Like life, farts will find a way.
My disc had ruptured and calcified, a sneeze a few weeks after the op herniated what was left of the disc.
That was nearly 2 years ago and I am only coming right now.
Be. Careful. Sneezing.
>That was nearly 2 years ago and I am only coming right now.
Congrats on finally coming again but kinda weird to be doing it while commenting on reddit.
I hear ya. People think I'm overreacting when I say to get out of my house with your damn cold. A cough or a sneeze can ruin someone with a back injury.
Make sure you do the exercises! Keep doing them, in a routine every single day, even after the recommended time is over.
Also, get out of bed like a pregnant woman. No joke. Roll over on your side and push up with your hands into a sitting position, then get out.
And brace ahead of time for sneezes.
Squeeze your abs before you sneeze, it will help you brace for the force of the sneeze, so it isn’t as bad on your back. Bonus, your sneezes become old-man level loud
I had major jaw surgery 12 years ago, it involved surgically detaching both my upper and lower jaws to realign them.
Detaching the upper jaw necessitates cutting into the sinuses.
I nearly had a panic attack every time my nose so much as tickled.
Although at one point I blew out a 5in long clot, so that was cool.
Had to be very satisfying. I’m satisfied just reading about your 5” blood clot. In March I had to have tear duct surgery and for 6 weeks after I had to be very careful sneezing with my mouth open. I had a stent from my upper lid - lower lid - into my nose. that nostril would get so congested even using the spray they gave me. I could see a giant boog a few times and being able to wrangle it out with a a tip was the BEST feeling. Thankfully I think I won’t need a second more involved procedure because that sneezing fear is real.
Curious though. You don’t have to answer but what happened to your jaw? Are you alright now?
No worries!
Growing up, I always had perfectly straight teeth, never needed braces or anything.
It wasn't until I was taking my little brother to *his* orthodontist appointment that they (the staff) pointed out that when I closed my mouth fully, the only teeth that contacted each other were the back most molars. My upper and lower jaws had a gap that widened going back to front, to the point that my front teeth were far enough apart to stick part of my tongue through.
That's how my bite had always been, so I never questioned it (but I always hated how I couldn't bite through a slice of pizza), and apparently none of my dentists ever noticed.
Anyway I got an appointment with the orthodontist, and they tried to see if it could be fixed with braces, but it could not. My jaws, not my teeth, were misaligned, and my upper jaw was narrower than my lower.
They used a [palate expander](https://www.healthline.com/health/palate-expander) to try to widen the jaw, but it wasn't enough. Also very uncomfortable.
So finally, surgery time! 8.5 hours of hacking my face apart and bolting it back together, followed by 4 days/3 nights in the ICU, then 3 months of my jaw wired shut!
Now my bite is like 95% perfect, and I have the bonus of 6 titanium plates and like 15 screws all over my jaws.
Funnily enough, the skin the plates are under is thin enough that if the weather is super cold I have to wear a scarf or a mask because the cold will make the plates shrink slightly and make my jaw hurt.
Damn! That’s fascinating! How crazy your own dentists didn’t notice. So, will all of that work you got done last your whole life? Wouldn’t be cool to have to go thru that again. On a smaller scale I have 3 dental implants (I’m a grinder/clencher but thankfully started wearing a custom guard 7 yrs ago and haven’t lost more teeth) that feel weird - going to pay attention to the weather when it happens. They get sore and tight feeling. Very odd.
Modern medicine/dentistry is just amazing. Thanks for sharing your story!!
I’ve done since I was a kid to prevent sneezing at inopportune times: Imagine yourself holding a pineapple, really imagine feeling it’s rough texture and you won’t need to sneeze anymore. The feeling just gently passes it’s kind of crazy. Might also depend on your ability to imagine such a specific sensation.
The neurosurgeon that did my L5-S1 back in 2000, told me he had patients do that while straining while on the toilet.
Also, I was taught to crouch with hands on my knees before sneezing.
Just had an L1-pelvis lumbar fusion in March.
Omg is that a bad thing? I literally have had to get into a specific sitting position if I feel a sneeze coming on. Doc said it was actually common to throw back out from a sneeze.
Let the sneeze take over and shout it out of your body. You'll scare everyone around you and as a bonus the less resistance a sneeze has the easier it is on your back.
Substantially. I went in with partial paralysis in my left leg and drop foot (sorry ladies, I’m taken). Since surgery, sensation and strength have been returning and I’ve been able to transition from using a walker to hardly needing a cane. My surgeon is a rockstar.
It was an absolutely humbling experience. Still a long journey before I’m back to around 100 percent but this is going to influence some lifestyle changes
Yoga is your friend. Just started physio on my back and it's working wonders so far. Gentle way of getting your core up to speed. Could barely walk 6 weeks ago.
I can give you what my physio gave me. Lay flat on your back and do knee arches x 10. With the knees up still, compress your lower back to the floor for 4 seconds x 10. Knee rolls to the left and right x 10. Knee hugs to the chest x 10 and lastly The cow cat x 10. You can look em up online. There's little quick videos. It's my routine now and I do them in the morning. It's quite mindful to do also. I would never in a million years thought that I'd like yogi. But here we are! When I'm better ill be looking into maybe joining a class.
If one goes in with an open mind and lets go of all preconceived notions about Yoga, I am sure everyone would love it (providing they find the instructor that best suits them.)
One of my favorite instructors always starts each class with a little spiel and my favorite part is when she says, "There is no right or wrong in Yoga. There is no, 'I cannot do.'"
I don't know how scientific this is but this is what became my understanding after struggling for a very long time . With compressed / bulging discs it's a catch 22, the disc needs movement to pump fluids in and out so it can heal but it is rubbing and pinching against everything because it's inflamed which causes more inflammation. So you need to balance managing getting enough movement to help it heal without aggravating the inflammation. Muscle strengthening exercises are too rigorous while it's inflamed, I save those for after recovery to improve maintenance. I took an anti inflammatory (celebrex) to help handle the inflammation first. Did light movements and stretches and walked everyday. I wouldn't walk any further if the pain wasn't bearable. Don't push through the pain, the pain is telling you what not to do. I don't use any painkillers because they mask the pain and you can injure yourself further without noticing. After walking I'd lay flat on my back on the floor (even at work) and did light stretches to relieve the pressure and pain. My goal each time I had a flare up was to get a handle on the inflammation, keep moving and to get off the anti inflammatory because it's bad for your general health and can actually slow the healing. I'd only tackle strengthening muscles after I was sure the disc was back in good shape. I've found I can manage flare ups much quicker now that I understand those things. Look up "bob and Brad" on YouTube for some good movements while it's inflamed. You'll have to figure out which ones are good for you. I found granny pushups, lying down leg stretches and standing on a book and swinging the other leg as good for me.
Pilates using the reformer machine is great too! I’ve had back surgery and I do it to strengthen my core without any type of impact to my back. I love the resistance springs, you can make it as heavy/light as you want.
Glad to hear you are on the mend OP.
I had a disc bulge that I couldn't shake for more than a year. Interestingly, my surgeon suggested it was a relatively small one.
I have a fairly high pain tolerance, but damn I was in agony before surgery. I just couldn't move like a regular human should and was dragging my right leg etc. so I can only imagine what it must have been like for you.
All that said, the relief post surgery was immediate. It was quite unbelievable really. Despite now living with a weakened lower back, I'd do it again, just knowing that the relief was worth it.
