Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

Lifestyle Health & Fitness
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Some of you already know that I have had severe back pain since the end of Sep. 2011 I tried massage therapy which actually made the pain worse, then I went to a chiropractor. First 3 visits nothing much changed. Fourth visit made a difference, I cooked a meal over that weekend & I was back to square one.

After having 2 more visits with her, she & my physician suggested getting a MRI done just to rule out anything else. It turns out I have “disc herniation”. I have an appointment scheduled with my chiro today & since I did not want to wait I called my physician’s office. She won’t be in till tomorrow. The staff probably showed my results to another doctor & called me back using this term & just said that my chiro will be further able to tell me whats going on.

Now I will call my physician tomorrow because she had already wrote me up for physical therapy 2-3x a week for a month & I feel like she knows whats going on so she can guide me better.

My questions right now is how bad is this? Now that I know what the real issue is, should I still continue my visits with my chiro or make this my last visit & just opt for physical therapy.

Has anyone of you ever had this problem. Did physical therapy help? I haven’t “googled” much because I end up getting teary eyed. Physically it has been tough for me since the past 2 1/2 years. First the scary pregnancy, then the long recovery, then the IUD insertion & getting used to it took me six months & now this.

For all I know this is not a big deal but I just hate the idea of being not completely healthy & depending on my hubby too much. He has been MashaAllah very cooperative through out this whole thing, but I have recently starting going though these pases of low self esteem & then fighting back & “sorting” myself out. Anyways that should go on a blog, not here.

I also wanted to share that despite my setbacks I have Alhumdulillah lost 21 lbs in the past five months. I know the more weight I lose, the less stress my back will carry but any other dos & don’ts?

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

Don’t worry. Its a common thing. I had such bad disc herniation that I had to have an operation (pre marraige and pregnancy). I had my 2 kids with no back issues at all. I have back achefree months, Masha Allah. However, mine was a severe case. Most of the times physicla therapy will help. However, it is a life long condition and you have to take care of your back always that is lifting in a proper way, not lifting heavy weights, bending with the knees, managing youir weight so that you are not overweight etc. If I can manage it after an operation most people can Insha Allah. This problem is more common than you think. Physical therpay can work wonders I had it too. The initial visits may seemfruitless but later on you will see theresults,Insha Allah.PM me if you need more info.

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

I have 2 slipped discs in my lumbar spine. It took about 8 months to fully heal, but I have to be careful for life as it can slip again.

Massage therapy did not help me. Chiropractor, constant ice packs on the area, then physical therapy and finally hot yoga helped tremendously. In fact, hot yoga helped me to fully heal. However, I only started that 6 months after the injury as I couldn’t do much before then. I had A LOT of relapses last summer because I started moving around thinking I was ok, when I actually wasn’t.

It is different for everybody. My slipped discs hit the nerves into my legs. They still hurt from time to time. I don’t wear thin heels anymore and do a lot more exercise.

Daily stretching of the lumar spine is a must. There are specific stretches you can do which will help put space back between the vertebrae. Then there are certain stretches I can never do as that will put too much pressure on my spine. You just have to take your time and listen to your body.

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

Thank you eastern & Mehnaz. I just skimmed through the replies real quick. I am going to my chiro right now. Will read through again & respond back.

Anyone else here who has had to deal with the same issue?

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

yesi i did and i had surgery twice but now ALHUMDOLILLAH im well. I THINK PEOPLE WHO HAVE back problem should do alot of walking which i do. i can hardly sit for half hour.

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

hey mehnaz, could you elaborate a bit on what yoga poses and stretches you found to be helpful?

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

Queer, the poses below are the ones that helped me. Out of these stretches, I make sure to do the ‘Rabbit’ pose daily, sometimes repeatedly throughout the day. One thing about injuring your spine is that your body reacts more to the weather. So before a storm, my back acts up big time … but when it finally rains, my back is ok. strange

**Half Moon
Cobra **
**Locust - with alternate leg raises
Bow
Fixed Firm
Half Tortoise
Camel
Rabbit

**In hot yoga, there is a whole series of stretches (the ones listed above) that focus just on the back muscles. That’s why it helped me so much. Regular yoga classes don’t do these stretches.

