I had a ruptured disc and sciatica about 10 years ago. This was after years of "pulling a muscle in my back" repeatedly which was probably just me getting a bulging disc repeatedly and it eventually fixing itself. It finally ruptured and I decided to get surgery when my leg started weakening to the point I was going to be dragging it behind me soon. lol. I wish I had gotten the surgery sooner. The pain from the sciatica was brutal. Had 2 kidney stones the same time I had the sciatica. Good luck and keep a watch on if your leg is gradually getting weaker or not. The pain you're describing is pretty much the same pain I had.
Having a back injury sucks because you have to limit your physical activity. Losing weight, work on my core strength, swimming, acupuncture, and adjustments help me manage my back pain. I had a MRI of the lumbar spine 5 years ago that revealed L4-5, L5-S1 4mm herniation with impinged nerve. My surgeon wanted to perform surgery but I took the conservative route.
I just remember this post from a few days ago...I've followed this guy for a while and he knows his stuff... treats a lot of bodybuilders, but also the general pop. He's a PT certified in PRI, FMS and the Graston technique. Maybe you can ask him about your situation. He'll take emails sometimes and offer an opinion based on your medical history. Obviously not the best method, but it can serve as a third or fourth opinion for you. <blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="5" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:46.71875% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/9OkgnTSaJ9/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">One of man's worst painful experience is sufferring from a herniated disc. Burning pain running down from the back and down to the heel or toes. You can barely put ANY weight on the affected leg. Your lower back and pelvis looks more shifted to one side because of the muscle spasm. Cant sleep at night due to pain and wake up the next morning feeling more pain. Treating herniated disc is a TRUE CHALLENGE. In the pic (alrhough that is more of a disc PROLAPSE rather than a herniated disc) shows what a disc can do the spinal cord or the nerve roots that come out of the cord. When talking about disc BULGES, there is usually no nerve involvement and its alot easier to treat. When it comes to herniated discs though, its like russian roulette. Therapy may or may NOT work. It depends on MANY factors and the common ones are: how much of the disc is herniated out, what job and lifestyle do you live and how you function during daily tasks. If you are suffering from a disc prolapse, such as shown in the pic, then that means surgery ASAP. Especially if you have lost bladder control, then that screams ER. But with herniations, that requires ALOT of work and patience. And everyone is different which means, there is no ONE correct way to treat disc hernias. Clinicians have to find what activities and exercises work best for that one individual, not as a group. But I have to be real here; that intense therapy may not even work. Countless of alignment exercises, hip and core strength stability, tractions, and more, may not succeed. That is when I say " lets clean up aisle 5" (referring to the L5 nerve root) , meaning go fo a surgical debridement. Debridement is basically shaving off the excess disc that touches to the nerve to alleviate the pain. Then therapy will work 100 times better. Trust me when I say, I HATE SURGERY and I do EVERYTHING in my power to prevent that for my patient and so far I have been successful. But, I have cases where I have no choice but to ask the help of a surgeon. Any therapist, chiropractor, trainer or whetever, CANNOT play hero when dealing with herniations. No clinician is God and anyone who promises to "cure" you up without trying, LEAVE.</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Andreas Saltas (@bodmechanic) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-10-24T16:50:27+00:00">Oct 24, 2015 at 9:50am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>
