Anyone fixed a herniated disc without surgery?

[Dusty Britches]

Yes, until the dern thing calcified. I was doing great. Exact same thing - L5 - S1 full herination. I went through physical therapy using the MacKenzie method. Make sure your PT is certified in it. My PT is and she is certified in many other methods. I would put her in the top 10% of PT in the state.

Losing weight will help a lot!

[quarterback]

Best of luck getting it fixed JT. I wouldn't wish that kind of pain on my worst enemy. Ended up having microdiscectomy surgery. I was a hurtin' cowboy before that.

[Dirtymike]

had shots, PT, more shots, dry needling...

Only thing that can really make me not think about it is a pain killer which scares the crap out of me because addiction, so i stick to whiskey.

[Smell the Glove]

I have. Started seeing a chiropractor that works with local pro teams. I'm fixed so far after losing a little weight, chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture hooked up to the tens unit and twice a month I go get stretched out on one of those decompression tables with a winch.

[Traildust]

My chiropractor jacked mine up so bad, I had to have surgery.

[wellingtontx]

If you have not had an MRI go to an Ortho and get one.

Depending on the degree and severity of the herniation, you should stay away from a Chiro until you get an Ortho opinion. A Chiro who is giving you the standard manipulations to you with a herniation would scare the crap out of me and very well could make it worse. I have seen it many times.

An Ortho will try the conservative measures listed above in other posts - in part because it very well could help resolve the symptoms and in part because he is required to do so by most insurance companies. Once all conservative measures fail, you very well may be a candidate for a laminectomy or more drastic procedures. All depends on the severity of the herniation.

As we say, you can treat and sometimes resolve the disc symptoms and pain, but the herniation will remain. You just try to get it to a point that it is no longer a source of daily pain.

Alter what you do and how you do it.

Drop the extra pounds and when you are able, start a daily routine of exercise and core building.

[Puggy625]

First, you need to understand that there is no fixing a herniated disk. No such animal. Now, it may recess with some exercising, weight loss, core strengthening, chiropractor, etc, etc. But it ain't EVER miraculously "fixed". It may get better, and be better for years. Until it's not, and then you are really in a world of hurt. Trust me, been there, done that and got the t shirt.

So, from personal first hand experience, go to a Dr and get a medical diagnosis about what's going on. THEN, you and your Dr can make a real determination. About the best path for you.

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[JTeLarkin08]

How bad is the herniation? They should have told you how many millimeters it's bulged out.

9mm?


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[Hex]

I herniated all 5 lower lumbar disks (High Gs, bad body position). Its been 3 yrs since the traumatic event and Im doing fine...very aware and careful...but otherwise doing well. What worked for me was PT, Inversion Table (game changer) and slowly incorporating core exercises , such as raking, mopping vacuuming etc.

Im very wary of chiropractors (never met someone who only visited once) but admit others have had success. YMMV

Good luck, but it takes time. Be smart, careful and patient.

[RR 314]

9mm?


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This is an oft quoted study regarding HNP sizes. . .

The size and cross‐sectional area of the dural sac and any herniated discs were measured from magnetic resonance imaging examinations of 22 asymptomatic individuals and 44 patients with sciatica. The sensitivity and specificity of these measurements were determined. In this small population of patients, a dural sac anteroposterior (AP) diameter of 10.2 mm at the L3‐4, L4‐5, or L5‐S1 vertebral levels was 74% sensitive and 74% specific for leg pain. Based on measurements in symptomatic patients, a herniated disc with an AP diameter of approximately 3 mm was over 95% sensitive and 95% specific. However, if the AP diameters of herniated discs in symptomatic patients were compared with similar measurements in asymptomatic controls, the most sensitive and specific threshold value was 6.8 mm. These findings must be confirmed in a larger population before they are applied clinically. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2000;12:439–443. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Does MRI reveal effacement or nerve root impingement? 9mm isn't going to "retract" and I would cut out the chiro. Think about this question. How can an "adjustment"--whatever in the world that actually is--address a HNP? A lot of times people have low back pain, go to a chiro and the pain lessens over the course of treatment. Would the same result have happened over time without manipulation? There is no control and likely the results would be the same without treatment.

[JTeLarkin08]

I herniated all 5 lower lumbar disks (High Gs, bad body position). Its been 3 yrs since the traumatic event and Im doing fine...very aware and careful...but otherwise doing well. What worked for me was PT, Inversion Table (game changer) and slowly incorporating core exercises , such as raking, mopping vacuuming etc.

Im very wary of chiropractors (never met someone who only visited once) but admit others have had success. YMMV

Good luck, but it takes time. Be smart, careful and patient.

I’ll be honest I’m not a very careful person. I want to get back to as close to normal as possible. I’ve got goats and sheep to hunt one day. So if that means surgery and 8 months of down time that’s what it may have to be. Hopefully I can get it knocked out without it tho.


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[flyin7]

It depends on the grade of disc protrusion as to whether I'll refer a patient out for surgery. Most of the protrusions can be treated conservatively with chiro care and you may want to see if you can incorporate some decompression therapy along with the other treatments. Let whomever is treating you know if your symptoms are changing, especially if they are worsening.

[docmay]

PT and steroids are a reasonable first step. Need to find a back doctor you trust. In the end, I don’t think a microdiscectomy is too bad. I just had a two level acdf in my neck and that wasn’t bad.

[JTeLarkin08]

PT and steroids are a reasonable first step. Need to find a back doctor you trust. In the end, I don’t think a microdiscectomy is too bad. I just had a two level acdf in my neck and that wasn’t bad.

Thanks doc. I gotta get this fixed so I can go kill a goat or a sheep. Lol. That’s literally the only thing I’m super stressed about with this whole deal. I can handle the pain 90% of the time.


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[Patriot-2000]

Got one between L4/5 . Lost @40 pounds, physical therapy, got more physically active. Then a shot .. that was 2014 and unless I forget my 55+ age .. no problems