More details on the stretches here:

http://www.bikramyoga.com/BikramYoga/TwentySixPostures.php

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

Thank you eastern. I might bug you more with a pm at one point. My chiro mentioned all the things you wrote regarding the life long condition. She did say I need to do physical therapy & make my back strong. Told me to come check with her for adjustments every 2 weeks till I feel completely fine. So right after having kids did you feel like your back took more time to recover compared to other mothers who don’t have this issue. We do plan on having more kids InshaAllah & I am kind of nervous now. I took epidural for my first one & do plan on taking it for my next pregnancy/pregnancies. Did you take epidural & did it have any negative effect?

Mehnaz I have two bulging discs in my cervical spine so it affects my right arm & shoulder. Problem is I obviously can’t avoid using my right arm & on top of that having a notorious toddler in the house doesn’t help much. I have been using cold packs religiously. I have come down from using it 8-10x a day to only 3x a day. They make a huge difference. In the start the pain was so bad that I had to rely on heavy narcotic drugs just to pass my day. Alhumdulillah I have stopped taking them. Although the withdrawal symptoms were horrible I am through that. I still have to take occasional pain killers every other day just to be able to sleep at night without feeling any pain.

Jazak Allah khair for posting that yoga link & sharing those poses. They do look a little intimidating but then I have never done yoga. I’ll seriously look into this.

tweetybird when you say you can hardly sit for half an hour. Do you mean that your back starts hurting or you are just not used to sitting at all after all that walking. My chiro also suggested investing into a treadmill. I love walking but not to sure about walking at home. Its no fun then.

I called my grandmother in Pakistan & it turns out that except my own mother, all three of her sisters have this issue (one developed it at a very early age like me) & then my grandmother who is 70 has had it for 22 years now.

All of them have consulted various top doctors in Pakistan & even Dubai. One had it so severe that she was suggested to get a surgery done or get injections taken. She did not do either one. Other than that my “Nani” mentioned lots of walking, maintaining weight & just keeping back strong.

I am looking into this & it seems like its genetics too. Has anyone else had it in their family?

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

My physician just called. She wants me to see a spine specialist. It turns out some people have it worse than others & I most likely happen to be one of them.

She was giving me “tassallee” by saying its not terminal illness like cancer. Yeah sure. She said since I don’t do good with heavy meds last resort is surgery or injections. That doesn’t sound comforting either. She did say I should be able to tackle it eventually & reading above posts also makes me hopeful. I just have this weird inner feeling that is not going to be pretty. I hope I am wrong.

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

Finally!

I was curious which physician you were seeing.

You definitely have to see spine specialist.

Back disc prolapse can be dangerous but even more so the neck disc.

Please try not to mess with your nerves and limb functions with chiropractors or yoga shoga.

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

Bint-e-Naeem, Don’t worry, its not such a horrible thing. I had my operation in Pakistan before marraige. I doubt that you will have that as I was pretty much immobile and in horrible pain when I had it. So the doctor should prescribe physical therpay most likely. But please don’t go to chiropractors and the like. See a specialist first. I saw a neurosurgeon in Pakistan and he said I had a horrible case, even if my case was 70% bad no surgery would be needed. The surgery was micro surgery and after 45 days I was taking 7 flights of steps if needed,pain free
Masha Allah and back to work. This was 13 years ago.

EPIDURAL: I got married, came to USA, had my first baby and developed some back pain in the second trimester. Got a regular pregnancy maternity belt and a rocking chair. The pain went away. Consulted the anesthelogist about the epiduarl. He said it would be no problem and there were none. Second baby, got an epidural and got a paralyzed foot, its now 95% better and no one can tell when I walk. Don’t know if it was due to the surgery. Thedocs said likely the baby was pressing on a nerve during labor that’s why it happened. Anyways, I had noback pain during pregnnacy. Also, I think this should be an issue for you as you havedisc herniation in the upper vertebrae not lower where epidural is given. If worse comes to wosre, you can ask for ac-section, but I doubt it shall come to that.

GENETICS: My mother’s side of the family has this probelm, but none had surgery. Interstingly, my dad in Pakistan just had this operation, he is quite old and he is back home now after afewdays in the hospital. So I guess genetics plays a role.

