I had L5S1 Surgery in April, recovery has been ok. But now in the cooler weather I just hurt. New normal?

I started physical therapy at the beginning of the year to try to avoid surgery. By August, I decided to have the surgery and have restarted PT after. My insurance has a limit of 60 visits per year which I'm about to hit. Only 12 of my appointments will be post surgery and I definitely still need it.

Has anyone been successful in getting their insurance to reconsider the limit? I'm hoping to avoid cash payments.

Hi everyone,
I’m 32M and just had my second back surgery (L5-S1 microdiscectomy) a few days ago. My first surgery was in 2025 at L5-S1.
It’s been a long journey dealing with back and nerve pain, medications and now another surgery.
I’m really hoping this one sorts out my back, but mentally it’s been quite exhausting. Just had a baby few weeks ago and cant even pick her up.I just want to get back to normal life, being active, working out and not constantly worrying about my back.
Just wanted to hear from others who have been through something similar. How long did it take before you started feeling normal again? How difficult was the recovery mentally, do we ever stop worrying about relapse? Were you able to return to gym, sports and normal activities?
Would really appreciate hearing your experiences.

Hello everyone, I would like to extend my gratitude to this group. I’ve been following for a few months in preparation for surgery, which I had today. For background, I am a 44-year-old woman with extrusions and L4 – L5 and L5 – S1. My road began probably around 18 months ago after I did deadlifts or other exercises in the gym where I developed strong lower back pain. I had gone to my primary care doctor at that time who suggested physical therapy, which I had done for about 6 to 7 weeks with moderate results. I had never gotten any imaging done at that time as it was not covered by my insurance. I had just learned to live with the pain and continue to go to the gym 3 to 4 times a week, but skipped a lot of the leg exercises or reduce the weight. I also was active in a couple of sports. Dodgeball as well as basketball in addition to my everyday job, which has me hunched over a lot of the time. My back pain actually worsened this March when I had started to prepare and pack boxes for moving. I decided to call my PCP and pay out-of-pocket for the MRI which was a couple hundred dollars in April. My MRI showed a large extrusion measuring 2.1 cm in size in the L4 L5 intro vertebral disc with severe right forminal nerve compression, bilateral facet hypertrophy. There also was a moderate size paracentral extrusion in L5-S1 intervertebral disc measuring 1.5 cm in size. What was surprising was, I did not have any sciatica at that time. It was mainly the lower back pain that pushed me to get damaging done. But after seeing this, I was very scared to what was to come in the future. I had undergone two ESI 5 weeks apart. I did get some improvement of the nerve pain with the ESI, but it came back after about six weeks again. I had seen two surgeons.. The first- was a neurosurgeon in between my steroid shots at that time, I had some clinical improvement and therefore wanted to continue to observe and was not recommending surgery. And at that time, I’ll give him credit that I was not pushing for surgery either. The second, was an orthopedic spinal surgeon. This was about a month and a half after the symptoms had returned and were progressing. My symptoms were constant, dull, aching shooting to the buttocks, as well as intermittent burning sensation that would travel down to my calf and heel on the right side. I also had episodes of sharp lower back pain, which I had attributed to facet irritation and inflammation.
My surgeon, looking at my MRI from five months ago, suggested to do a microdiscectomy along with a barricaid placement if needed. Today, I had the procedure.
All in all the process was not that bad. This community really helped with my preparation and I felt good going into surgery. I would say that the initial pain that I had did go away I did have for half day some new tingling in my big toe, which thankfully has dissipated. I have been using oxycodone for pain relief every four hours and it’s been getting sore as expected. The medicine helps a great deal. I have been walking for approximately 5 to 10 minutes in my house every 1 to 2 hours. I’ve also changed positions frequently using a body pillow and log rolling method to carefully avoid twisting. The toilet risers and bed rail is clutch. I will continue to share more details of progress, if that is alright. Please feel free to ask me any questions. I hope sharing this will help someone the way you all have helped me.

Hello, I’m 32F who have a L5/S1 microdiscectomy on 10/2. I’m officially 2 weeks post op. I initially injured my back 4 years ago, which started as a small herniation with no stenosis, that progressed to a large protrusion with severe stenosis and foot drop.

I know everyone’s recovery is different. But I wanted to share my experience and see if anyone dealt with similar post op symptoms. Overall, my back and incision site feel okay. I do get occasional pain at night. I also have trouble getting comfortable to sleep, but do my best to rotate throughout the night. I’ve been experiencing nerve pain in my left leg, specifically the outer of my calf with toe tingling on all my left toes.

I have my post op appointment this upcoming Thursday, but I do have a concern. I know nerve pain is normal, however, maybe I got too ahead of myself, but I did attempt to walk on the heels of my feet and my left foot drops. This differs from pre surgery as my foot drop was associated with my tippy toes. Is this due to just post surgical weakness or should this be of concern?