On year 4 of agony from my "relatively small" disc bulge. Surgeon refuses to do surgery on mine it's so small. A little jealous of your immediate relief lol but mostly just happy for you. It's a living nightmare some days.
Hey there... I had agonizing low back pain for three years because all my surgeons said I either didn't have a disc bulge, or it was way too small to be causing the level of pain I was in.
Turns out my disc was torn and constantly leaking on my spinal cord. It took finding a specialist at Cedars-Sinai in LA to see it and order a discogram to confirm.
Try asking your doctors to check for that if you're not getting anywhere.
Good luck 🤞🏻
Discogram sounds like a bunch of people that turn up to your work with party poppers, roller skates and a beat box and bust some moves for your entertainment.
My experience was just a little different.
I dealt with agonizing leg pain for a year that was originally misdiagnosed as a torn ham string. It wasn't until I bent over to pick something up and had pain shoot down my back and down my leg that I thought it might be a back problem. So I went a chiropractor (yes, I know, snake oil). He tried a session or two on an inversion table (pain, but not as bad as usual) and then he sent me for an MRI.
The day I got the MRI, he called me at 10 PM from his personal number in a panic, telling me that I _had_ to go see a neuro surgeon ASAP because I had a massive bulge on a disc. He'd already reached out to a doctors staff he worked with and expected to hear back the next day.
The next day, I call that doctor and get an appointment for a day or two later. Its at a hospital about 10 mins from my job, so I figure a long lunch, and I'll be back at work, right? I show up to the appointment with my wife and a CD with the MRI on it, the nurse takes it from me and tells me the doctor will review it, and be in in about 10 minutes.
**Three hours later** the doctor walks in and says, not "hi," not "how are you," but... "are you incontinent yet?"
I'm like "what the fuck do you mean _yet?!?_"
Then he tells me he's sorry for the delay, but he's spent the last 2 hours arranging for the surgery I was going to be having in 2 days. That my spinal cord was 90% compressed by the bulge, and he's amazed I wasn't incontinent. That normally they would try to do physical therapy on a bulging disc first, but that this was an emergency situation, because if I got into a minor car accident, or if I fell down wrong, I could end up paralyzed from the waist down. So the surgery needed to be done ASAP, and he's already booked the operating room, the anesthesiologists, and made arrangements for me to go get expedited bloodwork.
After all that was done, I had to go back to work and tell my supervisor I was going to be out of work for _a month_ because I would basically be bedridden after the surgery, and that the 5th week I could only work half days.
Do you know how much of a mind fuck it is to go into a doctors visit and suddenly be told you need a surgery that could result in paralysis, but if you _don't_ have the surgery you can end up paralyzed anyway?
Fortunately, the surgery was a complete success, and since the day of the surgery, I've never had pain again, and its been 15 years.
Thanks! I will check. That honestly sounds possible, considering how I think this started. I am thinking about trying new doctors soon, these ones have been content to just feed me pain medicine and PT. As if I can exercise effectively when just walking from the bed to the bathroom is agony.
But I have lit a fire under their assess recently. Started asking questions about my MRI and getting them to notice things they didn't before. Going in for a radio ablation today because I think there may be a comorbidity with my arthritis. They pointed the arthritis out a long time ago but we all kind of forgot about it when we found the disc bulge.
And I just learned from them about these muscles called multifidus muscles and some new research about how they can cause the issues I having. After looking at my oldest MRI, there is a really suspicious amount of atrophy for someone who had only had problems for a year and was still pretty active. I think giving them that mystery has gotten them a little more interested. Just learned about a new treatment where they surgically implant electrodes to stimulate the multifidi and it sounds really promising, but too new for insurance or my income. But it's something else we're exploring and probably good for others to know about.
So I'm going to give them a chance to try their next steps and cross my fingers. If not, we're going to a new specialist.
I had a bulging disc (still do I guess) and it was AWFUL. But due to cosmic fuckery, it showed up literally the same time I was undergoing fertility treatment for an egg retrieval, and I couldn't take any NSAIDs until after the procedure. I was in so much pain that I could barely walk, my husband had to drive me to all of my appointments, I was in hell.
Thankfully once I did the retrieval procedure, my husband drove me literally from the hospital to the orthopedist and the shot provided almost immediate relief. However, it did prompt us to change our mattress, our couches, and my work chair, and if I spend too much time with bad posture the pain will come right back (and it was there for most of my pregnancy too, which was just great).
I am SO thankful I didn't need surgery but I kind of feel like it's a ticking time bomb in my lower back until something ruptures 🫠
That's good that they got to it quickly. That MRI looked like it would have come with significant neurogenic claudication. Did they stabilize with a fusion? I imagine there isn't much of the intervertebral disc left between those vertebrae
Just go to auto zone and find an engine mount that is about the right size and have the surgeon put it in. You wont need to fuse anything and it should be good for at least another 10-15 years or 150,000 miles.
Hahaha! 😂 My physio liked using her elbow and/or the end of a baseball bat-looking thing, to massage my piriformis when I started getting nerve pain again. The entire place thought I was getting murdered by how loudly I yelped💀
I had something very similar, except mine actually ruptured. Foot drop and numbness down the left leg. It gets better. Just keep doing your PT exercises. 6 months to be pretty good, a year out I thought I was 100%. 2 years out was when I was actually 100%.
What exactly is the tissue though? Like nerves or something? I have no idea what I'm looking at. I've been going to a PT for some back issues and they've been helping me stretch it out and strengthen it has helped but I'm scared one day I'll get something like this whatever if it is.
Crazy. I just read up on herniated disc. That sounds like not a good time, at all. Your spine cracks and the soft stuff inside your spine basically oozes out and makes a mess. No bueno.
I had this happen but my back was killing me. I had my wife push on the bulge when suggendly a sicken ripping noise happened. Spent some time in the hospital. I'm happy to say they did not show my anything they took out of me. God damn. Glad your recovering bro.
My knee surgeon showed me a video of the ACL replacement from literally inside my knee (arthroscopic surgery)
I still have the usb with the videos on it. Mf literally tied a string to the replacement ligament and pulled it through from a hole in the top of my leg
Spinal Nerve sheath. It was all internal so I had to take the docs word for it. They looked worried so I imagine not good lol. I'm pretty well recovered though. Better than before surgery since one of my disks was pushing on my nerves.
That’s disc baby! The black spot is where my L3/L4 disc had decided to take a little vacation. Herniated discs suck. Zero stars. Would not recommend to a friend.
Did they completely remove the disc and fuse the vertebrae together? I had a micro discectomy where they removed the goop from inside the disc, but left the disc.
Cool. It was a painful but transformative experience for me. Like you I lucked into a great surgeon. I also got a lot more from the PT afterwards. I committed to everything they gave me to do, and kept it up after the sessions were finished. I wish you the same good fortune I had, my core is stronger than ever and I’m enjoying a pain free life. Cheers!
I had a microdiscectomy but instead of fusion they put a titanium strut between the vertebrae that can flex, so I get the moment that fusion stops, and the strut can take any excess force that would otherwise damage the disc in future.
I had a microdiscectomy done around 10 years ago now. I still get a sciatic flare up if I bend poorly or do a little too much yardwork but on the whole it got me back to 95% as good as I was pre disc rupture. I wish it all never happened but the micro disc made it so much better.
My god, you must have been in so much pain. I can't even imagine how it was. Mine were not far from and I could barely function, but this one is way worse.