ONGOING ISSUES: Post operation I was pain free, then maybe when my first born was a year,I developed severve back ache and got an MRI. Also saw a neurosureon. He said there was no need of further operations but I had developed another herniated disc. He prescibed physcial therpay, 12 sessions, Uptill session 6, I saw no improvemsnt, but after that Iwas good as new. I am supposed to do physcial therpay excersices at home but never do! I was pain free (completely) for years and then got another bad case, more physical therapy and then back to normal. This was I had 3 sessions for my back so far past surgery. I am usually pain free but sometimes get backj ache if I overdo it. What helps is warm water during showers and lots ofrest besides pain killers. Physical therapy is the last resort.

MORE KIDS: My friend had severe back issues and she went on to have 4 kids!! So this should be an issue.

YOGA AND MASSAGE: My doc told me not to try any massage until the MRI and I havenever looked back. Regular medicine helped me even in a third worls country lkike Pakistan and I didn’t go to any big shot hospitals even there but a medium one. The surgeon was very good though. Massage etc. can hurtthe dsc so don’t do any of these things until you have the ok. I am not supposed to do gym either. I can use th treadmill and tye excersicebike and maybe a few more machines but basically walking is it.

RECOVERY AFTER CHILDBIRTH: No , aside from the paralysis thing, which may or may not be due to the epiduaral, my back didn’t hurt at all during or after childbirth.

And oh yes, don’t sleep on the floor as some desis will tell you. Its not good for theback. The nuerosurgeon here in theUS told me not to. Just get anice firm mattress. It worlks wonders. I had a lot ofback ache 5-6 years ago and changing the mattress helped.

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

I was diagnosed with disc herniation after the constant back pain during pregnancy.. I have been told that it will take about 6-18 months to fully recover with the physical therapy, exercises and thats just how it is! I have had constant calf pain starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy and we all thought it was related to the disc herniation but just found out that it wasnt and that’s a whole separate issue!!

Everyone is different.. I had horrible back pain during pregnancy and I was taking percocet for that, had 36 hours of back labor that ended with c section, and I still have severe lower back pain! But other than no issues with the baby, fertility etc!

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

The best thing you can do is LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.

Continue using the ice packs. Personally, I avoided all medications cause I know my body is very sensitive and I didn’t want to become dependent on them. It made my recovery a lot tougher and more painful.

Ice packs got me through the worst of it last summer. My son was 2 years old at the time (and extremely tall like his ammi) so he still wanted gaudi and cuddles. It was really hard given his weight and height. I also had to drop him to the daycare everyday. Just sitting in the car would cause my discs to slip and I would often lose sensation in my left leg altogether. I still get tingling in my left leg, but alhamdullilah, for the most part I am ok now.

I did see a chiropractor for several months, then physical therapy and then when I was ready, hot yoga. Like I already said before, I only started yoga about 6 months after my injury. I couldn’t do it right away.

I will tell you one thing which should give you hope. My doctor said I could never exercise again. I love doing intense workouts like bootcamp and running outdoors … and I am now able to do all the things I loved. I just have to be careful and conscious in what I do.

So yes, I run, do stairmaster, do lunges and crunches … recovery is LONG and PAINFUL but you need to listen to your body.

Is there anybody who can help you??? I depended a lot on my mother and sister to help me with even giving my son a bath. I just couldn’t bend or do anything. It was an extremely depressing and demoralizing period of my life. Inshallah you will get through it.

Gia, my Sonu was sitting on my sciatic nerve for most of my pregnancy. I also had the same back issues when I was pregnant but didn’t pay attention to it. You will be ok. Just be careful and don’t put pressure on your lower back. Get a back support for your chair and even your car if you can.

I did try Spinal Decompression therapy and it actually made it worse. This was long after I recovered … so my advice to all of you is do not try this.

I also looked into buying a traction board for my home. Basically, this allows you to hang upside down and puts space back in between the vertebraes in your spine. Disc hernations often occur due to the vertebraes sitting directly on top of each other. The disc in between the vertebrae bulges out due to lack of space. So the traction board allows you to hang at an angle, stretching the spine and creating more space in between the vertebraes. A lot of people think this tool is a life saver and use it daily for a few minutes in the morning and in the evenings.

I did not get it. By this time, I decided to try hot yoga and those stretches I mentioned above basically do the same thing as the traction board.

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

I also want to add that you want to be careful with Googling information. Everybody is unique and there are a lot of scary stories out there, but that doesn’t mean it will happen to you.

