the 2nd time. This time round I've decided to spend a whole year to strengthening core/lower back before I start training my deads/squats serious again. As for surgery it was recommended, and I have not talked to 1 single person that has had it done and was better for it. Prob my favorite exercise for strengthening my lower back now would be back hyperextensions with resistance bands. Love em.

[MENTION=17376]ActionDan[/MENTION];
I've had two microdiscectomy's after herniations two discs. One disc even did me the favour of bursting and the shit inside started growing on my spinal cord. Not nice at all. It started with sciatic pain too.
PM me or check my famous back operation thread.
It goes right from my op to recovery to back into full training.

Taurus and myself are in the same boat. We've both made excellent recoveries from the same spinal operations. I've detailed a bit about mine in my first body transformation thread in the members diaries section.

Personally, my take on it is this; if the MRI clearly shows you have a mechanical issue, no work around solution is going to work long term. The longer the sciatic nerve remains impinged, it is also dying due to lack of blood flow. The longer you leave it for an operation, the less chance you have of making a full recovery. As a general rule, the sciatic nerve recovers at a rate of approx 25mm per month, if long term damaged is headed off beforehand. If even walking to the dunny and taking a piss causes a lot of pain, surgery is almost always your only way out. After that, you have to realise that lifting heavy weights really isn't the be all and end all of life.

Ask your GP for a referral to a spinal surgeon ASAP.

Discectomy almost always fail, either nurse it or get it fixed properly. Fusion or disc replacement

Talk to some good surgeons, the ones who put athletes back together

I should have said, I'm quite keen on not having surgery. I've read a number of articles that talked about pain and recovery in patience with and without surgery, as direct comparisons in a study.

The surgery guys get instant relief from the pain, mine is not so bad that I need it, an ibuprofen occasionally is enough as long as I keep stretching. After the surgery period, they start to level out as both groups have to do the same rehab exercises and by the 5-10 year mark I think it was there was no discernable difference.

The idea of cutting anything out of my back is not appealing at all. As far as I know, the disc material removed does not grow back so you'd always have a thinner section more prone to another prolapse.

[MENTION=12962]ink81[/MENTION] Can you share/link me to your rehab routine?

[MENTION=11621]taurus[/MENTION] sending PM in a moment.

[MENTION=11762]GUZZLA[/MENTION] Thanks for the insight, thankfully I'm not there yet in terms of pain, if anything I've managed to reduce it by stopping squat and DL and getting into stretching more. I've also had yoga suggested by someone with the same issue who found it successful, so I'll consider that. Lifting heavy is already not the be all and end all, had enough injuries to know that. My issue was I was squatting and DL'ing to try and strengthen my legs and back after 100degree clockwise dislocation of my ankle and a spiral fracture on my right fib, this has given me some uneven leg/pelvis mechanics so clearly squatting is not for me

[MENTION=10061]Brick[/MENTION] Considering all options at the moment, hence why I want to chat to people who have gone both routes.

I'm 100% now. Took my time with recovery. The week or so after the op is very painful but Valium and endone help. It took a good 6 months before I really felt like it had healed properly. Lots of walking and swimming and yoga was all I could really do for that time.
But within a year id done a tough mudder and benched 165kg.
Squats are out, but lunges, step ups etc are all good.

ink81 said:

Did my L4/L5/S1 just over 2 years ago. Had to take off 6 months complete from Squats/Deadlifts, still did upper body work though. Started getting back into light deads/squats and lower back exercises. Thought I was going OK then nearly 12 months to the day...did it again warming up with 140. Not as bad the 2nd time. This time round I've decided to spend a whole year to strengthening core/lower back before I start training my deads/squats serious again. As for surgery it was recommended, and I have not talked to 1 single person that has had it done and was better for it. Prob my favorite exercise for strengthening my lower back now would be back hyperextensions with resistance bands. Love em.

Click to expand...

I haven't read this complete thread, but how did you guys get these injuries? From heavy squats and deads and the supporting muscles were not strong enough? I have just started really concentrating on my squats so I should probably consider lower back work more as well?