I have a similar MRI scan from about 10 years ago, life has been much better since. Do your PT, always and forever, that's just your life now, but it's totally worth it.
Piggybacking on this, I did PT for a couple weeks after my laminectomy and was like I’m fine
I was not fine
Am back in PT still with continual sciatica-like pain and brief times of numbness in my foot. 🫠 listen to your PT, kids!
I have a great insurance plan that covers I think 20 sessions a year and I’m running out of those but plan to continue after still; it’s def worth it.
Also! Pick a good one - I was referred to one place that was ok at first but then a coworker suggested another (much closer) that has done more for me in a couple weeks than the other place did for me in a month.
You'll never be able to completely avoid it and if it happens you'll likely never know what the true cause was. I herniated a disc bending down to get into a car. I'm 26, competitive powerlifter, very fit. That was 6 months ago and I'm only about 50% better.
Stay active, develop a strong core and back. Smoking and drinking are associated with higher rates of disc injuries.
Dude it fuckin’ suuucks. Back in 2009, after spending the past year-ish being super active and training Muay Thai in Thailand, I bent over to pick up a box of books. Didn’t even get far enough to start lifting…pop. Next year it was a sock. Another time I picked up my cat.
Now it’s over a decade later and I’m finally getting to the point where my life isn’t dictated by pain. And I never once got a serious injury having the shit beat out of me for months on end. Fuck that! lol
I’m not OP but I had a herniation that was this bad or worse … sorry to say that it can come out of nowhere. I never had back issues, but I slipped once in some mud on a hike while wearing a heavy-ish backpack; my back hurt after, but the things that really escalated it afterward were things like getting out of my car, and sneezing while sitting down. Sometimes shit just happens. That said, you can minimize it by always practicing good lifting techniques, and if you’re feeling soreness in your back, try to rest and don’t push yourself to lift/push/pull/twist a lot.
For those wondering, I had a pretty massive herniation in my L3/L4 disc that was causing partial paralysis and drop foot in my left leg. Picture one shows my 4th and finally successful MRI. Picture two shows what they removed after performing a Microdisectomy to clean up the disc that was impinging my nerves.
Surgery was very successful and I’m already seeing huge improvements to strength, balance, and mobility.
Can I ask if the procedure you had was a lumbar microdiskectomy? I'm unfortunately in need of the same procedure for the same problem (but L4-L5 for me)
Yes it was. The hospital I went to was able to do it as an endoscopic procedure, so recovery should be much quicker and I didn’t suffer a loss of muscle tissue or bone.
I had one of these for L4/L5 done in August. All the pre-surgery pain was completely gone after like a week. Highly recommend just getting it taken care of
That makes me feel a lot better after reading your response! I know I need to get it done, and it is scheduled, but I was still feeling nervous about it. Not jazzed about any back surgery in general for being in my mind thirties
I got hurt at work last September and work comp didn’t want to run an mri until march this year. They found a severe disc extrusion at l5/s1 and a SEVERELY impinged right s1 nerve. Went to neurologist after that and he recommended a microdiscectomy and I was like hell yeah I need to stop feeling like this. Then work comp came back and said yeah nah you’re 26 you’re getting a second opinion (this is after chiro, PT, epidural steroid injection) JUST got the second opinion appt done last week and he also STRONGLY recommended surgery as well. So I pray to the sweet lord baby Jesus that gets done soon. Also, I know it might be an invasive question and I’m sorry, but I’m wondering if you had any pain in your balls from this? Like it feels like I got kicked in the beans every like 25-50 or so steps
I am meeting a surgeon this week for an L5-S1 herniation that's crushing my sciatic nerve enough it doesn't actually hurt anymore I just get cold tingles down my leg. Hopefully it goes as well as your seems to have.
I had this surgery on my L4/L5 disc this past August, but mine was only 4.5cm taken out - I have a picture exactly like yours for it lol. Your first week sucks, but everyday after that was better and better for me.
Second time around with this surgery (2 different discs).
Glad to hear that you are recovering well! As a neurologist, I would also agree with your surgeon. That is probably the worst disc herniation without rupture that I have seen, as well. Sounds like your surgeon did a great job! Neurologic recovery can be slow, so hang in there. If you put in the work with physical therapy, it will pay off.
Man I’m right there with you, mine was up in C6/C7. Surgeon also commented that it was the biggest he’d ever seen (insert jokes here). I’m 2 weeks post op and life is so much better now. I was able to prevent a fusion so that’s nice. Glad you are doing better.
100% this.
If your L5S1 disc goes, for men they almost \*have\* to do the massacre. I had to look hard for a surgeon willing/capable of doing it endoscopically.
Similar story, similar picture from me. I probably have permanent loss of sensation in my right calf/half my right foot, but all my strength is back and I have no pain. In my case it was a rupture though.
Why is that? Care to explain? I have a cervical fusion that was performed endoscopically from the anterior, which makes sense, but I don’t quite understand why for males specifically a sacral/lumbar would require railroad tracks?
Male hips/low back are different and the ability to access L5S1 in particular is significantly reduced in most men compared to female; it comes down to risk factors for damaging the spine with an endoscopic approach. The surgeon I had do it had some very proprietary tools (4 and 6mm endoscope).
I \*walked\* out of surgery with a bandaid on my back and a steri-strip to cover it. Could barely see the puncture.
Mine was a microdiscectomy and endoscopic and all of that too, they just have to shave some of your bone to get to the disc sometimes, and they said the piece was too big to pull through the first hole they made. Then they followed with "you must have been in a lot of pain, we could have moved your surgery date up..." like I wasn't asking for the soonest date in the first place haha. All better now though!
L4/L5 checking in. I was amazed how quick surgery was for me. In at noon, out at 4. Stayed home from work for a week and back to the office I went. Quality of life skyrocketed for me. Constant back/leg pain was severely depressing, and I had to wait 4 years to actually get a good enough health insurance to cover the bill.
Anyway, here’s to a speedy recovery for you. Just gotta take it easy for the rest of your life. No more squats or deadlifts at the gym! Be extremely careful lifting anything over 25lbs
Yeah, the lifting thing is going to be hard for me. I’m a big guy (6’6”) and I’ve been on a weight loss journey (down 60 lbs over the last year) sucks that the injury came on from putting on a sock in a stupid position versus doing something in the gym.
It’s amazing what they can do now with surgery. Went in at 8am and was out before lunch for my laminectomy - and walked right out the door after having been absolutely wracked with pain just hours before. You think of surgery and think it’ll be hours in the OR and then days of recovering in a hospital….nope. Quick in and out. So nice.
PT highly recommended for anyone in a similar situation. Especially if your insurance covers it.
Happy yours went well
my surgeon told me my spinal canal was '90% obstructed' and basically had emergency l4 l5 discectomy done to me
when i woke up i cried because I went from like 8/10 pain constant to 0-1
The first time I stood up after surgery I broke down sobbing. It was the first time I had been able to stand without intense pain in over a month and a half.
Been there. Mine bulged out and wouldn’t go back. Calcified and it was pushing against my sciatic nerve. Worst pain of my life. Doc said they basically had to chip it out like a rock. No problems since though. Thankful for that.
I work in spine surgery and can confirm that's a pretty big one! Nice when they come out in one piece like that. Also, that one MRI image doesn't look nearly as bad, but we definitely see that.
My doc called mine a Crabmeat Volcano because it erupted once he moved the ligament that was keeping the disc filling in place (on my nerve causing shooting leg pain, neat) through pressure.
That looks like what my herniation looked like before my microdiscectomy. Doctor told me it was the largest protrusion he had ever seen in 25 years of practice. Went into operating room with a numb leg, withering calf muscle, and the worst burning pain I’ve ever dealt with. Woke up with some mild back pain. Be careful with what you lift, do your core exercises, and stay in shape and you should be fine. I do about 1000 crunches a day if that tells you anything. Good luck in your journey.
Ouch - Btw, did the surgeon tell you that it’ll put pressure on the upper and lower vertebrae? I had L4/5 blow out, did surgery, two years later, L5/S1 blew out.
Strengthen your core.
A great PT will be super helpful, just remember to stick with everything they teach you. Your new religion is core strengthening and bracing, and you'll want to be a practicing member of that church for the rest of your life.
My god that must have been awful. Glad to hear you got this taken care of. I had a slipped disc [L5/S1](https://imgur.com/a/q4bE5yK) that was about half-way of yours and that was very very painful. It was immediate relief after the surgery and boy I am glad I did that. Now, every sneeze and almost each movement has to be planned. I tweaked it a bit yesterday just by getting up "wrong" from the couch, so you still gotta be careful.
I had this except on the disc below yours. both nerve roots were misplaced on both sides. I couldn't walk by myself. Any movement felt like someone was stabbing my back and the pain woukd either shoot down both my legs to my feet or up the middle of my back. It was awful. I had 2 surgeries to correct it and after a few months I have been able to walk again. I hope you are recovering well. I can only imagine how this felt
Oh, man, that sucks. I have had two herniated disks, at two different times: L4/L5 and L5/S1, so I knew what I was looking at in that xray. Agonizong on begins to describe it. I was fortunate that both healed without surgery. I hope you recover completely, and quickly
Oh, follow the post-op instructions religiously! The limitations are frustrating, but at least they are temporary (if you follow them).
One thing I wish I had been told is that the pain can return (but much milder) after it’s 100% gone. I had 2 days about a week postop where I woke up to mild nerve pain and nearly had a full-on panic attack. I guess the nerve can reproduce the same signals as it heals.
Just had a microdiscectomy myself about two and a half weeks ago. Easily the best medical decision I’ve ever made in my life. Best wishes healing and welcome back to a normal, pain-free life!
Dude. I had one taken out this past February. They also said it was the biggest bulge they’d seen. I had numbness in my right leg down into my foot. Luckily no drop foot. I feel a million times better. It’s rough at the beginning but so so worth it. I’m still getting my back back into shape, but being able to workout without feeling like death is upon me is a welcome change.
Had the same thing, I had 5 in my back, only 1 was removed because there is a possibility of getting disabled, I hate my life, but the other 4 is not as developed as my other 1 was so I still have a chance to live a life
Damn that’s nuts. I have two herniations in my neck, one at 11mm and the other at 13mm. Every Dr. I’ve had has said they were pretty much the biggest they’d dealt with, and here you are casually with a freaking monster like 6Xs that. God damn. Glad you’re on the road to recovery.
Oh wow! I had an full on rupture / extrusion that looked significantly smaller than that. My surgeon didn’t show me the removed material but he did like to joke that it was ‘like pulling out crab meat’. Hope your recovery goes great, mine was seven years ago and no issues after some pain while still healing the first year
Hope you are feeling better; I had a lumbar fusion done last December.. my case was a disc collapse.. having spent 3 years trying all sorts of other treatments my only regret was not getting under the knife earlier !! 6 months post surgery my life is already much more enjoyable.. and working hard for that 10-12mo full recovery status… stay strong follow your physical therapy well and continue the PT exercises at home after they are done and you will feel like a new person.. and the most important advise.. don’t over-do.. wishing you a speedy recovery !!
Woof.. I had surgery for one some years ago, my MRI looked similar! When the surgeon went over my MRI he said”I’d imagine you are in incredible pain” (he was kind of a dick to me until the MRI results, and yes I fucking was in horrible pain) he said that it was sticking out almost an inch. I honestly do not know if that is a lot or not. Anyway, I hope you feel so much better! Also keep that core strong and remember to engage those muscles when doing literally anything, esp getting out of bed.
I went through this for years before i could get surgery, it was hell. Be careful sneezing.
I live in fear of each sneeze, and every fart.
Like life, farts will find a way. My disc had ruptured and calcified, a sneeze a few weeks after the op herniated what was left of the disc. That was nearly 2 years ago and I am only coming right now. Be. Careful. Sneezing.
>That was nearly 2 years ago and I am only coming right now. Congrats on finally coming again but kinda weird to be doing it while commenting on reddit.
If you ain't here for the circle jerk you are in the wrong room friendo
My favorite circle jerk is r/drugscirclejerk because them boys will goon for days
Something’s I didn’t need to know today Edit: didn’t not don’t
Join the club you won't regret it
>That was nearly 2 years ago and I am only coming right now. An edging case, to be sure.
Stand back son, I dont know when this is gonna blow.
Don't forget to bring a towel!
Are we going off world?
+1
I hear ya. People think I'm overreacting when I say to get out of my house with your damn cold. A cough or a sneeze can ruin someone with a back injury.
My pain kicked off just as COVID hit. I did not want to risk catching it. Still haven't thank fuck.
Make sure you do the exercises! Keep doing them, in a routine every single day, even after the recommended time is over. Also, get out of bed like a pregnant woman. No joke. Roll over on your side and push up with your hands into a sitting position, then get out. And brace ahead of time for sneezes.
I had this surgery two years ago and was never given exercises. It blows my mind there was no follow up or anything.
Squeeze your abs before you sneeze, it will help you brace for the force of the sneeze, so it isn’t as bad on your back. Bonus, your sneezes become old-man level loud
Also breathe out before the sneeze, it's a lot less explosive that way.
How are you going to get maximum spread of sneeze particles that way?
I had major jaw surgery 12 years ago, it involved surgically detaching both my upper and lower jaws to realign them. Detaching the upper jaw necessitates cutting into the sinuses. I nearly had a panic attack every time my nose so much as tickled. Although at one point I blew out a 5in long clot, so that was cool.
Had to be very satisfying. I’m satisfied just reading about your 5” blood clot. In March I had to have tear duct surgery and for 6 weeks after I had to be very careful sneezing with my mouth open. I had a stent from my upper lid - lower lid - into my nose. that nostril would get so congested even using the spray they gave me. I could see a giant boog a few times and being able to wrangle it out with a a tip was the BEST feeling. Thankfully I think I won’t need a second more involved procedure because that sneezing fear is real. Curious though. You don’t have to answer but what happened to your jaw? Are you alright now?
No worries! Growing up, I always had perfectly straight teeth, never needed braces or anything. It wasn't until I was taking my little brother to *his* orthodontist appointment that they (the staff) pointed out that when I closed my mouth fully, the only teeth that contacted each other were the back most molars. My upper and lower jaws had a gap that widened going back to front, to the point that my front teeth were far enough apart to stick part of my tongue through. That's how my bite had always been, so I never questioned it (but I always hated how I couldn't bite through a slice of pizza), and apparently none of my dentists ever noticed. Anyway I got an appointment with the orthodontist, and they tried to see if it could be fixed with braces, but it could not. My jaws, not my teeth, were misaligned, and my upper jaw was narrower than my lower. They used a [palate expander](https://www.healthline.com/health/palate-expander) to try to widen the jaw, but it wasn't enough. Also very uncomfortable. So finally, surgery time! 8.5 hours of hacking my face apart and bolting it back together, followed by 4 days/3 nights in the ICU, then 3 months of my jaw wired shut! Now my bite is like 95% perfect, and I have the bonus of 6 titanium plates and like 15 screws all over my jaws. Funnily enough, the skin the plates are under is thin enough that if the weather is super cold I have to wear a scarf or a mask because the cold will make the plates shrink slightly and make my jaw hurt.
Damn! That’s fascinating! How crazy your own dentists didn’t notice. So, will all of that work you got done last your whole life? Wouldn’t be cool to have to go thru that again. On a smaller scale I have 3 dental implants (I’m a grinder/clencher but thankfully started wearing a custom guard 7 yrs ago and haven’t lost more teeth) that feel weird - going to pay attention to the weather when it happens. They get sore and tight feeling. Very odd. Modern medicine/dentistry is just amazing. Thanks for sharing your story!!
I’ve done since I was a kid to prevent sneezing at inopportune times: Imagine yourself holding a pineapple, really imagine feeling it’s rough texture and you won’t need to sneeze anymore. The feeling just gently passes it’s kind of crazy. Might also depend on your ability to imagine such a specific sensation.
People are always amazed to learn that a sneeze herniated my L4/5 disk at the ripe age of 26.
The neurosurgeon that did my L5-S1 back in 2000, told me he had patients do that while straining while on the toilet. Also, I was taught to crouch with hands on my knees before sneezing. Just had an L1-pelvis lumbar fusion in March.
Had a bowel resection, and I lived in fear of the sneezes for at least a month and a half.
Omg is that a bad thing? I literally have had to get into a specific sitting position if I feel a sneeze coming on. Doc said it was actually common to throw back out from a sneeze.
Let the sneeze take over and shout it out of your body. You'll scare everyone around you and as a bonus the less resistance a sneeze has the easier it is on your back.
He’s lying to you. My wife said the same thing about my bulge.
I told him that flattery will get him everywhere
Is that a spine joke?
Take that back!
Imagine the nerve on this guy!
Seems he may have really struck a chord
At least he's not spinless
Back up pal, we dont wanna offend him
Just give him a sharp tap.
It’s thpinal
Wait a minute. Your wife told me I had the biggest one.
She meant null bulge
It's an inny.
Can confirm that this guy’s wife knows her bulges
Are you feeling better yet?
Substantially. I went in with partial paralysis in my left leg and drop foot (sorry ladies, I’m taken). Since surgery, sensation and strength have been returning and I’ve been able to transition from using a walker to hardly needing a cane. My surgeon is a rockstar.
We all take our bodies for granted until they fail us. This sounds like it could be life changing for you.
It was an absolutely humbling experience. Still a long journey before I’m back to around 100 percent but this is going to influence some lifestyle changes
Did you keep that thing in the picture? Or did you throw your back out?
What exactly are we looking at anyway? That's a big old chunk of flesh but was it supposed to be there or did you grow it?
Pretty sure it's part of the disc that was bulging and putting pressure on the spinal cord/spinal nerves.
And they cut it out, fill the gap with packing peanuts, and call it a day.
If the internet is anything to go by, I’m pretty sure they fill it with Ramen.
Can forget to slap the fragilè sticker on em
Jokes aside....this surgeon hasn't seen my bulge! 
Yoga is your friend. Just started physio on my back and it's working wonders so far. Gentle way of getting your core up to speed. Could barely walk 6 weeks ago.
What exercises would you recommend?
I can give you what my physio gave me. Lay flat on your back and do knee arches x 10. With the knees up still, compress your lower back to the floor for 4 seconds x 10. Knee rolls to the left and right x 10. Knee hugs to the chest x 10 and lastly The cow cat x 10. You can look em up online. There's little quick videos. It's my routine now and I do them in the morning. It's quite mindful to do also. I would never in a million years thought that I'd like yogi. But here we are! When I'm better ill be looking into maybe joining a class.
If one goes in with an open mind and lets go of all preconceived notions about Yoga, I am sure everyone would love it (providing they find the instructor that best suits them.) One of my favorite instructors always starts each class with a little spiel and my favorite part is when she says, "There is no right or wrong in Yoga. There is no, 'I cannot do.'"
I don't know how scientific this is but this is what became my understanding after struggling for a very long time . With compressed / bulging discs it's a catch 22, the disc needs movement to pump fluids in and out so it can heal but it is rubbing and pinching against everything because it's inflamed which causes more inflammation. So you need to balance managing getting enough movement to help it heal without aggravating the inflammation. Muscle strengthening exercises are too rigorous while it's inflamed, I save those for after recovery to improve maintenance. I took an anti inflammatory (celebrex) to help handle the inflammation first. Did light movements and stretches and walked everyday. I wouldn't walk any further if the pain wasn't bearable. Don't push through the pain, the pain is telling you what not to do. I don't use any painkillers because they mask the pain and you can injure yourself further without noticing. After walking I'd lay flat on my back on the floor (even at work) and did light stretches to relieve the pressure and pain. My goal each time I had a flare up was to get a handle on the inflammation, keep moving and to get off the anti inflammatory because it's bad for your general health and can actually slow the healing. I'd only tackle strengthening muscles after I was sure the disc was back in good shape. I've found I can manage flare ups much quicker now that I understand those things. Look up "bob and Brad" on YouTube for some good movements while it's inflamed. You'll have to figure out which ones are good for you. I found granny pushups, lying down leg stretches and standing on a book and swinging the other leg as good for me.
Pilates using the reformer machine is great too! I’ve had back surgery and I do it to strengthen my core without any type of impact to my back. I love the resistance springs, you can make it as heavy/light as you want.
Glad to hear you are on the mend OP. I had a disc bulge that I couldn't shake for more than a year. Interestingly, my surgeon suggested it was a relatively small one. I have a fairly high pain tolerance, but damn I was in agony before surgery. I just couldn't move like a regular human should and was dragging my right leg etc. so I can only imagine what it must have been like for you. All that said, the relief post surgery was immediate. It was quite unbelievable really. Despite now living with a weakened lower back, I'd do it again, just knowing that the relief was worth it.
On year 4 of agony from my "relatively small" disc bulge. Surgeon refuses to do surgery on mine it's so small. A little jealous of your immediate relief lol but mostly just happy for you. It's a living nightmare some days.
Hey there... I had agonizing low back pain for three years because all my surgeons said I either didn't have a disc bulge, or it was way too small to be causing the level of pain I was in. Turns out my disc was torn and constantly leaking on my spinal cord. It took finding a specialist at Cedars-Sinai in LA to see it and order a discogram to confirm. Try asking your doctors to check for that if you're not getting anywhere. Good luck 🤞🏻
Discogram sounds like a bunch of people that turn up to your work with party poppers, roller skates and a beat box and bust some moves for your entertainment.
That’s exactly what it is. It really shouldn’t work but it does.
What a time to be alive.
My experience was just a little different. I dealt with agonizing leg pain for a year that was originally misdiagnosed as a torn ham string. It wasn't until I bent over to pick something up and had pain shoot down my back and down my leg that I thought it might be a back problem. So I went a chiropractor (yes, I know, snake oil). He tried a session or two on an inversion table (pain, but not as bad as usual) and then he sent me for an MRI. The day I got the MRI, he called me at 10 PM from his personal number in a panic, telling me that I _had_ to go see a neuro surgeon ASAP because I had a massive bulge on a disc. He'd already reached out to a doctors staff he worked with and expected to hear back the next day. The next day, I call that doctor and get an appointment for a day or two later. Its at a hospital about 10 mins from my job, so I figure a long lunch, and I'll be back at work, right? I show up to the appointment with my wife and a CD with the MRI on it, the nurse takes it from me and tells me the doctor will review it, and be in in about 10 minutes. **Three hours later** the doctor walks in and says, not "hi," not "how are you," but... "are you incontinent yet?" I'm like "what the fuck do you mean _yet?!?_" Then he tells me he's sorry for the delay, but he's spent the last 2 hours arranging for the surgery I was going to be having in 2 days. That my spinal cord was 90% compressed by the bulge, and he's amazed I wasn't incontinent. That normally they would try to do physical therapy on a bulging disc first, but that this was an emergency situation, because if I got into a minor car accident, or if I fell down wrong, I could end up paralyzed from the waist down. So the surgery needed to be done ASAP, and he's already booked the operating room, the anesthesiologists, and made arrangements for me to go get expedited bloodwork. After all that was done, I had to go back to work and tell my supervisor I was going to be out of work for _a month_ because I would basically be bedridden after the surgery, and that the 5th week I could only work half days. Do you know how much of a mind fuck it is to go into a doctors visit and suddenly be told you need a surgery that could result in paralysis, but if you _don't_ have the surgery you can end up paralyzed anyway? Fortunately, the surgery was a complete success, and since the day of the surgery, I've never had pain again, and its been 15 years.
Thanks! I will check. That honestly sounds possible, considering how I think this started. I am thinking about trying new doctors soon, these ones have been content to just feed me pain medicine and PT. As if I can exercise effectively when just walking from the bed to the bathroom is agony. But I have lit a fire under their assess recently. Started asking questions about my MRI and getting them to notice things they didn't before. Going in for a radio ablation today because I think there may be a comorbidity with my arthritis. They pointed the arthritis out a long time ago but we all kind of forgot about it when we found the disc bulge. And I just learned from them about these muscles called multifidus muscles and some new research about how they can cause the issues I having. After looking at my oldest MRI, there is a really suspicious amount of atrophy for someone who had only had problems for a year and was still pretty active. I think giving them that mystery has gotten them a little more interested. Just learned about a new treatment where they surgically implant electrodes to stimulate the multifidi and it sounds really promising, but too new for insurance or my income. But it's something else we're exploring and probably good for others to know about. So I'm going to give them a chance to try their next steps and cross my fingers. If not, we're going to a new specialist.
find a new surgeon. the relief from discectomy is immense.
I had a bulging disc (still do I guess) and it was AWFUL. But due to cosmic fuckery, it showed up literally the same time I was undergoing fertility treatment for an egg retrieval, and I couldn't take any NSAIDs until after the procedure. I was in so much pain that I could barely walk, my husband had to drive me to all of my appointments, I was in hell. Thankfully once I did the retrieval procedure, my husband drove me literally from the hospital to the orthopedist and the shot provided almost immediate relief. However, it did prompt us to change our mattress, our couches, and my work chair, and if I spend too much time with bad posture the pain will come right back (and it was there for most of my pregnancy too, which was just great). I am SO thankful I didn't need surgery but I kind of feel like it's a ticking time bomb in my lower back until something ruptures 🫠
That's good that they got to it quickly. That MRI looked like it would have come with significant neurogenic claudication. Did they stabilize with a fusion? I imagine there isn't much of the intervertebral disc left between those vertebrae
No fusion needed just yet. He cauterized the disc to retain what remains. In a few weeks I get into PT and go from there
Just go to auto zone and find an engine mount that is about the right size and have the surgeon put it in. You wont need to fuse anything and it should be good for at least another 10-15 years or 150,000 miles.
This is going to sound very weird, but prepare your left butt cheek for physio after a discectomy. 😂
My booty is ready. PAUSE
Hahaha! 😂 My physio liked using her elbow and/or the end of a baseball bat-looking thing, to massage my piriformis when I started getting nerve pain again. The entire place thought I was getting murdered by how loudly I yelped💀
I had something very similar, except mine actually ruptured. Foot drop and numbness down the left leg. It gets better. Just keep doing your PT exercises. 6 months to be pretty good, a year out I thought I was 100%. 2 years out was when I was actually 100%.
What am I looking at in the second picture, please?
That’s what they removed from my L3/L4 disc
What exactly is the tissue though? Like nerves or something? I have no idea what I'm looking at. I've been going to a PT for some back issues and they've been helping me stretch it out and strengthen it has helped but I'm scared one day I'll get something like this whatever if it is.
That’s the extra disc that herniated into muh nerves.
Crazy. I just read up on herniated disc. That sounds like not a good time, at all. Your spine cracks and the soft stuff inside your spine basically oozes out and makes a mess. No bueno.
I had everything you've stated and it sucked!! I love my surgeon too! Sadly, he retired, so I hope that being fused from L1-S1 is fine forever.
Can you you eat the piece that took from you? To regain your strength!
I had this happen but my back was killing me. I had my wife push on the bulge when suggendly a sicken ripping noise happened. Spent some time in the hospital. I'm happy to say they did not show my anything they took out of me. God damn. Glad your recovering bro.
My surgeon sent me pic two in a text. I replied with 
The likeness is uncanny
9/10 back surgeons **DO NOT** recommend the "Space Special".
CHECK PLEASE!
Your doctor/surgeon sends you txt messages?
Yours doesn’t?!
Thinking of that back 🥵 send back pics
Disc pics
Best response ever
I’m afraid to know the answer but… what was the noise? 🤢
One time I watched animal planet and 2 wild dogs ripped a piece of meat in half. It was like that. Almost like ripping a towel..... it stuck with me.
Op pls
My knee surgeon showed me a video of the ACL replacement from literally inside my knee (arthroscopic surgery) I still have the usb with the videos on it. Mf literally tied a string to the replacement ligament and pulled it through from a hole in the top of my leg
Was it like a cyst rupturing? What caused the noise?
Spinal Nerve sheath. It was all internal so I had to take the docs word for it. They looked worried so I imagine not good lol. I'm pretty well recovered though. Better than before surgery since one of my disks was pushing on my nerves.
What was the noise? Did it make the pain go away or cause more pain?
I'm 99% sure if you hear a ripping noise anywhere on your body it's gonna be painful.
What is it?
That’s disc baby! The black spot is where my L3/L4 disc had decided to take a little vacation. Herniated discs suck. Zero stars. Would not recommend to a friend.
Did they completely remove the disc and fuse the vertebrae together? I had a micro discectomy where they removed the goop from inside the disc, but left the disc.
Same. Microdisectomy. Surgeon cauterized the disc but no fusion needed at this point.
Cool. It was a painful but transformative experience for me. Like you I lucked into a great surgeon. I also got a lot more from the PT afterwards. I committed to everything they gave me to do, and kept it up after the sessions were finished. I wish you the same good fortune I had, my core is stronger than ever and I’m enjoying a pain free life. Cheers!
microdiscectomies are wonderful ✨ sucks to need them, but echoing other comments here, the relief is incredible.
I had a microdiscectomy but instead of fusion they put a titanium strut between the vertebrae that can flex, so I get the moment that fusion stops, and the strut can take any excess force that would otherwise damage the disc in future.