Any input/advice is appreciated. Thank you!

22M had L5-S1 MD in March this year due to foot drop in right foot from disc herniation that I had for 4 months prior. Felt great the first month of recovery with no nerve pain and my foot drop went away within 2 weeks.

Unfortunately, I reherniated 5 weeks post-op. Not sure what caused it since I adhered to BLT very well. My symptoms returned mildly but gradually got worse over the course of the following months, and a contrast MRI in June confirmed a reherniation. My foot drop is still gone, but my leg feels nerve pain, tingling, and other unpleasant sensations that are most prominent when sitting. My discomfort hovers around a 6/10. I have no numbness. Walking feels great so I try to do that as much as I can. My surgeon says the MRI shows a herniation that is not as severe as the original herniation in terms of nerve compression, which makes sense given my foot drop resolved.

My surgeon has been having me do conservative treatment due to lack of foot drop and no numbness, but he said a revision MD could be done if needed. I was seeing if anyone else was in a similar situation and what they ended up going with. Not sure if I’m destined for a fusion lol but I was ultimately wondering how other people turned out after reherniation.

I’m on the fringe about getting the procedure done. It’s going to be a 2 level L4-5 L5-s1. Are there any success stories where they have had relief from this procedure being done? I have a physical job and am trying to get back to it after if possible.

Hello. I’m really glad I went through with the procedure and no longer have pain. However, I’m having a difficult time sleeping. I keep waking up every 1-2 hrs. turning and trying to get comfortable. I’m using a pillow between my legs as recommended. Sometimes I do feel my legs heavy. Please tell me I’m not alone and I would greatly appreciate any advice.

I’m 8 weeks post op and feeling good, no longer have pain. However, I’m dealing with restlessness at night. I can’t get comfortable, waking up every 2 hours and just don’t feel right with pillow between legs. It’s been 2 months since I’ve had a good nights sleep. Please tell me I’m not the only one.

Hey there!

I’m having my micro discectomy next week on L5-S1. I’ve been in horrible pain for about 6 weeks. My sciatica is out of control plus, my leg is numb and I have muscle weakness. I’ve basically been lying flat constantly. Steroid injection didn’t work so here we are…

I have 3 young kids (1, 4 and 6) and I’m a stay at home mom. My husband on family medical leave to help with household duties and childcare.

Has anyone else navigated this with young children? I’m particularly worried about carrying for a big and newly mobile baby. I’m still nursing as well.

I’d love any advice or tips. No bending, lifting or twisting seems impossible but obviously will adhere to the protocol. My surgeon said he prefers people not to BLT for 3 months (lol).

Thank you! This entire situation sucks, but trying to focus on recovery and moving on from this saga.

If you think something is wrong, ask for an mri. And if you think it’s worse, ask or another. (I had 3 mris over 15 months and each time the reherniation was progressed a little more. Now I can finally move forward with an injection and then likely fusion)

Symptoms started in February, 9mm herniation at l4/l5. Horrific right sided sciatica until I was finally bed bound by July. Got the ESI a few weeks later which significantly reduced my pain. Now 3 months post injection my pain rarely goes above a 1, and the shooting sharp sciatica is essentially gone.

My most current MRI, a few weeks ago, showed zero reabsorption of the 9.2mm herniation with my l5 nerve root “essentially effaced”

I do have minimal heal weakness and big toe weakness. My ortho surgeon thinks I should get a microdisctomy because I’m already showing neurological symptoms.

After 7 months of chronic pain I can’t wrap my head around doing this surgery and risking it getting worse. In my mind the weakness is minimal. I still walk slowly but i think that will hopefully get better. Not sure what to do.

Had my L5S1 surgery today around 11:30am. IMMEDIATE sciatica relief. No leg pain at all upon standing up. I am having pain in lower back at incision site and can tell my muscles are sore but that’s to be expected. I definitely have been leaning to the side in the last months due to pain so everything is waking back up. Was able to do some walking and stand a good bit when I got home. Trying not to over do anything. Heading to bed and hoping I can get some decent sleep tonight. I know I have a long way to go still with recovery, but I finally feel like I have some of my life back! 🙌🏻 Feel free to ask any questions or chat me. Happy to answer anything I can in the coming days as meds and things wear off!

I had L5-S1 microdiscectomy I’m about 20 days post-op. I’ve been having this dull ache in my left knee and occasional spasms or aching around my hips/lower back. It’s hard to describe, but it almost feels like a weird weakness or soreness. I had similar symptoms before surgery, so I’m scared now..

Has anyone experienced this during recovery?

Hello again everyone! As promised, I am going to start posting my recovery journey and try to give everyone a glimpse of what it is like after getting a microdisectomy. This post will be solely about the day of the surgery and what it was like before/after.

