Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask for herniated disc experiences? (desperate)

95 replies

fortunatelynot · 13/05/2024 21:32

Hello all

Ten days ago I woke with a lower back ache. For the next three days I could not move at all easily with pain in my lower back. It improved but since then I can barely sit and struggle to straighten up after sitting. I have spoken to a doctor over the phone (I had a call scheduled for something else) and described the pain. He 'thinks' it is a herniated disc; having googled it for ages, I think he is right.

I'm mid forties and pretty fit - I run about 25 miles a week. Bizarrely I have been able to jog short distances - I know this sounds crazy but at periods during the day, when I am upright, it feels better. Sitting, even going to the toilet (sorry) is agony when I stand up. I can sleep on my side but literally any sitting/driving etc is so painful. My lower back feels so weak; even reaching forward to put shoes on hurts.

I have never had any type of back issues and this has come out of the blue. The doctor did not really give any helpful advice (although to be fair, the call was for something else).

Any experience of this?

OP posts:
Deedoo · 28/01/2025 19:31

@Itiswhysofew so glad you healed did you do anything to help ? Whwre was yours in back or neck x

Deedoo · 28/01/2025 19:30

@MissConductUS where was it neck or back xx

Itiswhysofew · 28/01/2025 15:46

I had one a few years ago. My left leg would go numb with pins and needles and the pain was very sharp which made walking really uncomfortable. I didn't have any pain whilst sitting or lying down.

I had an MRI to check what the problem was. I was really surprised when the consultant confirmed it. He told me that it would fix itself and I wouldn't need an operation, thankfully. There's 10% chance of it reocurring. I think it took about 6 months to fully recover.

MissConductUS · 28/01/2025 15:34

Surgery was the only possible treatment for my herniated disc, and it worked a treat.

Deedoo · 28/01/2025 12:53

@PrincessMonacoOfKent thank you x I need to stop lifting heavy bags of shopping or heavy anything now it's so hard as I don't have help

Deedoo · 28/01/2025 12:51

@Fairysteps11 how is your neck

Deedoo · 28/01/2025 12:47

@saraclara what helped your neck disc herniation

PrincessMonacoOfKent · 28/01/2025 11:29

@Deedoo yes, just time, and being careful with what I do (I now have a wheely trolley so I don't have to carry a bag home from the shops if I don't want to drive!). Also, on advice of physio, strengthening my back muscles by swimming, walking, elliptical, etc.

Deedoo · 27/01/2025 17:49

@PrincessMonacoOfKent wgat helped if it wasn't injection was it time

saraclara · 05/07/2024 12:40

My herniated discs were cervical, and I had the worst neck pain and numbness in my hands. I had an MRI which showed that one of them was pressing on my spinal cord.

I had physio including traction and other stretches, and within a few months, it was as if it never happened.

beeloubee · 05/07/2024 12:34

Look into occult tethered cord

Look into magnesium oil spray

ClockworkDisaster · 05/07/2024 06:50

My doctor now thinks I’ve slipped a second disc as my pain has changed. So back on the Amitriptyline and got physio booked in for mid August. If that doesn’t resolve it then another scan.

21 years of this now. I’m fed up.

Greaterorlesser · 04/07/2024 21:59

My husband has had a painful back and sciatica for months now. He tried osteopathy, then saw a chiropractor who did an x ray (cost under £100). This showed a pars fracture that had caused a disc to herniate and trap a nerve. Without an x ray he wouldn’t have known about this. He subsequently had an MRI and is awaiting a date for surgery

leopardski · 04/07/2024 21:54

Hello OP, this happened to me about 9 years ago. Agony. Walking helped, being active genuinely helps things.
I had loads of physio and it was worth every penny, think I went weekly for 3 months. They gave me specific exercises to do every day, I was told to walk miles a day too (I walked EVERYWHERE), what not to do too.
I made a full recovery (my physio actually thought overexercising may have caused mine) - I take more rest days these days!! It is definitely a weak spot now, and I have to be really careful when strength training and I’ve jarred it twice in the years since doing deadlifts.
But really work on trying to ‘fix’ it now if you can.

Ihatemondays1962 · 04/07/2024 21:48

Mine took about a year to sort itself too. It was about 6 months of agony first time round,then a short time of being ok and then another 5 or 6 months of agony. I sympathise, it was the worst pain I have ever felt. Hope you start to feel better soon.

Curlewwoohoo · 04/07/2024 21:45

Mine seems to have a flare up once a year, I end up back at the physio for a couple of sessions, like an MOT. I'm 6 years in. I do pilates every week and treat it well.

Neolara · 04/07/2024 21:36

I hate to say it, but it took a year for my back to get better after a herniated disc. My physio said I'm an outlier though and that most people are better within 4 months.

I think it's pretty common for things to flare up after it feels as if things are getting better. Basically, you're feeling better, so you push yourself physically and it's just too much. You normally don't realise until the next day when the pain kicks in. My physio was keen on noticing if the time taken for a flare up to calm down was getting shorter (eg 3 days instead of 5 days). This was a sign of overall improvement.

Original poster
fortunatelynot · 04/07/2024 21:27

Hello all

I'm gutted to say that it has come back - not once, but twice. After the initial bout of pain I had another few days of it then a two or three weeks of feeling better (possibly weak in my lower back and a bit stiff) but certainly a bit better.

I woke up on Tuesday and went to work and again, I could feel lower back pain that has gone back to being exactly what I experienced before. It causes pain bending over, hurts when I sit/lay etc and this time, has also caused lots of pain in my hip. I have been doing the exercises suggested by my GP.

I am fed up of this. How is everyone else?

OP posts:
Treelichen · 31/05/2024 00:33

I had one a few weeks ago. GP referred to physio and I made a full recovery after 6/7 weeks. It was excruciating for the first couple though. It started in my back and then the pain moved to my hip. I was also numb on my big toe and a strip around my calf and shin. Mine was L5/S1. I also used an inversion table that stretched my spine out. The physio didn’t rate it and said there was little evidence for its use but it definitely relieved the pain and I’m sure it helped with recovery.

irishmurdoch · 31/05/2024 00:27

I was in agony with mine, completely incapacitated. The only thing that helped was amitriptyline. Worked a treat but gave me a very dry mouth and I always felt exhausted the next day if I took it later than 6pm the previous night.

Original poster
fortunatelynot · 30/05/2024 21:48

Thank you for all of your kind messages and advice.

I will ask for an MRI at my appointment on Monday (although worry how long the waiting time for this might be).
It is very strange as the things that you would think would help (resting/sitting/soaking in bath) make things a heck of a lot worse. I am usually a very fit person and am worried that there is this 'weakness' now in my back.

It felt better a few days ago and then I did lift something through to the garden (which I would normally do). I am thinking that this may have caused it to flare up which is concerning as it suggests that things I would normally do could cause this issue. Initially, a few weeks ago, the pain started as a deep ache that I felt when I got up one morning (I hadn't done anything strenuous the day before). And if it WAS lifting something in the garden that caused it to flare up again, I didn't feel any pain at the time. It then came on the next day.

Plus I hate taking painkillers!

OP posts:
Bookswalkswine · 30/05/2024 21:06

A back brace was a life changer for me: not from Amazon, but fitted properly at an orthopaedic shop. It allows me to get through the flare ups without medication.

tarheelbaby · 30/05/2024 21:05

Please go and have an MRI, even if everyone pooh-poohs you. No one has X-ray vision but a scan does. Then you can get the help you actually need rather than relying on what someone 'thinks'.

My late husband had back pain. He saw a private physio who laughed at the idea of a scan and gave him some (useless) exercises to do.
Two years later, he was bedridden with pain. It took 2.5 weeks for him to be well enough to be able to stagger to our car for a private appointment. That doctor also thought slipped disc but recommended an MRI which is when we learned it was not a disc problem at all.
If he had had a scan at the get-go, he'd probably be alive today...

An MRI is your most direct route to pain-free living. Why wait?

permanently · 30/05/2024 21:04

I had two degenerative and dehydrated bulging discs. Agony. I saw a chiropractor weekly. I lay on the floor with my knees up at a 90 degree angle with an ice pack under my damaged discs. Did this for months. Never sat on the sofa. Quick 10 minute walks only (no lingering at the shops.) Eventually I was able to put my foot back on the floor/stop meds/walk normally. Did a phased return to work but the discs went again. However just 3 weeks off this time and it has never happened since - 10 years. Doctor said it could go at any time - just live your best life. I swear by Joya shoes. Don't even see a chiropractor these days. Good luck OP x

Neolara · 30/05/2024 20:49

I also recommend seeing a physio who specialises in backs. You probably need a proper assessment and personalised advice.

I also recommend Tom Morrison, (mentioned above) but I absolutely couldn't have followed his recommendations for many months when I first herniated a disc. It was way too painful. I think you need a period of time to reduce inflammation before building back core strength. And definitely don't run at this point -it will almost certainly make things worse.