Bulging Disc Recovery Time: How Long Does It Take?

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In this episode, Farnham's leading over-50's physiotherapist, Will Harlow, reveals the normal bulging disc recovery time.

He also discusses how this differs to herniated disc recovery time. You'll learn how long a bulging disc takes to heal, what can be done to speed it up and how treatment might help to accelerate the process.

[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

[Cj-enfj]

Yeah, that 6-12 weeks is a sham. I'd like to meet these 'average' people they're surveying. I'm 39, and Both times for me were about 6 months total, with true measurable relief only starting to occur around the end of month 4. I wish they'd update that research and survey the present public because I was stressed out the first time around, thinking something was seriously wrong with me because I wasn't 'average.' Bless you, for these videos, man. You are doing the Lord's work. There is no pain like a truly trapped nerve from stenosis and/or a herniated disc. Emotional stress is compounded when we're misinformed about our recovery.

[tavogel]

I've watched hundreds of back pain videos and this is one of the best -- thank you! It's nice to see someone debunk the 'six-week' myth! I even had a pain specialist recommend surgery to me because I was in pain for over six weeks; glad I didn't listen to her. I'm in month 17 of dealing with a bulging disc. I had about three horrible months but feel like I'm finally on the mend thanks to a great physical therapist. Thanks again for this video.

[annac]

A true bulging disc is the most excruciating pain I've experienced... I'm on my 3rd month of bulging disc journey... physio exercises has helped.. takes time... don't focus on how long you've been in pain keep going and things will get better and be kind to yourself.
Will you are a gem...
Thank you for such a thorough explanation.

[ciervogold]

Watching this video has just given me new hope. I'm 4 months into my bulging discs event and the pain has lessened but still have very excruciating episodes. I have just made a second appointment with a neurosurgeon. After this video, I believe I will be canceling that appointment and continuing my DIY physiotherapy on a stronger cadence with advice from your other videos. Thank you.

[tomhowarth]

I am over 5 months into my bulging disc issues. I foolishly ignored all the warning signs that something was coming for several months. Hindsight is always 20/20. In October of last year I finally decided to see a doctor (at this point I was totally functional, but using Advil before physical activity). They sent me for physical therapy. That helped a bit. At that point the therapist said that I could start to slowly reintroduce some of my regular activities (gym, golf). I did that. For golf, I was just hitting punch shots, nothing crazy. Then one day, boom, on the floor. Back to the doctor for my scheduled follow up. More PT before insurance would approve an MRI. My symptoms again improved a bit. Went for the MRI. Few mild bulges with slight annular fissure in two (all lumbar spine). Dr said not much they can do for me. I'm not a candidate for surgery. A steroid epidural would be next step if needed. The discs just need time to recover and I will need to strengthen my core after recovery. By now it's early February. The next 6 weeks I continued to improve a bit more. I go for chiropractic treatment every Saturday. I was again told I can slowly increase my activity. I did. No golf, just light weights. In early Apri I started to trend in the wrong direction again with my symptoms. My chiropractor warned me that even though I was trending in the right direction, I would likely have set backs (they are typical). I thought, nah, but yes, I did. I have dialed things back again and opted for the epidural. Both my doctor and chiropractor said many disc injuries take 6-18 months to totally heal. They believe I will recover completely, but it will take much more time than I had anticipated. It really is a bummer.

[saniyauzumaki]

He’s on spot when he says it can be recovered within 6 -12 weeks. I have been diagnosed with mild slip disc in March and three months have passed by with all physio therapy (changed twice) yet the pain is still there.

The worst part is my family doesn’t fully understand my condition. I know they are doing their best to help me and give me recommendation but sometimes they just treat it quite normally and I feel quite medically neglected by them.

[Coach_YawHoops]

I was actually able to recover from a bulging disc. Anything said in this video is legit and his videos helped me a lot in his recovery and I’m going to explain how I did it:
1. I took a full week off (no work, no sports), I only moved if totally necessary. I stayed in bed as much as I could. I avoided any kind of SPINAL FLEXION or anything that cause me pain.
2. After the week of resting, I started doing 3 exercises that helped me like crazy 1 McKenzie Pushups 2 Bitilasana (Cow Pose) 3 Ustrasana (Camel Pose). I did these 3 as soon as I woke up and before going to sleep and I do them to this day!
3. I applied heat to the bulging disc area around twice a day, (I used a hot water bag or hair dryer with hot air) (I did these during the time I started with the 3 exercises listed above.
4. Once I felt much better, I started to strengthen the MULTIFIDUS MUSCLE and that’s what I’ve been doing to this day.

