Herniated Disc in lower back

I had a herniated disc back about 11 years ago. I was told there are three types, ones you can live with and have options which is 90% of cases, one line mine which was pinching a nerve so I could no longer lift my foot which requires surgery soon about 5%, and those that pinch a nerve so you lose function of your bladder/bowels which means you need urgent surgery less than 1%.

I had surgery within a week of when I herniated my disc. Was in constant pain after for 7-8 years worse in the morning. I lost weight and got fit and now my back doesn't hurt but maybe 7-10 days a year. When I started tri'ing I wasn't sure I could even ride a road bike due to my back, but I can and ride a lot.

I'd suggest going to see a sports Orthopedic Doctor to get a second opinion. 

I've got four of them.  MRI pix to prove it.

Set realistic goals. 

Take things on a day-to-day basis.  Swim if you can't bike, Bike if you can't swim, Run if you can't bike (at times I cannot bike but can run). 

Pills can be a good thing (many will disagree), expecially those who don't have to crawl to the bathroom at 3 am.

Yoga!  My saving grace. 

Don't give up.  Never, ever.  You'll be fine.  Day at a time.

I have one, too. You are partially right that steroid injections will not "fix" the problem. It is for pain relief. However, from what I've read on the topic, and I've read a lot, chiropractic manipulation won't fix it either. The gooey stuff inside your disc has been pushed out. The only way to fix it is to push it back in, or remove it surgically. Given the anatomy of the back, there is no physical way a chiro can manipulate your spine from the outside to push the goo back in. I must admit that I am extremely skeptical about chiropractic and simply don't believe in it. Don't mean to offend anyone but that's the way I am.

Having said that, he's given you decent advice. You're 25 years old. Odds are that you'll heal on your own. In my case, I opted for not having surgery. At 39, I probably heal a tad slower than you. Plus, I'm fairly certain that I've injured this disc before, probably more than once, so it's been battered. My MRI showed that it was a big rupture. I'm going on one year post-injury and I still have pain, but I can live with it. From what I've read, in about another year I should be better. By then, my body will have essentially disposed of the gooey disc material that's pushing on my nerve. This injury can take time to heal.

I've had two steroid injections and they helped, but obviously didn't take the pain away completely. Whoever said that they hurt ws right. But it's not the big needle going in your back that hurts. They give you anesthetic for that. It's the steroid making contact with an already irritated sciatic nerve that sends pain shooting down your leg. After my first one they said I was white as a ghost. For the second one, I asked for sedation.

You should continue with light exercise such as walking or bike riding. The one good thing about this injury is that movement helps. Once you get past your teenage years, you no longer have blood vessels in your discs, so your discs depend on the contractions of the surrounding muscles to get nutrients and hydration.

For now, I can swim, bike, run, even lift some weights. Lifting can be painful but I still do it. They are currently working on a treatment that uses stem cells from your own bone marrow which would be injected into your disc and will actually regrow a new disc. Unfortunately, this treatment won't be available for about 5-10 years. I'm willing to wait that long for the chance to regrow new discs. 

Trained with a really bad herniation at L5-S1 for 2 years. Almost constant pain. Did some conservative treatments during a particularly bad flair up. PT, muscle relaxers, hydros. When they finally did an MRI to see what was going on my nuerosurgeon was in awe of the impingement on my sciatic nerve. It was so shrouded with the disc he had to point to the sciatic nerve on the right side at that level and say "trust me when I say that same thing is on the left side."

I was in surgery about 3 weeks later.

To say I am 100% pain free would be lying. Fact is the last couple of days I have had some problems. My surgeon told me that due to the damage done to my nerve from the constant grinding of the herniated disc that I will probably have problems forever. It is tolerable and only lasts a few days and only happens a few times a year.

Makes me question the route of conservetive treatment a bit. I went through the pain for 2 years! It took that long before someone finally thought an MRI was warranted. What if that herniation had been seen 6 months, or a year after the injury. Would the long term damage be worse? Better? Who knows.

I did an OLY 7 months after surgery. A marathon 15 months after surgery. A HIM 19 months after surgery. And if things go well I will be an Ironman 28 months after surgery. Keep inmind there were morning I physically could not get out of bed without assistance.

As for chiro for a herniated disc? Never did it. Dont want to get into that debate.

I purchased the product seen at the link. Yes, this an "infomercial" product, but I didn't get sold by the infomercial. When I saw this product I immediately recognized it as a reverse hyperextension machine. I had read about reverse hypers from my readings on strength training so I had some prior knowledge. I didn't just get sucked in by the infomercial hype and I was actually quite skeptical.

http://www.mycorevolution.com/

Steve, is this similar to the flexion/distraction treatment you mentioned? If so, I think people would be better off doing these and strengthening the muscles in the process than simply having a passive chiropractic treatment. Reverse hypers can also be done on a Swiss ball using just the weight of your legs. In fact, doing them unweighted is the best way to start. 

I have known many people that have benefited from non - surgical treatments of lower back pain, specifically herniated discs.

I am attaching a link to a clinic in my area that specializes in this kind of treatment.  Perhaps your dr or chiropractor could refer you.  If nothing else it is food for thought.

Good luck and best wishes!

http://www.lovemyback.com/prc.aspx?cat=olpostrest&movid=79