To wonder if it’s age or my back?

Three things you should do:
Stretch every morning and evening. Proper stretches, use an app like 7m.
Pilates gently to strengthen your core, go to a class and continue at home.
See a chiropractor.

Combined theyve got rid of my sciatica and I can walk/ run again.

I have heard that when men go to the doctor with back pain, they get taken a lot more seriously.

I ruptured a disc in 2019 and slipped 2 below at the same time, still to this day have pain and mobility problems
I live on painkillers and struggle with my job which is probably not what you wanted to hear but there's not much else that can be done unfortunately

I have a pars defect, it's essentially a spinal fracture which apparently 5% of people have (more commonly women). Many people are symptomless. My spine moved out of line (seizing, bad back for a couple of years) until the movement (spondylolisthesis) meant my nerves are impinged and I had pain from hip to toes, that's the point I had an MRI and found it all out.
I likely had the pars defect from childhood but had a strong core. An emergency c section with no rehabilitation is what we believe led to the movement. Don't underestimate what pregnancy may have done to your spine and core

I have managed and very much improved my condition with amitriptyline (for nerve pain), losing weight and religiously doing orthopaedic pilates.IA strong core is vital

I had so much physio and it didn't help. Surgery is possible in the future but, for me, would be absolutely last resort

I now only wear flat shoes - i put in arch supporting insoles to the footwear because I'm not reading for orthopaedic shoes yet

You need an MRI to know how best to deal with it, for example stretches for sciatica would be the wrong thing entirely for me. Pilates is great but yoga is not because you extend the spine in ways which may not be good for you

I've had the locked back frequently over many years. Turns out (for me) that my back muscles had gone into spasm and locked up as they were weak. To stop the muscles from spasming they needed to be used so they can strengthen.

There are specific exercises for a weak back but the ones I always (try to) do is stand up straight, shoulders back, tummy in, especially when standing still in a queue. Walk as much as you can on smooth surfaces (can anyone let you use their treadmill for 30 mins once a week to start?). Also don't slouch on your sofa at night, sit upright. Get those muscles working and strengthening. I still get twinges but I've not had a locked back since doing the above. I assume you can do this even with slipped discs?

Its not your age fgs.
There is so much you can do.
Go see a reputable sports physio and get them to do an evaluation.
Get an xray of your spine to rule out slipped discs spinal degeneration.

Get a vitamin D blood test, thats crucial. Start taking magnesium glycinate/ citrate to relax surrounding muscles and epsom salt baths
Do Pilates
Feldenkrais
and Physio rehab exercises.
Stop sitting so much, get up every 15 mins
Stand more
keep moving.
The two things you can do at home that make a huge difference is trigger point therapy with a tennis ball.
http://www.kimdeering.com/blog/tennis-ball-massage-for-muscle-pain-and-trigger-point-relief

And if you have door frames, hook your fingers over them and let yourself 'hang' stretch. Your feet dont need to leave the ground.
This has an incredible effect, on everything, including pinched nerves, disk issues etc.

My experience of the 'pain clinic' was some guy phoning me up and trying to be nice but also trying to convince me that I won't feel the pain so much if I don't focus on it and encouraging me to think positively. 🙄

I feel worst when I'm lying down. I often wake up and find that I can't get out of bed until I've done a number of exercises. I can't bend down to feed my cats in the morning. Then my back sometimes 'locks' which is actually a bit frightening.

Walking around helps the most but only for a short time really because at this point, I've got used to having pain every day but my mobility is affected.

I have back problems. I am also aware of the services available. You didn't answer my question about the pain clinic so I don't think I can add anything further.

I have chronic back pain too, mostly related to pregnancy that's now long in the past!

What you're describing is definitely not normal, you are injured and in need of treatment. Unfortunately once you back is "bad" it's a lifelong thing to keep on top of it - it becomes a vicious circle as you stop moving, your muscles lose tone, so your back gets worse, rinse and repeat.

What you describe is really familiar to me from some years ago - I was constantly losing balance, had trouble walking reliably etc.

First step is to find a good professional to help you - whether that's a physio, chiropractor or an osteopath. Pay for it and choose your own - it's a worthwhile investment. Unfortunately this is an area where the NHS probably won't provide what you need.

How old is your youngest child?

No problem. From experience severe herniation exercises need good manual therapy as well as at home exercises. My physio uses something called a theraflex machine, which resolved my scoliosis linked to sciatica. I went from having different leg lengths to legs the same length in one session. It was an eye opener.

Have a look at the machine on YouTube. There's so much that can be done to treat disc herniation, but the NHS in my experience at least, hasn't had the expertise.

My back is f&ckecd too
daily pain
slipped disc and microdiscectomy
Scoliosis now

Pain is exhausting
I get Buprenorphine and that does nothing.
Lying FLAT helps. But I too can’t walk well any more.

Thank you for this post. It's the most enlightening thing I've read about back pain ever.

I'm sorry, back pain is totally miserable and feels all encompassing.
I had about 2 years of ongoing lower back pain on and off, absolutely agony in the morning and at rest and easing on movement. Eventually a physio flagged up that I had psoriasis and I had blood tests and MRI that diagnosed axial spondyloarthritis (a form of inflammatory arthritis).
I agree with whoever said that it's an ongoing regime of daily exercises for your particular issues.

But in the meantime go back and see the GP and list all the day to day things you are struggling with. I also had extreme pain with coughing or sneezing during a flare up which in my case was just muscle spasms but it can also be disc related which I'd say you need to rule out given your history.

I could have written your post. I spent from age 38-48 with chronic back pain. I tried everything - and I also know how annoying it can be to have things suggested to you constantly as though you'd never thought of it yourself!

But at risk of being that person, can I suggest you look into Foundation Training and Eric Goodman. He did a Ted Talk which is here:

I think the comments on that speak for themselves.

Then do this 60 second exercise once a day for month:

And then if you ever get to a point where you can manage it, this 12-minute routine will keep things at bay. It's bloody hard! I still can't do it all. But it truly works.

Good luck. Back pain is so miserable and makes life feel like it's not worth living sometimes.

Hi,

I'm a physio student and I have a history of lumbar disc herniation

You need to go and see a very good private physio. One that specialises in spinal issues and has decades of experience. It may take a few months of intense therapy to sort, but this is probably fixable. Non-surgical treatment is much better than surgery (microdiscectomy) in the long run. I urge you to try this first. But the physio has to be good.

Please don't do yoga or pilates, most of the exercises won't help.

Swimming and walking is probably the best exercise for you at the moment.

In the mean time, lots of gentle cobra and bridges.

You've got to try and change your mindset here. You sound utterly defeated.

Just because physio didnt work previously doesnt mean it wont work now.

Physio/rehab isnt a one time thing. Its a daily regimen for the rest of your life.

It can be painful and incredibly boring but giving 15 minutes every morning over to some stretching and exercise will be worth it I promise.

I'd do everything in my power to avoid the surgical route before its a last resort.

it sounds like it's herniated, and you do need to get medical attention. go to your GP, explain your symptoms. they will probably initally send you for physio, when the physio doesn't work, they will send to you the pain clinic, and then eventually you will get to see a specialist.. get an mri and then finally they will know whats what.

i've suffered with my back 'going' for years. it would 'go' once a year, this increased to maybe twice, three times a year until one day my back 'went' and simply didn't get better.

it took 6 months to get to see a consultant.. but then they did surgery (twice) and i no longer have a bad back, but its left me with other issues.

Have you had an MRI? Do you know if you have surgical options? My friend was struggling to walk and had a microdiscectomy which gave him total relief.

I found naproxen very helpful when I had acute pain. Physio itself didn't change a lot but it identified what the weaknesses were. I think Pilates was the real game changer.

I also think hrt helped a bit with general stiffness to get me to a place where I was able to move more freely and get the exercise that helped. To clarify, it didn't fix my disc, it helped with general joint pain and stiffness which allowed me to help myself.

Keep going back to the GP to let them know you still have pain and ask what your options are. A lot of back pain comes and goes and they won't know you're still suffering unless you tell them.