Bulging disc

Kandisn29

Just got diagnosed with a bulging disc.

Kandisn29

Anyone else been through this?

orangegato

I've had 2 surgeries on my neck for herniations

Kandisn29

Dr is saying PT and that it should fix itself. I’m four months postpartum and they think that’s what caused it. Has anyone’s fixed itself?

orangegato

Kandisn29 wrote: »

Dr is saying PT and that it should fix itself. I’m four months postpartum and they think that’s what caused it. Has anyone’s fixed itself?

Yes that can happen. I know someone who had a huge herniated disc in their lumbar area (I saw the MRI) and it actually slipped back in place. Could not believe it. If someone is in pain crisis sometimes they need a course of oral steroids to help reduce pain and inflammation. That is for your doc to manage.
I needed surgery, there was no way around it esp after failing multiple PT and meds....

cwolfman13

Kandisn29 wrote: »

Dr is saying PT and that it should fix itself. I’m four months postpartum and they think that’s what caused it. Has anyone’s fixed itself?

Yes...I herniated a disk in the summer of 2016 and did PT for about 6 weeks, twice per week and it helped immensely. All in all it took about 4-5 months before I was back to my normal exercise activities without issue.

I still get tingling now and then, generally a result of poor posture.

Grimmerick

Spine pain/issues are very tricky things , it comes, it goes, it gets worse, it gets better, sometimes it never goes away everyone is different and responds differently to different treatments. My biggest advice, find a great doctor (word of mouth is a good way). It can be a process, don't give up and try different things(Doc recommended of course) starting with the easiest and work your way up until you find a treatment that works for you. That treatment can change over time. Being mindful of your issue and what upsets it or makes it relax is definitely something you are going to want to pay attention to as you age. 9 years working at a spine institute here. Bulging discs are pretty common and something usually considered easier to deal with to a spine doctor....so you got that going for you Also if you have doc recommending surgery, there is nothing wrong with getting a second opinion just to give you the warm and cozy. Nothing wrong with surgery and sometimes it is the only way but you want to exhaust other easier alternatives first.

DomesticKat

My husband has two from improper rucking almost 7 years ago. He was pretty much crippled from it and couldn't even dress himself. The doctors pushed pain medicine but he didn't respond to it, and PT didn't help either. He couldn't pass a PT test for the Army that way or even go to work. Surgery was his last resort. He was referred to a chiropractor who specialized in sports medicine. Not your typical run of the mill chiropractor specializing in woo. Aside from occasional stiffness if he isn't careful working out, he's back to normal. I am hesitant to recommend chiro because there are more bad chiropractors than good, but if you can do the research and find someone highly regarded by the medical community, it might be worth it.

sijomial

Kandisn29 wrote: »

Dr is saying PT and that it should fix itself. I’m four months postpartum and they think that’s what caused it. Has anyone’s fixed itself?

Over time the bulging nucleus pulposos (the jelly like substance that escapes through the fibrous ring - annulus) will tend to be reabsorbed. If that bulge was impinging on a nerve then over a course of weeks the pain will subside.
More serious ones may require surgery ranging from discectomy to fusion of the vertebrae, it's a very wide range of outcomes.

I've had a load of lumbar herniations which has left me with three joints with reduced disc height. So far I've avoided surgery despite being under "final warning" for 15 years. Losing weight and building up my core muscles helped enormously to manage the problem.

BTW - a lot of people have herniations and don't even know about it, depends on the size and location of the herniation and what structures are impinged by the herniation. I had a set of MRI scans done last year which revealed some minor ones that I wasn't aware of and cause me no issues.

DomesticKat

Oh and now that I think of it, I broke my tailbone during my 3rd delivery. Not the same thing, but my doctor did say something about relaxin levels making moms more uncomfortable around the 4 month mark and that's when it was worst for me. If it's not too severe, I bet PT will help a lot.

Seffell

I have disc protrusions in my lower back. I take very low dose antidepressant for the neuropathic pain down my sciaticus nerve.
My pain has improved a bit since it started 5 years ago.