You should ask your doctor if you should take a vitamin called “Glucosamine, Chondroitin with MSM”. It is a vitamin specifically for joint pains, arthritis and spinal issues.

I have been taking it since last summer. Actually, I started taking a lot of vitamins last year. My body was really run down due to stress and fatigue which is what made the disc herniation and healing period even worse. Make sure you strengthen and nourish your body. You want to eat foods and take vitamins that will make discs and cartilege stronger.

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

Thank you so much Eastern for such a detailed & hopeful answer. The more I know about other’s experience, the easier it seems to tackle things. We have a firm mattress & I am glad that you mentioned the not sleeping on the floor part. Just recently someone was suggesting this. I don’t think I’ll be attempting it anymore.

Gemini have you tried the physical therapy then? Has it it helped you? And how long did it take?

Thank you much Mehnaz for all that you shared. I have been avoiding the google route because I know that people usually only share their bad experiences. I will look into the vitamins. Possibly ask my doctor. I am also going to look into the traction board you mentioned. Its great to know that despite the fact what your doctors told you, you are still able to “work” your body. I had planned on doing a 5k this year. Lets see if I’ll still be able to make it happen.

Past two weeks have been horrible. I did a baby shower & my pain shot back up & then the first spine specialist I saw basically made my case sound a lot worse & sent me for further MRIs & Xrays. I went for a second opinion to another specialist & he is saying that for now we are going to only do Physical therapy & see how my back takes it. He doesn’t want to insert any extra “pins & needles” inside my body.

You are so so right about the listen to your body thing. I am slowly learning when to stop & when to work my body. I recently purchased a “walk at home” dvd so I can start doing cardio again. I was going to try it today but chickened out in fear of increasing my pain.

I don’t have any help except my husband. We don’t have any family within 1000 miles. For the past 6 months he has been giving baths to our daughter & when we travel together in a car, he is the one who puts her in the car seat. He has been doing our weekly laundries & so many other things. But he has been helping since a long time. And although I am grateful, this very act of his has been putting my self esteem down. I have started cooking for two days so I can take a one day break between preparing meals. Other than that man in simple words it hurts. I am really hoping physical therapy will do its wonders.

For now no more chiropractic visits & definitely no massage therapies. Its ice packs, pain killers here & there at night time to sleep & physical therapy.

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

Please don’t use tarction without consulting the doctor. The traction machine the physical therapist used actually made it worse. Two doctors advised me against it and then the therapy worked sans the machine. I guess it depends upon your body and the hernaition type. Traction definitley works for some and not for everyone. Yes, don’t sleep on the floor, the doctor said that it would make the pain worse. Also, don’t lift anythingmore than 5-10 lbsf or now. See a neurologist who will most likely give you an MRI and then advise physical therapy. Muscle relaxants and medicoine that cuts down swelling also work. Abouit excersice, everyone is different, whenever I went against teh advise of my doctor and did excersice (even while avoidng the sternous ones)my back hurt, very bad at times though even though I hired a tariner to avoid it. walking is suppose dto be good for the back. Once you are pain free, you can attempt it.

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I have already seen the specialist & have also gotten additional MRIs & X rays done. The specialist I saw first said that this pain has something to do with my nerves in my neck & that my neck shows signs of mild arthritis. Second specialist dismissed that x ray saying that with age people eventually get inflammation. Its nothing to worry about. I am only 25. Well not only but still. I thought these things don’t get to you till you hit your thirties.

I have noticed even lifting medium size cooking pots filled with water hurts me at times.

Eastern I appreciate all the advises but yeah before doing anything major I will consult my doctor. Heck I have used the laptop enough today & my back is hurting again.

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I agree 25 is young. I had my operation at a young age as well. Has any of youyr specialists mentioned phyical therapy at all? What code of action are you following now?

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That’s what I am doing. I have my first appointment for physical therapy tomorrow. The first specialist was all about doing a surgery to “correct” things but this second specialist wrote me up for physical therapy. We are going to do this for a month & see where I stand.

I am keeping my fingers crossed & really hoping this will help me.

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Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?

I agree with Eastern, please do not use the traction board. I don’t think it will help you … just try the physical therapy. Inshallah, you will get through this. It is really hard, believe me, you will get through it. :hugz:

Physical therapy will help you. :hugz: