Disc Herniation

[jwitten82]

Anybody ever had this? How long did it take to heal?.... I have it, and was out of work for 3 weeks, and this week is my first time going back and I left early today because it started hurting again. Ive been going to physical therapy and was feeling good until I started working. I work in construction

 

[Runwildboys]

Anybody ever had this? How long did it take to heal?.... I have it, and was out of work for 3 weeks, and this week is my first time going back and I left early today because it started hurting again. Ive been going to physical therapy and was feeling good until I started working. I work in construction

Never had that, at least not that I know of, but I have arthritis in my cervical spine, and I'll tell you what....My physical therapist knew what it was and started treating me for it, before my doctor knew what it was.
I bet your pt will know just what you can handle doing on the job.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I have a herniation between my C4 & C5.

It took several months of therapy and came within a whisker of having surgery on it.

But between the rehab, doing exercises and using an "over the door" traction device https://www.amazon.com/Duro-Med-Cer...3278&sr=1-1&keywords=cervical+traction+device I was able to avoid surgery.

It still reminds me that it's "there" once in a while but the physical pain it caused has disappeared for the most part.

Knowing what I know about disc herniations, many times this is something that is going to take a while to get to a point where you can live with it... If you do not go the surgery route– And at least in my case I wanted to avoid that due to all the horror stories I had heard.

 

[Ranching]

Anybody ever had this? How long did it take to heal?.... I have it, and was out of work for 3 weeks, and this week is my first time going back and I left early today because it started hurting again. Ive been going to physical therapy and was feeling good until I started working. I work in construction

Been doing therapy, and deep tissue massages alond woth acupuncture for the last 3 months. I bought an inversion table a few weeks ago. I finally seem to be getting over the numbness in my leg. It takes time, don't rush it.
My dad had surgery on his and has been doing great for about 15 years now.
Good luck.

 

[Doc50]

I have a herniation between my C4 & C5.

It took several months of therapy and came within a whisker of having surgery on it.

But between the rehab, doing exercises and using an "over the door" traction device https://www.amazon.com/Duro-Med-Cer...3278&sr=1-1&keywords=cervical+traction+device I was able to avoid surgery.

It still reminds me that it's "there" once in a while but the physical pain it caused has disappeared for the most part.

Knowing what I know about disc herniations, many times this is something that is going to take a while to get to a point where you can live with it... If you do not go the surgery route– And at least in my case I wanted to avoid that due to all the horror stories I had heard.

Surgery isn't necessary or even definitively palliative unless there is nerve entrapment; then freeing the nerve root is mandatory in order to avoid deterioration of the nerve and permanent loss of function.

The fibrous material that is displaced in disc herniation doesn't always create a nerve impingement, and often with restoration of movement we get a change of position of the impinging material which then removes the pressure on the nerve.

Think of disc structures as cushions between the vertebrae; they're quite helpful but you can live without them if if ruptured or degenerative.

The way to know that you may need surgery is the constant presence of symptoms that radiate along a definite path from the spine to the fingers or toes, leading to loss of strength.

 

[jwitten82]

I have a herniation between my C4 & C5.

It took several months of therapy and came within a whisker of having surgery on it.

But between the rehab, doing exercises and using an "over the door" traction device https://www.amazon.com/Duro-Med-Cer...3278&sr=1-1&keywords=cervical+traction+device I was able to avoid surgery.

It still reminds me that it's "there" once in a while but the physical pain it caused has disappeared for the most part.

Knowing what I know about disc herniations, many times this is something that is going to take a while to get to a point where you can live with it... If you do not go the surgery route– And at least in my case I wanted to avoid that due to all the horror stories I had heard.

Been doing therapy, and deep tissue massages alond woth acupuncture for the last 3 months. I bought an inversion table a few weeks ago. I finally seem to be getting over the numbness in my leg. It takes time, don't rush it.
My dad had surgery on his and has been doing great for about 15 years now.
Good luck.

If yall dont mind me asking, what type of work did yall do when you had the disc herniation. Mine is at L5-S1

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Back issues..... Like to tell you that it will go away but in my experience, the truth is that it never really does. Just gotta learn to deal with it.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

If yall dont mind me asking, what type of work did yall do when you had the disc herniation. Mine is at L5-S1

I co-owned a consumer electronics/appliance store The lifting of appliances and console TV's could have contributed to it. Or it could have simple decided it was time to "herniate". LOL! I was only in my 30's when it went.

 

[jwitten82]

I co-owned a consumer electronics/appliance store The lifting of appliances and console TV's could have contributed to it. Or it could have simple decided it was time to "herniate". LOL! I was only in my 30's when it went.

You do any heavy lifting during your rehab or did Dr put restrictions?

 

[Stash]

If yall dont mind me asking, what type of work did yall do when you had the disc herniation. Mine is at L5-S1

Mine is also at L5-S1 also, right at the bottom. What has worked for me is a combination of efforts. The physical therapy, yoga, Pilates, and believe it or not, deadlifts.

I would recommend getting things right with your therapy before trying any of the rest. But I think that if you put the work in, you can manage it, and if you don't, you can't. It's as simple as that really.

And I've seen both sides. Some won't do the work and want someone else to "fix" it. Like my father-in-law and brother-in-law. Both did no exercise and had surgery. Did not work for either.

