So I have been having lower back pain all week, anyways I talked to my doc briefly last week and she said if it continued through the weekend she wanted me to get an MRI to see if I have a possible herniated disc.. has anyone ever had this before? And how long did it take to recover from. The best thing about it is I dont even know what I did to make it happen. I just woke up New Years Eve with Backpain and I'm 26.. pretty awesome, huh guys?

 

I have 2, and it SUCKS.

I got you beat....mine happened at the ripe age of 19 because my stupid college swimming coach was a jackass and went overboard with our training.

If you do have a herniated disc, there is no recovery from it. It will be a lifelong issue you will have to deal with every single day. You will have to change the way you do everything. Are you an active person, play sports and stuff?

BTW, I am 28 now and still have problems with it every single day. It doesn't just go away forever. I really hope you do not have one. Sorry to be so negative, but that's the reality of it. I'm pretty bitter that I can't do the things I used to be able to do and have to deal with pain all the time. Simple things like sitting or standing for extended periods of time are impossible now, let alone running, working out on the elliptical, biking, etc.

 

It depends on the type of herniation you have. If it impinges on your spinal nerves, you got a problem. But for some people, it doesn't. You'll have back pain, but not to the point where it's debilitating.

 

I woke up new years with brutal shoulder pain, this sounds weird but try sleeping on the floor for a day or two, sometimes the hard surface lines you up. if not seek medical help.

 

Haha.. Nice. Yeah, the specialist I saw today said I just have severe muscle spasms in my lower back, no need to worry now. But I'm going to see a physical therapist he referred me to on thursday. Another guy I work with has a herniated disc and it's a path I don't want this to lead too. But yeah I'm pretty active and my line of work is a pilot, and granted all the doctors agree that slamming down on aircraft carriers don't help and backpain is something I'll eventually probably endure later in my lifetime.

 

Glad to hear no h-disc, I had surgery in Aug 2000 to have L4, L5 H-Disc removed and L5,S1 fused. Sleep with one of these on and it will loosen up.

 

My dad has one. This is one of the fields I am looking to go into when I graduate college too (Bioengineering major), since there's currently not much out there in terms of a solution to a herniated or damaged disc. There is a prosthetic disc, but it doesn't offer full motion, and there is the option of it being replaced with something completely static/fused, but obviously you wouldn't want that.
Physical therapy helps a lot too. I worked at Physiotherapy Associates over the summer, and if that's where you're going for PT you'll be in good hands.
With those thermacare wraps, remember that heat loosens up your muscles but can increase pain. Cold does the opposite.

 

Thanks guys for all the suggestions, Yeah I visit the Chiropractor on Thursday, so hopefully things will work out. Nice to see another Terp on here, I graduated from UMD back in 2003. Actually after I came back from the Emerald Bowl is when I started having back trouble.