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Walking is pretty good for herniated disks. Try to avoid sitting for too long if you can. I only do yoga at home because I can't twist or do a lot of the stretches in yoga classes.
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Originally Posted by LesLucid
Unless you have spinal stenosis associated with the rupture in which case sitting is much more comfortable. I concentrated on lower back specific stretches and exercise because walking quickly became too painful.
I told my surgeon the last time I was there that he should remove half the chairs in his waiting room and replace them with bar tables or counters since half the people there are in pain if they're sitting, and the other half are in pain if they're standing, LOL.
You should really look into a reverse hyper machine. It strengthens your back muscles while elongating your spine. It was invented by power lifter named Louie Simmons to help deal with compression and severe back injuries from power lifting. Not many gyms have one, but you can order one on amazon for a few hundred dollars.
I put off back surgery a little too long about 30 years ago. Nerve damage is hard to overcome. I went from walking 70 miles per week to the hospital, but my doctor talked me out of surgery. (Last resort thinking.) So a few months later I find myself in the back of an ambulance headed to an emergency room. Had the surgery but also had nerve damage that's only gotten worse. I tried to walk again but couldn't make it 4 blocks due to weak ankle. Thirty years later it's only gotten worse. All because I tried to put it off too long. My dad did the same thing. He never walked again after his second surgery.
That's not to say you should go under the knife to get rid of a backache, but when those shooting pains go down your legs and interfere with your life, it's time to consider surgery.
I put off back surgery a little too long about 30 years ago. Nerve damage is hard to overcome. I went from walking 70 miles per week to the hospital, but my doctor talked me out of surgery. (Last resort thinking.) So a few months later I find myself in the back of an ambulance headed to an emergency room. Had the surgery but also had nerve damage that's only gotten worse. I tried to walk again but couldn't make it 4 blocks due to weak ankle. Thirty years later it's only gotten worse. All because I tried to put it off too long. My dad did the same thing. He never walked again after his second surgery.
That's not to say you should go under the knife to get rid of a backache, but when those shooting pains go down your legs and interfere with your life, it's time to consider surgery.
Yes, and this is where I find myself now and I'm hoping I didn't wait too long. 8 months of radiculopathy and leg pain due to a compressed S1 nerve root. Doing everything else instead of surgery. No motor weakness or muscle atrophy (thought I do have soft achilles reflex on the affected side). Just pain, but it's pain that has interfered with my life for the past several months. I've also heard and followed the general rule of surgery as a "last resort". I'm a fairly knowledgable health care consumer- I'm married to an Orthopedic surgeon and have a health care background myself- but with the exception of only 1 of the 3 surgeons I've gotten an opinion from, everyone has told me to either wait on surgery, or left the ball completely in my court to decide. My husband (at least for the first few months), the PT I was seeing, the Radiologist who gave me my injections, even one of the surgeons I saw who has similar back problems....all had a wait and see approach. Only one person actually said "You need surgery, and you should have had it months ago, and now the outcomes quite possibly won't be as good". I wish I'd heard that sooner, or pushed more myself.
The reason they tell you to wait, though, is that many of these disc issues do resolve on their own or with some other non surgical intervention. All I can say is if I had to do it all over again, I would have moved more aggressively towards surgery at about the 4 month when I realized I was having no improvement. I'm keeping my fingers crossed my surgery works.
GummyShark - Thanks so much for sending this alongI have always suspected hanging from pull up bar was a good way to go. Just don't have one in my home. Some of the exercises he recommends avoiding are ones I have heard others recommend. I will need to do some trial and error.
I have a close friend whose is younger than me. I was born in April 1957, he in July 1958. I have almost no pains, back or otherwise. He is constantly complaining of lower back and just about every other pain. Including acid reflux. His doctor asked when the last time he exercised was back in college. I started jogging a month after college and haven't really stopped except for minor surgeries for a hernia and one other procedure I barely remember. And he asks me what I do about back pain and I said I have none.
Those are some great exercises from McGill. I was also reading this article https://wellnessbyshack.health.blog about the importance of also working on your hip flexors to help with low back pain.
I exercise sore lower back by doing what we called "six inchers" back in high school.
Lay flat on your back, keep your legs straight and separate them about 4 - 6 inches. Then raise them about six inches and hold for 30 seconds to a minute.
I do about 5 -10 of them.
For some reason I have an old slipped disc back injury from years ago that randomly flares up for literally no reason every one-two years. Even despite that in-between times I've done heavy squats and leg presses, none of those ever triggered it, but simply walking into the kitchen three days ago my back "went". Like a bolt of lightning in my lower back. No chance of doing any serious exercise til it's gone. So I'm limited to slow walking until it all sorts out again.
I exercise sore lower back by doing what we called "six inchers" back in high school.
Lay flat on your back, keep your legs straight and separate them about 4 - 6 inches. Then raise them about six inches and hold for 30 seconds to a minute.
I do about 5 -10 of them.
We used to do "six inches" back in the later 1960s/early 1970s when I was in junior high and high school. That exercise and regular sit-ups disappeared because many experts said they were bad for your back.
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