I just want to also add a few other points
1. Be patient, don’t rush the healing process. I thought I was alone going through this but the more videos you watch, the more you realize how common this is
2. Avoid sitting for too long. Although I feel much better now, sitting for too long still causes me pain, a pain that goes away once I do the 3 exercises I listed.
4. The philosophy I applied with my recovery was : if it hurts when I flex my spine (bending down) I must do the opposite movements to fight the pain and reposition the disc.
5. Make sure you get an MRI to certify that you actually have a bulging disc

I hope this comment will help whoever needs it. Remember to stay patient and you will also recover💪🏾

[AbuzarGhiffari-xggs]

I am suffering from bulging disc since 2.5 years and first time i visited this channel was 3 months ago and now i am feeling much better than before my sciatica is gone but back pain is still there. Hope this will cover soon.
Thanks alot to Sir Will ❤

[JennasMusic]

I have suffered with multiple disc issues and this is hands down the best video, and explanation I have ever encountered. Thank you so much for such a detailed, and informed video, it actually helped me so much, and has given me some hope.

[maryiuvone]

The pain from a bulge or herniation is brutal. So glad for Will's channel. Thank you.

[odjy]

Another amazing and accurate vid, thanks Will! I wish I could have seen this before! When I had my bugled disc last year, and still in pain after 4 months, I was terrified reading some website stating that it was supposed to get better between 6 and 12 weeks! Thanks!

[amyroberson]

I have 3 right now, all on my lower back, all sitting on my nerves. They told me 6 months too. I'm in PT and getting shots on my spine and it's helping a lot. Great video

[inaf]

April 1st: Bad case of sciatica. Went to doc, who diagnosed it.
April 23rd: Had, which confirmed a bulging disc and a very angry sciatic nerve on my right side. It was twice as large as the left one.
April 30th: Started physical therapy.
Now: I am just about 98% back to normal. With the sciatica, I had injured my piriformis muscle as well. What a pain in the butt, literally 😅 The sciatica weakened the calf muscle in my right leg to the point where I couldn't do a calf raise or get up on my tippytoes on the leg. Walking sucked. Now I am able to almost walk normal again. It's been a long two months, but I firmly believe that physical therapy has helped me 100%. I now must concentrate on building up all my muscles so that I hopefully can prevent that crap from happening again.

[DaigoParry]

9 months

Today is the day I have 100% pain free condition. It was 99.7% yesterday. Some mild pin-prick pain in the spine during my sleep that I have to wake up every 3 hours (to adjust my sleeping position). For the first time, it is zero pain in my sleep last night.

[robertgoodrich]

I am two years out from an automobile accident, that resulted in several broken bones and a herniated L5/S1. Bones healed rapidly, but I have had persistent numbness in the side of my foot and last three toes, as well as significant weakness in my calf muscles. Never had pain. But I continue to get better.. Even within the last few months I have marked improvement. The numbness is just starting to go away, and I can finally lift my heel off he ground. Obviously each case is different. I am 58 years old, spent a month in rehab and five months in physical therapy. But with daily walks, and occasional visits to the gym, I am getting better - even if the recovery has been quite long.

[annmarierougier]

This guy was great ! He is a true healer positive and optimistic, I feel encouraged after watching this . Starting PT soon

[yoyoj]

Thank you so much, I've just begun my recovery. Will come back after each month for updates!

[BB]

Out of all the searching i've done on youtube, your videos are the best that i have seen addressing sciatica :)

[mvc]

4 years and my disc bulge never really got better or worse on MRI… just sciatica which became consistently worse more so when sitting. I did everything to get the bulge/ pain sorted and nothing worked. I finally got surgery and yes the pain did improve down the leg but the long standing nerve compression has made me hypersensitive to nerve pain flare ups that do now settle unlike before. In short some people get lucky with this injury and fully recover and others don’t.