BrisVegasGhost said:

I haven't read this complete thread, but how did you guys get these injuries? From heavy squats and deads and the supporting muscles were not strong enough? I have just started really concentrating on my squats so I should probably consider lower back work more as well?

Click to expand...

22 odd years of rugby and almost 10 years of judo plus all the weights combined to play havoc on my back.
The day my back went, I had felt some bad sciatic pain for a week or so before, I was putting on my shoes for work.... Then the shit really hit the fan.

If you are lucky, cautious and manage the pain you can train through this. I suffered a prolapse about 25 years ago which was brought on by lifting which aggravated a Pre existing condition. (I have spondylilothesis). Much of the pain will be nuisance pain but you need to keep a watch out for impairment of function like not being able to piss or genuine (vs psychological) weakness in the legs. A strong back is essential for the management of these injuries.

Ultimately surgery will probably be needed, but there's a lot that can be done to postpone it.

For me, squatting too low with poor form on uneven pelvis mechanics (I dislocated my ankle and broke my leg and as part of recovering from that took up squatting and DL but my hips/pelvis are not moving evenly and I was likely squatting too heavy for my limited skill/strength and too low for my ability).

Over the weekend I've started being far more proactive in my stretching and have added a few things in as per some of the suggestions I've hearing.


Despite being on my feet a lot on Saturday, which normally makes me quite tight and uncomfortable, I felt surprisingly decent on Sunday morning, so I don't know if it was having stretched twice that day or lots of walking that did it.

Sorry Tuarus, forgot about calling you, been flat out.

Have continued with religious daily stretching and back specific stretches/movements and I think I might be seeing some small signs of improvement. Have also got my front plank up to 3mins and back plank up to 2.

I also seem to be gaining weight again despite eating less, so I'd attribute that to lunges and calf raises putting a little back on in my legs and butt.

so you believe that lunges and calf raises has made you gain weight?
Boy I will slap you silly. lol

What goes in your mouth changes your weight.
if you are eating less than before, you must be training even less .

I'm sure you understand that you have to either train more or eat even less.

Mate i would skip the planks for now, they put alot of stress on the lower back & core, just leave them out until things clear up abit in that area!!

ActionDan said:

Sorry Tuarus, forgot about calling you, been flat out.

Have continued with religious daily stretching and back specific stretches/movements and I think I might be seeing some small signs of improvement. Have also got my front plank up to 3mins and back plank up to 2.

I also seem to be gaining weight again despite eating less, so I'd attribute that to lunges and calf raises putting a little back on in my legs and butt.

Click to expand...

TTT: You'd have seen what I said on SAU about overlooking the re-introduction of creatine and water weight which is likely the culprit. I seem to have gotten bigger in the chest and shoulders lately too, probably from changes in the bench.

Taurus: Planking was recommended by my physio, the same one who arranged the MRI etc, he's never steered me wrong so far but truth be told I think I've gotten more out of the daily stretcying and specific back exercies/stretches than I have from planking, but a stable core is always a good thing.

No worries, in my case I found they gave me grief for a few months after the op, but every case is different. As long as you are onto it & taking care of your back, you're doing the right thing

ActionDan said:

TTT: You'd have seen what I said on SAU about overlooking the re-introduction of creatine and water weight which is likely the culprit. I seem to have gotten bigger in the chest and shoulders lately too, probably from changes in the bench.

Taurus: Planking was recommended by my physio, the same one who arranged the MRI etc, he's never steered me wrong so far but truth be told I think I've gotten more out of the daily stretcying and specific back exercies/stretches than I have from planking, but a stable core is always a good thing.

Click to expand...

I haven't had an op though, just herniated disc and pressure on that nerve.

ActionDan said:

I haven't had an op though, just herniated disc and pressure on that nerve.

Click to expand...

Yeh I realise that mate. But it's all the same area etc. You seem to be in control mate. Take it easy

Dunno about control, but happy to try things and will work towards fixing it.

Appreciate the feedback given in here.