5 Reasons For A Disc Bulge Or Herniation Not Getting Better

In this episode, Farnham's leading over-50's physiotherapist, Will Harlow, reveals 5 of the most common reasons he sees for a disc bulge or herniation not getting better.

[deboraiurasoc]

Hey everyone. I just wanted to encourage you guys to not lose hope because disc bulges CAN heal. I'm in my 20s and I was in major pain every day for about 6 months from a L5-S1 disc bulge (confirmed after having an MRI on my lower back).
I was in horrible pain every day, the whole day, no matter what I was doing.. sitting, walking, trying to fall asleep etc. Sometimes it would take me even 2-3h to fall asleep because the pain was so bad. I had constant back pain and pain in my right leg (especially my thigh, around the joints and calf). I am sharing this so you can understand that I was in such bad pain and I healed! And I know how desperate I was to find some advice from someone that actually healed from this so I hope this is gonna help someone..
I am not 100% healed, I still feel pain once in a while.. for example after sitting for too long (ex 8h at work) or if i don't move my body for a couple days (like jogging or working out) but I would say I am 95% healed and for me it's like a miracle, after living in pain for 6months! I've been 95% pain-free for about 1 month and a half!!

Things that I tried and worked for ME:

1. I changed my diet. I tried to adopt an anti inflammatory diet:
- the only meat I eat is chicken (max 5 times a week). You can also eat turkey, it's actually even better;
- I stopped eating sweets, fast food, processed foods.. especially icecream, chocolate bars, sodas, aliments that have added sugars (and most of them have it, check labels before eating sth), pre-cooked/frozen foods etc.
- I ate a lot of vegetables&fruits (fried, steamed, smoothies etc).. about 70% of what I ate was vegetables and fruits
- less white flour, white rice and more whole wheat flour, brown rice etc;
You can find a lot of info about anti inflammatory diets, recipes etc online. I started an anti-inflammatory diet about 1month before my pain started to decrease.

2. I made an anti-inflammatory juice and I drank 1 shot a day for about a month. If you want, you can ask your dr first, but I felt ok the whole time..after all it's just natural ingredients. If you want the recipe for the juice let me know and I'll write it down in the comments. (it's mostly ginger, turmeric, aloe vera, apple cider vinegar etc). I feel like taking this juice helped very much, i started feeling some improvement after the 1st week. Idk if it was specifically the juice cuz I was doing more stuff so I am not sure.

3. I started moving my body almost everyday. I would either go jogging (1-2mi) or even just walking for 2-3mi. Or I would just do some exercises at home for 10-15 min. There are a lot of videos with exercises online, but one thing i wanna mention is to find exercises for your specific disc bulge cuz some people would just say "stretches for back pain/ disc bulge" but they can make ur pain worse, cuz they are not good for your specific disc bulge.

4. I went to chiropractic adjustments and physical therapy this whole time (and still going). I started with 3 times a week, then 2times a week and now once a week.

5. ! I am doing Spinal Decompression. (I did it 6 times in about 1m and a half. Now I am doing it once every 2 weeks but this is sth for ur chiropractor to decide.) I feel like this also helped a lot cuz I've started feeling improvements since I started doing it. In the beginning for about 2 weeks it felt like my symptoms got even worse and after that I started feeling a lot better. But again, I was trying out so many things that I don't know what helped or what made it worse. But you should definitely try the spinal decompression.

6. I took a natural supplement that my chiropractor recommended. It's called Devil's claw and it's literally $8 at Walmart. I starting taking it about a month before I started feeling better.

7. I tried to sleep more on my back, or on my side with a pillow between my legs, I bought a cervical pillow, I tried to have a better posture etc.

Also I feel like it's really important to have a good and positive attitude. I was really down and discouraged in the first 3 months and in those months I literally didn't feel any improvement.. I was in major pain the whole time. I really think that the body can't heal when you're just upset all the time.. it's like you're not allowing it to heal. I know it's hard to be positive when you're in such bad constant pain.. but try to make an effort, it's gonna be worth it.

And also, I believe in God and I constantly prayed to receive healing and I declared healing over myself in Jesus' name. And I would thank for the healing that I received (even if at that time I was in pain). Believe you will receive healing. Have faith! God doesn't want you to suffer.

As I was saying, there are a lot of things that I tried so I can't really point to sth and say that that's what you need to do, but I really hope this is gonna help someone.
I would've loved to find some tips like these when I was struggling with so much pain.

PS: It was my personal decision to not take any painkillers or other medication during these 6 months. I think I only took about 5 ibuprofens in this whole time. I can say that my healing process was 99% natural: chiropractic treatment, diet changes etc. That's what I was looking for and it definitely works!

If I missed something I will definitely update this comment. Let me know if anything helped you or if u have any questions.
I really hope this will help! Take care and God bless you guys. <3

[bdawg]

I have basically fixed my own disk issue doing dead lifts. I had bad low back pain for more than 10 years. On and off sciatica, couldnt lay on my stomach, always woke up with my back really stiff and painful. I started doing dead lifts after not doing them for a long time. Started very light and slowly over time increased the weight. Made sure to keep form. Now I can dead lift 325lbs with no back problem. I tried 3 different chiropractors with only temporary relief. Dead lifts have apparently strengthened the muscle around my disk and I am now almost pain free. So just wanted to share that as another thing for people to try.

[CatherineShovlin]

I’ve had my slipped discs for 18 months (11 with wrong diagnoses) and had sleep limiting / activity limiting pain for all of that time. After only a week of following your recommendations I can already feel the healing. Shocked that I was doing contraindicated exercises prescribed by one of the many physio / osteo specialists I’ve seen. Thank you!!

[wyh]

It's very important to listen to your body when you exercise if you have sciatica. If you feel pain at any time, JUST STOP as the activity is either not right for you or you may not have recovered well enough to do that! There is no one size fits all in the exercises we do as each individual condition is different. If it's very painful, STOP! Otherwise, if it's just a little pain felt then it may be ok to continue. Always listen to your body, don't ever be fooled by the slogan "No Pain, No Gain"!

[teresablack]

From North Carolina—I’m amazed how many PT’s on YouTube are recommending these 5 exercises to cure sciatica. Scary. No wonder I’m still in pain.

[DavidBrown-bsgg]

Glad you mentioned the hamstring stretches, they aggravate my condition

[sefarsogood]

I just suffered my first herniation at 77, an L4, and your insightful vids are cooling my initial panic, for which I'm grateful. God bless you... ta.

[ninjac]

Just yesterday, I advised a client with sciatica to avoid stretching their hamstrings and mentioned your channel as a great source of info. Now I've just seen this video - just the best timing! Your advice is always excellent.

[asdify]

I come from Taiwan
Im 24 years old and I’ve got HIVD and severe sciatica for five weeks.
That’s extreme pain to me.
This video taught me that i ever made, stretch hamstrings and psoas muscle are wrong
That’s very helpful to me
Thanks very much

[rjleftlane]

Everything you mentioned that one should not do was all the things that PT had me doing for 12 weeks after I had a L4, L5 herniation….here I am 11 years later with no improvement

[kanzverma]

I was wondering why I wasn’t able to put my pajamas or get in the the car without causing pain when actually I am able to walk just fine on the same leg apart from the sciatica flares 1-2 times a day.. now I know why and no one has ever told me this. This information is gold. Thank you so much!

[jonathanwilson]

L5/S1 8 weeks ago
MRI determined it was an extrusion. Hideous pain for first 4 weeks. Made worse of course pre diagnosis, when I thought it was a muscle issue.
Excellent tips in this vid and very glad I came across it early-ish in about week 4.
Key is avoid movement that aggravates the nerve/bulge issue.
However, one thing that has worked for me is walking. Getting out of bed was awful with sciatica and very powerful ache down my right leg. But I just walked to through it while trying to lengthen the stride gradually. After about 4/5 km I found the pain dissipated and I could walk normally.
After a few weeks of walking and avoiding aggravating exercise, the pain I wake up it getting less and less.
Haven’t touched alcohol and have been staying very hydrated.
Just thought I’d share my routine. Give walking a try

[mswondr]

Hello Will,
Oh my God. You are so right about stretching the hamstrings. After doing those stretches this sciatic was on fire. I don’t do hamstring stretches anymore.

[mrsh]

Your information re: hamstring stretches is eye opening for me and makes total sense! Thank you for your channel - so much good information!

[jobanakumta]

If u suffer from herniated disc.. 1. If u have swelling in your lowerback use ice packs to reduce swelling. Trying gym, exercise or swimming when there is inflamation is a bad idea. 2. Once swelling reduces try hot fomentation to ease muscles in the lower back. 3. All below to be done only if swelling is gone. First is strengthening lower back muscles, hips, stomach n knees . This needs little practice. Start slowly. Like on back tighten your buttock, hold for 10-15 sec n relax. Start with 5 times. Increase count n times with your comfort. Keep a rolled towel below knee Tighten your knees . Hold for 10-15 sec n relax. Like on back bend knees, tighten buttocks pull in lower abdomen and raise your buttocks ONLY as much as your palm width. Hold start with 10 sec and increase as u feel comfortable.
Practice pelvic tilts throughout the day.
The next best exercise is to lie on side with the painful side on top. Bend legs at angle such that feet r in line with buttocks. Join feet now raise at knees such as to form a diamond. Hold for 15 sec and relax. Take care not to turn body while forming diamond. This strengthens the side of leg through which sciatic nerve passes.
Try sleeping for some time with a rolled up towel on lower back near herniated disc. When sleeping on side take pillow in between legs. When sleeping on back keep pillow below knee. Do not try any exercise while there is inflamtion.
Start collagen, glucosamine, chondroitin, boswelia which will help in healing disc elasticity. Best wishes and may God heal you.

[keziajudah-torres]

Suffered from 2 bulging discs and a herniated discs. Had a Lumbar TLIFT of my L2-L5, I'm 3 1/2 weeks post op. It was the best thing I have ever done for myself. ❤❤❤

[mohammadaljamea]

This was very useful. My therapist just mad me do hamstring stretches and made my case worse and i was in pain doing these exercises. Now i know because of you what i should do many thanks and much appreciated. Hope you can make a video for people with this issue if they are forced to sit like in traveling in an airplane or a bus

[bigBflyer]

So what exercises should we do? I only heard what not to do.

[valyatimtsenko]

This is great advice thank you so much. I've been suffering from 2 bulges in l3 and l4. Other therapists have told me to keep stretching. I've been in pain for 8 years. So again thank you.

[liljade]

my mildly bulging discs were not that bad (bad enough) but then I remembered that my PT said I should stretch my hamstrings. I did it a couple of mornings lately prior to getting out of bed, and now I am having horrible neuropathy ( bilateral electric shocks and tingles that go all the way to my feet, and are worse when I am lying on my back trying to sleep! also I realize I need to stop bringing my knees up (thinking I am doing something good for my stomach and core), and have noticed driving makes things worse, Great video!! Thanks!!!