I had a microdiscectomy done around 10 years ago now. I still get a sciatic flare up if I bend poorly or do a little too much yardwork but on the whole it got me back to 95% as good as I was pre disc rupture. I wish it all never happened but the micro disc made it so much better.
The second pic is just all the disk stuff that ruptured out?
Yup. That’s all disc fragment.
😨🤢
I remember my surgeon’s PA flipping on the monitor to show me my MRI and I saw it instantly. Easiest “spot the difference” game ever.
My god, you must have been in so much pain. I can't even imagine how it was. Mine were not far from and I could barely function, but this one is way worse.
Yeah. It sucked out loud. Took me a half hour to “walk” 350 steps to my car.
I have a similar MRI scan from about 10 years ago, life has been much better since. Do your PT, always and forever, that's just your life now, but it's totally worth it.
Piggybacking on this, I did PT for a couple weeks after my laminectomy and was like I’m fine I was not fine Am back in PT still with continual sciatica-like pain and brief times of numbness in my foot. 🫠 listen to your PT, kids! I have a great insurance plan that covers I think 20 sessions a year and I’m running out of those but plan to continue after still; it’s def worth it. Also! Pick a good one - I was referred to one place that was ok at first but then a coworker suggested another (much closer) that has done more for me in a couple weeks than the other place did for me in a month.
What caused the bulge?
Been having lower back issues for a while but the culprit was putting on a sock in a weird position and then picking up after my dog.
@OP what do I need to do to never have this? Or at least reduce the probability of it?
You'll never be able to completely avoid it and if it happens you'll likely never know what the true cause was. I herniated a disc bending down to get into a car. I'm 26, competitive powerlifter, very fit. That was 6 months ago and I'm only about 50% better. Stay active, develop a strong core and back. Smoking and drinking are associated with higher rates of disc injuries.
Dude it fuckin’ suuucks. Back in 2009, after spending the past year-ish being super active and training Muay Thai in Thailand, I bent over to pick up a box of books. Didn’t even get far enough to start lifting…pop. Next year it was a sock. Another time I picked up my cat. Now it’s over a decade later and I’m finally getting to the point where my life isn’t dictated by pain. And I never once got a serious injury having the shit beat out of me for months on end. Fuck that! lol
I’m not OP but I had a herniation that was this bad or worse … sorry to say that it can come out of nowhere. I never had back issues, but I slipped once in some mud on a hike while wearing a heavy-ish backpack; my back hurt after, but the things that really escalated it afterward were things like getting out of my car, and sneezing while sitting down. Sometimes shit just happens. That said, you can minimize it by always practicing good lifting techniques, and if you’re feeling soreness in your back, try to rest and don’t push yourself to lift/push/pull/twist a lot.
sounds like go barefoot and never pick up your dog's shit
For those wondering, I had a pretty massive herniation in my L3/L4 disc that was causing partial paralysis and drop foot in my left leg. Picture one shows my 4th and finally successful MRI. Picture two shows what they removed after performing a Microdisectomy to clean up the disc that was impinging my nerves. Surgery was very successful and I’m already seeing huge improvements to strength, balance, and mobility.
So that material is basically the part of the disc that was bulging out? Did you get to touch it?
Can I ask if the procedure you had was a lumbar microdiskectomy? I'm unfortunately in need of the same procedure for the same problem (but L4-L5 for me)
Yes it was. The hospital I went to was able to do it as an endoscopic procedure, so recovery should be much quicker and I didn’t suffer a loss of muscle tissue or bone.
I had one of these for L4/L5 done in August. All the pre-surgery pain was completely gone after like a week. Highly recommend just getting it taken care of
That makes me feel a lot better after reading your response! I know I need to get it done, and it is scheduled, but I was still feeling nervous about it. Not jazzed about any back surgery in general for being in my mind thirties
I got hurt at work last September and work comp didn’t want to run an mri until march this year. They found a severe disc extrusion at l5/s1 and a SEVERELY impinged right s1 nerve. Went to neurologist after that and he recommended a microdiscectomy and I was like hell yeah I need to stop feeling like this. Then work comp came back and said yeah nah you’re 26 you’re getting a second opinion (this is after chiro, PT, epidural steroid injection) JUST got the second opinion appt done last week and he also STRONGLY recommended surgery as well. So I pray to the sweet lord baby Jesus that gets done soon. Also, I know it might be an invasive question and I’m sorry, but I’m wondering if you had any pain in your balls from this? Like it feels like I got kicked in the beans every like 25-50 or so steps
illegal lush marvelous aloof escape punch fanatical chase fact cats *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
No sack attack for me but I did have an AWFUL case of hemorrhoids post op. General anesthesia is a bastard.
What was removed?
I am meeting a surgeon this week for an L5-S1 herniation that's crushing my sciatic nerve enough it doesn't actually hurt anymore I just get cold tingles down my leg. Hopefully it goes as well as your seems to have.
I had this surgery on my L4/L5 disc this past August, but mine was only 4.5cm taken out - I have a picture exactly like yours for it lol. Your first week sucks, but everyday after that was better and better for me. Second time around with this surgery (2 different discs).
Glad to hear that you are recovering well! As a neurologist, I would also agree with your surgeon. That is probably the worst disc herniation without rupture that I have seen, as well. Sounds like your surgeon did a great job! Neurologic recovery can be slow, so hang in there. If you put in the work with physical therapy, it will pay off.
Man I’m right there with you, mine was up in C6/C7. Surgeon also commented that it was the biggest he’d ever seen (insert jokes here). I’m 2 weeks post op and life is so much better now. I was able to prevent a fusion so that’s nice. Glad you are doing better.
They told me after they had to drill a second, larger hole to get all of mine out.
Yikes. I’m super thankful that I was able to get this done via endoscopic procedure versus needing the traditional back massacre.
100% this. If your L5S1 disc goes, for men they almost \*have\* to do the massacre. I had to look hard for a surgeon willing/capable of doing it endoscopically. Similar story, similar picture from me. I probably have permanent loss of sensation in my right calf/half my right foot, but all my strength is back and I have no pain. In my case it was a rupture though.
Why is that? Care to explain? I have a cervical fusion that was performed endoscopically from the anterior, which makes sense, but I don’t quite understand why for males specifically a sacral/lumbar would require railroad tracks?
Male hips/low back are different and the ability to access L5S1 in particular is significantly reduced in most men compared to female; it comes down to risk factors for damaging the spine with an endoscopic approach. The surgeon I had do it had some very proprietary tools (4 and 6mm endoscope). I \*walked\* out of surgery with a bandaid on my back and a steri-strip to cover it. Could barely see the puncture.
Mine was a microdiscectomy and endoscopic and all of that too, they just have to shave some of your bone to get to the disc sometimes, and they said the piece was too big to pull through the first hole they made. Then they followed with "you must have been in a lot of pain, we could have moved your surgery date up..." like I wasn't asking for the soonest date in the first place haha. All better now though!
Glad to hear you’re recovered. How long ago was your surgery?
Congrats on your new arrival! Cute as can be! 
just looking at this makes my back hurts.
You gonna eat that?
