Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Herniated Disc in lower back

4 bulging disks, 1 in lower back 3 in neck.

C5, 6 & 7 with arthritic stenosis as well. Diagnosed around 2003 with MRI, did some PT mostly traction. No cutting yet, the first guy I saw wanted to cut but I balked on that. Got a shot(s) that allowed the swelling/inflammation to ease off. I've worn out 3 of the neck stretchers, got a plastic contraption now that works pretty good. Look like the Borg with it on.

It ended my competitive shooting and made work a challenge for a while, hard to work with small parts when you have no feeling in your fingertips and the whole arm felt like it was being boiled.

The lower back disk so far has just been a aggravation, twist wrong or lift and twist and it will give me hell for a few days. Don't take long to learn what not to do.

OP, it took about 2 months for the pinched nerves in my neck settled down and pain/numbness pretty much stopped.

Good luck!

I’m always surprised about the folks who are dogmatic about these things based on their own personal experience. It just doesn’t work that way. Pain management is often a complicated problem sometimes requiring a multimodal approach. There is no one thing that works for everybody, but just about something that works for someone.

I’ve probably done well over a thousand epidural steroid injections, facet joint injections, nerve root blocks, and the like, from the neck to the coccyx, many giving pain relief for a time (sometime for years) and some not working at all.

Surgery is unavoidable at times, and necessary, but it should be down the list of things to try first.

First thing is a doc who will do an exam, order an x-ray, MRI or CT scan, maybe some labs, not just write a script. The Diagnoses needs to be made before proceeding. Maybe you want a second opinion also.

I have 8 ruptured disks and multiple other levels with other problems so I have a little experience with back problems as most of us at least once in our lives. For most back problems time and changing behaviors/motions will help out tremendously, others not so.

I have had 3 surgeries at L5-S1 and each time I felt better a month after surgery than I did before. As I look at it back surgery is not elective you only accept after every other approach fails. One surgery was an emergency because they were very concerned about permanently losing significant strength in my left leg, sciatic had major pressure that needed to be relieved immediately.

The bulk of the rest of the problems are in my thoracic and I would give most of what I have if there was a surgical option for those levels. The ribs make it very difficult to gain access to the disks so thoracic disk ruptures are very difficult to deal with when multiple levels are bad, they need a good level or two to tie hardware to for a fusion.

I work out most every day, I do deep water exercise so there is no impact and this helps me both physically and emotionally (because I can do this). I am able to do most things men in their 60's can do, maybe a little more pain but at least I can do it. Most days if you saw me on the street you would not know that I am in significant pain, I have had a lot of practice (30 years) masking the pain. Even with the pain my quality of life is pretty high, but it takes work.

You have to find a path that works best for you and this may take a lot of trial and error. You will run into many people who say they would never have back surgery, most of them have never had more than a slight twinge of pain in their back so they do not speak from experience.

I had fusion on L4 and L5, 2.5 years ago.
Did great afterwards, no more pain !
Back in August of last year, I started getting this pain in my left hip. Felt like my hip was out.
I work for FedEx freight, and deal with big, heavy, stuff everyday.
Go to the chiropractor, adjusts me, and the pain was still there. Go back a week later, and he says I probably messed up my IT band that runs down my leg.
It'll take several months to heal, do these exercises.
Pain was getting worse over the next coupla months. Go see a different chiropractor, he takes an x ray, and says my problem is my neck, and its beyond me.
Fast forward, I'm now on oxycodone, and awaiting fusion for L2 and L3, my already fused L4 and L5.
What they don't tell you is, you will experience another failure, depending on which vertebrae, above or below what you had fixed.
Wish I'd get this over already. I'm sick of the pain, and sitting around, so I don't do more damage to my back.