Jogging/running with flat herniated disc?

[KAYMACK]

I have been given contradicting advice and am trying to investigate further. Orthopaedist says I can go running with a "flat herniated disc" (meaning slipped disc), but physiotherapist says I cannot. I would like to consult more experts, but thought it might be good to ask around first.

I've had two slipped discs (that both got a lot worse and resulted in life changing surgery) and I do blame running for making the situation worse.
I think you should trust your physio over your osteo, they've probably got a lot more medical training.
Are you in pain?

I was given similarly conflicting advice. Physio thought it was fine, surgeon who did my spinal steroid injection advised me against it due to repeated impact. I erred on the side of caution and now cycle and do yoga instead. I think the important thing is to keep active.

Are you having surgery for it?

I suppose from the consultants pov, the damage is done. From the physio’s pov, you could exacerbate pain/nerve issues like sciatica. People do run in your situation but it depends on the severity and they take it easy (intervals, nothing too ‘pounding’, and stop the minute any thing feels off). It’s a tricky one, personally, I think I’d err on the side of caution and find something that doesn’t load my spine at all.

OP said ‘orthopaedist’ not osteopath. ‘Orthopaedist’ implies a doctor specialising in orthopaedics, they would be more of an expert in this than the physio, in theory. However, they’ll be coming at it from different angles in terms of what ‘ok’ means.

@BalladOfBarryAndFreda good point, sorry - my brain has clearly gone on standby for the day.

In that case I'd definitely take the advice of your Orthopaedist over that of your physio!

I thought cycling was the worst thing for a slipped disc! But I do agree about keeping active. I tend to be cautious and just try to move around a lot, go for walks, etc. Of course, so much of life has to be done by computer these days, alas...

Pilates is your friend with disc issues, walking is good too. I have another herniated disc at the moment and I get nerve fire down my leg if I do anything vaguely high impact.