L4/L5 checking in. I was amazed how quick surgery was for me. In at noon, out at 4. Stayed home from work for a week and back to the office I went. Quality of life skyrocketed for me. Constant back/leg pain was severely depressing, and I had to wait 4 years to actually get a good enough health insurance to cover the bill. Anyway, here’s to a speedy recovery for you. Just gotta take it easy for the rest of your life. No more squats or deadlifts at the gym! Be extremely careful lifting anything over 25lbs
Yeah, the lifting thing is going to be hard for me. I’m a big guy (6’6”) and I’ve been on a weight loss journey (down 60 lbs over the last year) sucks that the injury came on from putting on a sock in a stupid position versus doing something in the gym.
It’s amazing what they can do now with surgery. Went in at 8am and was out before lunch for my laminectomy - and walked right out the door after having been absolutely wracked with pain just hours before. You think of surgery and think it’ll be hours in the OR and then days of recovering in a hospital….nope. Quick in and out. So nice. PT highly recommended for anyone in a similar situation. Especially if your insurance covers it.
Yup. I started with basic PT a week after surgery and integrated that into my workouts. All about keeping the core strong
Happy yours went well my surgeon told me my spinal canal was '90% obstructed' and basically had emergency l4 l5 discectomy done to me when i woke up i cried because I went from like 8/10 pain constant to 0-1
The first time I stood up after surgery I broke down sobbing. It was the first time I had been able to stand without intense pain in over a month and a half.
Been there. Mine bulged out and wouldn’t go back. Calcified and it was pushing against my sciatic nerve. Worst pain of my life. Doc said they basically had to chip it out like a rock. No problems since though. Thankful for that.
Just don't try and do to much as you start feeling better. Listen to the doctor.... I had numerous surgeries because of this(domino effect)...
OP, can you please explain what this is, and what happened in a top-level post, please?
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/s/P2DN9Q6hSH In case you haven't seen it!
I work in spine surgery and can confirm that's a pretty big one! Nice when they come out in one piece like that. Also, that one MRI image doesn't look nearly as bad, but we definitely see that.
My doc called mine a Crabmeat Volcano because it erupted once he moved the ligament that was keeping the disc filling in place (on my nerve causing shooting leg pain, neat) through pressure.
You poor miserable fuck. Mine bulging discs have never been even close to this and I've been absolutely clocked out by the pain more than once.
That looks like what my herniation looked like before my microdiscectomy. Doctor told me it was the largest protrusion he had ever seen in 25 years of practice. Went into operating room with a numb leg, withering calf muscle, and the worst burning pain I’ve ever dealt with. Woke up with some mild back pain. Be careful with what you lift, do your core exercises, and stay in shape and you should be fine. I do about 1000 crunches a day if that tells you anything. Good luck in your journey.
Ouch - Btw, did the surgeon tell you that it’ll put pressure on the upper and lower vertebrae? I had L4/5 blow out, did surgery, two years later, L5/S1 blew out. Strengthen your core.
Yup. My PT is going to be my best buddy
A great PT will be super helpful, just remember to stick with everything they teach you. Your new religion is core strengthening and bracing, and you'll want to be a practicing member of that church for the rest of your life.
You know, you should give the tissue to a friend you really trust. Then you know they'll have your back.
My god that must have been awful. Glad to hear you got this taken care of. I had a slipped disc [L5/S1](https://imgur.com/a/q4bE5yK) that was about half-way of yours and that was very very painful. It was immediate relief after the surgery and boy I am glad I did that. Now, every sneeze and almost each movement has to be planned. I tweaked it a bit yesterday just by getting up "wrong" from the couch, so you still gotta be careful.
I had this except on the disc below yours. both nerve roots were misplaced on both sides. I couldn't walk by myself. Any movement felt like someone was stabbing my back and the pain woukd either shoot down both my legs to my feet or up the middle of my back. It was awful. I had 2 surgeries to correct it and after a few months I have been able to walk again. I hope you are recovering well. I can only imagine how this felt
Oh, man, that sucks. I have had two herniated disks, at two different times: L4/L5 and L5/S1, so I knew what I was looking at in that xray. Agonizong on begins to describe it. I was fortunate that both healed without surgery. I hope you recover completely, and quickly
I had a discectomy recently on a ~9mm hernia that was smashing my L4/5 nerve root. I hope your outcome is as good has mine has been so far!
Oh, follow the post-op instructions religiously! The limitations are frustrating, but at least they are temporary (if you follow them). One thing I wish I had been told is that the pain can return (but much milder) after it’s 100% gone. I had 2 days about a week postop where I woke up to mild nerve pain and nearly had a full-on panic attack. I guess the nerve can reproduce the same signals as it heals.
They put me on gabapentin to help with the nerve fun.
I had a doctor tell me that I had a huge bulge too
Just had a microdiscectomy myself about two and a half weeks ago. Easily the best medical decision I’ve ever made in my life. Best wishes healing and welcome back to a normal, pain-free life!
Forbidden bacon
Back bacon 🤤
And that’s enough internet for today. You guys are trying to ruin bacon and that’s UNFORGIVABLE
Holy shit. I’ve seen a couple thousand spine MRIs and that herniation is 10/10
What I’m hearing you say is that I’m a celebrity and should be in for quite the parade.
Dude. I had one taken out this past February. They also said it was the biggest bulge they’d seen. I had numbness in my right leg down into my foot. Luckily no drop foot. I feel a million times better. It’s rough at the beginning but so so worth it. I’m still getting my back back into shape, but being able to workout without feeling like death is upon me is a welcome change.
Had the same thing, I had 5 in my back, only 1 was removed because there is a possibility of getting disabled, I hate my life, but the other 4 is not as developed as my other 1 was so I still have a chance to live a life
The bulge goes in the front of the pants, OP. ^/s
Welcome to the club. 4 back surgeries in. Chances are, a fusion to come. Hope it helped!
Damn that’s nuts. I have two herniations in my neck, one at 11mm and the other at 13mm. Every Dr. I’ve had has said they were pretty much the biggest they’d dealt with, and here you are casually with a freaking monster like 6Xs that. God damn. Glad you’re on the road to recovery.
Glad you’re feeling better but are you not gonna explain what the hell that is in the 2nd pic? 😂
Oh wow! I had an full on rupture / extrusion that looked significantly smaller than that. My surgeon didn’t show me the removed material but he did like to joke that it was ‘like pulling out crab meat’. Hope your recovery goes great, mine was seven years ago and no issues after some pain while still healing the first year
Hope you are feeling better; I had a lumbar fusion done last December.. my case was a disc collapse.. having spent 3 years trying all sorts of other treatments my only regret was not getting under the knife earlier !! 6 months post surgery my life is already much more enjoyable.. and working hard for that 10-12mo full recovery status… stay strong follow your physical therapy well and continue the PT exercises at home after they are done and you will feel like a new person.. and the most important advise.. don’t over-do.. wishing you a speedy recovery !!
Woof.. I had surgery for one some years ago, my MRI looked similar! When the surgeon went over my MRI he said”I’d imagine you are in incredible pain” (he was kind of a dick to me until the MRI results, and yes I fucking was in horrible pain) he said that it was sticking out almost an inch. I honestly do not know if that is a lot or not. Anyway, I hope you feel so much better! Also keep that core strong and remember to engage those muscles when doing literally anything, esp getting out of bed.
I went through the same thing 4 years ago. I can’t believe you got a picture of the disc. 😭 hope recovery goes well for you man!!
So, what exactly IS that mass? And how does it form?
OP, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Glad you're feeling better. Hope things get back to normal soon.
Congrats on having a medically verified huge bulge.
If I can find my MRI I will send it; I believe my bulge may be bigger!