Kandisn29

Thanks everyone! I work full time, have three kids, and love to exercise, so this little bump in the road has had me seriously discouraged.

janelleginnetto

I personally use chiropractic care for mine, but that's because if I don't I'll be in constant pain. Every body is different, but that's what works for me. I work full time and go to school full time, when the pain gets too bad I can do neither. Listen to your body. Some people need no interference, but others do. If it's not getting better, getting professional help may be your only option. I let mine go for years and it's not worth it because an alignment once a month or so keeps me pain free

Johnd2000

I was housebound for 3 years and bedbound for 3 months with a bulging disk that progressed to splintering (twice).

I started on PT, then had more PT after my first operation. Undoubtedly it made it worse and contributed to the second injury. My surgeon made sure after the second op that I didn’t do any PT for 12 weeks.

My regular doc later admitted that there’s not much evidence to support PT for back injuries. It can help, but often doesn’t and can make things worse. My advice would be to tread carefully (literally).

WildWayz

I had a bulging disk - happened a few years ago when I had a massage whilst on holiday. I got off the table incorrectly (!!) and twisted myself whilst my legs stayed where they were. End result, a horrible crunch and a herniated disk.

Doctors didn't diagnose it, so I went 18 months in severe pain with it slipping in and out and locking my back. They then diagnosed it, but it was too late; disk was now worn.

I had injections, radio-frequency sessions, physio etc - nothing. After a while, the MRI / xrays showed the disk had reformed with calcium or something.... I was on Naproxene and Codeine Phosphate for a long time for it, before I took myself off of it (don't really like having drugs in my system).

My back is much better now, but it still flares up from time to time.

Grimmerick

WildWayz wrote: »

I had a bulging disk - happened a few years ago when I had a massage whilst on holiday. I got off the table incorrectly (!!) and twisted myself whilst my legs stayed where they were. End result, a horrible crunch and a herniated disk.

Doctors didn't diagnose it, so I went 18 months in severe pain with it slipping in and out and locking my back. They then diagnosed it, but it was too late; disk was now worn.

I had injections, radio-frequency sessions, physio etc - nothing. After a while, the MRI / xrays showed the disk had reformed with calcium or something.... I was on Naproxene and Codeine Phosphate for a long time for it, before I took myself off of it (don't really like having drugs in my system).

My back is much better now, but it still flares up from time to time.

Ugh I'm sorry, that sounds terrible, how did the doctors not diagnose it? MRI and even just an xray(you can't see discs but lack of space between vertebra can be an indication) should show that. Did they not do any imaging to start off with?

JeromeBarry1

My wife had a bulging disk which became a degenerate disk. It was 4 years of intense pain, hard drugs, and bad doctors before we found a surgeon who could do anterior discectomy with fusion, which is sort of like doing a ring job on an indycar engine in the middle of a race. The surgery involved disassembling her spine, removing a disk, extracting bone marrow from her hip and isolating her stem cells, then replacing the disk with a titanium cage containing a small amount of cadaver bone sprinkled with her stem cells and screwing the cage to the vertebrae above and below. It was day surgery. We arrived at the surgery center at 5:00 a.m. and returned home by 2:00 p.m. She wore a cervical collar for 2 months. Since then she'd been able to resume her life.

Vetticus_3

I've had that.

Just a bulging disc - nothing more serious. It was caused because of slumping at a desk + running.

Saw a fantastic physio. Fixed it by strengthening my core, proper posture, and stretching my hip flexors.

If I return to slumping, the lower back pain would make a small come-back.

That happened about 2 years ago. Saw a new physio (I had moved), and his treatment/advice worked well when I saw him, but gradually got worse between visits. He started to recommend long term treatment with injections etc. I quit him altogether.

Instead, I rested for a while and then returned to the original stretching exercises + more core work. My back is now better than ever.

nvmomketo

I had that. I mostly tried to work through it myself with exercise and staying slim. After a decade it finally burst though. ow. I now have some paralysis down my leg and onto my foot that affects my gait a bit. On the bright side, it does not hurt anymore.

In hindsight, I should have pushed the doctor to get it fixed or do more physio. Prescribing pain medication was not helpful LOL