 

[jwitten82]

Mine is also at L5-S1 also, right at the bottom. What has worked for me is a combination of efforts. The physical therapy, yoga, Pilates, and believe it or not, deadlifts.

I would recommend getting things right with your therapy before trying any of the rest. But I think that if you put the work in, you can manage it, and if you don't, you can't. It's as simple as that really.

And I've seen both sides. Some won't do the work and want someone else to "fix" it. Like my father-in-law and brother-in-law. Both did no exercise and had surgery. Did not work for either.

I do the stretches the gave me at home and I felt good, but when I started working. I was in pain

 

[Stash]

I do the stretches the gave me at home and I felt good, but when I started working. I was in pain

You may not be able to handle lifting for quite a while, if ever. And if you do, you now have to be extra careful about how you lift.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

You do any heavy lifting during your rehab or did Dr put restrictions?

Yes I was instructed to not lift (forget the amount) for a period of time.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Mine is also at L5-S1 also, right at the bottom. What has worked for me is a combination of efforts. The physical therapy, yoga, Pilates, and believe it or not, deadlifts.

I would recommend getting things right with your therapy before trying any of the rest. But I think that if you put the work in, you can manage it, and if you don't, you can't. It's as simple as that really.

And I've seen both sides. Some won't do the work and want someone else to "fix" it. Like my father-in-law and brother-in-law. Both did no exercise and had surgery. Did not work for either.

Yep.

Days when I didn't go to rehab... I spent 20 minutes a day doing a variety of neck-strengthening exercises. And then another 20 in the chair, using the traction device.

After about 3 months of that most of the pain was gone.

 

[Stash]

Yep.

Days when I didn't go to rehab... I spent 20 minutes a day doing a variety of neck-strengthening exercises. And then another 20 in the chair, using the traction device.

After about 3 months of that most of the pain was gone.

Yeah, for me there was a frustrating period when I just had to wait for things to calm down. I kept doing my exercises, but it just took some time and didn't happen as quickly as I would have liked.

It's almost a foundation kind of thing. I allowed that foundation to weaken causing the issues and then I had to make a concerted effort to build that foundation back up.

 

[cowboyeric8]

Doesn't really heal or go away. Unfortunately just have to deal with it.

Mine went off 2 years ago at 26! No idea how unfortunately. I'm guessing from years of playing sports. I was just driving down an interstate when they decided to go off, unbearable pain. I couldn't sit for 2 weeks. L 2, 3, and 4 herniation. One of them keeps hitting the sciatic nerve. The doctors said I could have done it years before and noticed when it hit a nerve.

That was 2 years ago and I still deal with pain everyday. Some days worse than others. I can't sit for long periods. I do yoga and stretching everyday to keep it tolerable. On painful days I'll take Tylenol and Aleve. But there is some pain everyday.

It really sucks, put me down in the dumps for awhile. Always loved staying active and playing sports, but that all kind of took a backseat. It sucks because I know I'll have to put up with it for the rest of my life.

I keep hoping some new technology will develop and be able to have a surgery that could repair it all.

But seriously it's the worst.

 

[cowboyeric8]

Mine is also at L5-S1 also, right at the bottom. What has worked for me is a combination of efforts. The physical therapy, yoga, Pilates, and believe it or not, deadlifts.

Really? I've been too scared to try that. Maybe I will start off really lite and see what it feels like.

 

[Stash]

Really? I've been too scared to try that. Maybe I will start off really lite and see what it feels like.

So was I, trust me! Very scared at first. But that's exactly what I did. Do homework on proper technique and form, and then just use a bar with little or no weight to start. Then build up just a bit if that goes well. Baby steps. And there's no need at all to ever go heavy given the circumstances. You just want to strengthen the muscles a bit.

 

[Kevinicus]

I had (have?) several bulging cervical discs (at least on the only MRI I had - could have herniated at some point, I dunno). I missed a ton of time from work in 2009 and at the time was pretty desperate for surgery as some kind of hope for relief. I had constant pain/burning in my shoulder, burning and/or tingling down my arm and into my hand. I also had extremely strong headaches and occasional numbness in my cheek. My symptoms are much less severe now, however it is still very much with me. I cannot lay on my left side for very long. I cannot sleep with my head facing to the right. My left shoulder is much weaker than my right. Symptoms get worse if I do anything involving weight overhead, and lots of body weight exercises are a no-go for me. It's something I feel every day, and physical therapy, epidurals, medications, chiropractic care, and acupuncture have all failed to provide much improvement at all. I also developed some kyphosis which doesn't help.

Then there's my low back and thoracic problems, but that's another story.

 

[cowboyeric8]

So was I, trust me! Very scared at first. But that's exactly what I did. Do homework on proper technique and form, and then just use a bar with little or no weight to start. Then build up just a bit if that goes well. Baby steps. And there's no need at all to ever go heavy given the circumstances. You just want to strengthen the muscles a bit.

Interesting. Thanks for the heads up. Will definitely try that. Always willing to try new things that will help. I used to think yoga was silly, boy was I wrong.

The thing I hate is I will get strong again, get real loose and flexible and feel great for weeks and then just randomly wake up and its back at it. Basically losing most of the progress. Just a battle that I have to keep fighting but know I will never win, but if I stop fighting it I know my quality of life will go way down.