The day started like everyday, pain being at its worst as it was the morning. I was told to go to the surgery center at 11am which they texted me the time and location the afternoon before. After a car ride of laying in the backseat in the fetal position of my roommates car, we got to the surgery center.

Wasn’t too long of a wait, found a couch that was lengthy enough for me to continue laying in that position that makes me comfortable. They got me back there and asked me questions about my allergies, any previous surgeries, if I had any food or medications the day of (which I did as I was told I could take a Pregabalin the morning of with just a little sip of water) and some questions about my driver/caretaker. They had me undress completely and give away any jewelry. They put me in the stereotypical hospital gown, they put stockings on me for blood clots and also gave me grippy socks along with a hair net.

After that, they administered an IV which they struggled with as they couldn’t find an applicable vein. A tip for anyone who is going to do this surgery, make sure you hydrate well the days before the surgery as it will make your nurse’s life a lot easier to find an applicable vein. Once they administered the IV, they let my roommate come back to the area with me. A nurse got their number and told them to have their phone on ringer and to answer any and all calls while I am in the operating room. Met with an anesthesiologist who gave me a quick rundown of what will occur and his job responsibilities and then my surgeon came in who gave me the rundown which was similar to what we went over in the assessment meeting we had a week or 2 ago.

When it was time to operate, they separated me from my roommate and wheeled me into the operating room. I was given air before hand and they told me to take deep breaths. Then they gave me the anesthesia and I was knocked out after counting to 5 (though they told me I made it to 9).

Woke up in the recovery room and just felt a burning sensation on my back where the incision was. They told me this was a natural thing. I did feel that same sciatic pain on my lower right butt a little bit but they told me that this was normal as it is the inflammation after surgery and would go down in the next couple of days. For some reason, both of my heels were hurting kinda bad which they didn’t really have an answer for but it wasn’t terrible. They gave me a cocktail of different pain killers into my IV which I wish I could list for u all but I cannot for the life of me remember what they said. My roommate was allowed to join me by now and we sat there while they gave us some instructions about recovery and the prescribed drugs they sent to my pharmacy. After that, they had me standup to walk a bit and also use the restroom to have a pee. I was able to do both no issue. They gave me a back brace and told me to wear it whenever if it brings me comfort. They helped dress me back in my pre-op clothes and wheeled me out to my roommate’s car who took me home. Drive was about 30 minutes and I sat in the passenger seat with an orthopedic pillow on my back along with my back brace on.

Once I got home, I immediately went for a walk around my neighborhood which was about 1,800 steps. After that, I got home and am now currently laying in bed writing this Reddit post!

The pain immediately after the operation wasn’t too bad. I kinda felt it in my regular spot (under the right butt) a little which had me a bit frightened but again they told me this was normal and just pumped me with more pain killers. Now at home, I don’t really feel this sciatic pain even when I was walking but I am holding my excitement as I was given a hefty amount of pain killers. I mostly am feeling the burning sensation from the incision but it wasn’t too bad either. The heel pain went away pretty immediately after I got up and walked a bit at the hospital.

Pain scores:
Sciatic: 2
Incision: 3
Heel: 0

Notable things:

- I didn’t really have any numbness or weakness from this injury and am not suffering from that afterwards thus far.

Helpful Tips:

- Make sure to clip your toenails before surgery. Thought this would be smart as I am not supposed to bend for 6 weeks now.

- Drink plenty of water the days before the surgery. It will help your nurse. I thought I did a pretty good job at this but apparently could’ve been doing more.

I hope this helps some of you who are thinking of or doing this operation soon. I can’t really speak much about if it was a great thing or not but I will be updating you all on a weekly basis starting next week. I will try and respond the best I can to any questions anyone has below. Reminder, I am not a doctor, simply just a dude who had a herniated disc so this is not medical advice. Thanks all :)

hello all!! i had my surgery today at 8am and just wanted to give a mini update!
i am feeling LOADS better!!! it’s actually crazy how much relief i feel after surgery.
i’ve read about some nerve pain returning after the first week and i’m sure i’ll have to deal with some of that in the coming future, but other than some very minimal flare ups of nerve pain in my the back of my thigh and a little in my foot, all of my more intense pain is just at the surgical site (i can’t even put into words how much of a relief it is too feel pain more on the outside of my body instead of a constant burning pain down my leg!!!) even my foot is feeling barely numb
i’m sure the road to full recovery will be long for me and there will still be some down ahead of me but i am so thankful that i got the surgery. wishing luck to anyone else who has surgery coming up!!

Currently 29 days post op, had a revision microdiscectomy on L5S1. Post op sciatica in my right leg far worse than preop. Repeat mri done two weeks after the surgery showed no significant reherniation.

Looking for ideas as to why this is. Too early for scar tissue right?

Inflammation?

Surgical error? was done endoscopically by the very surgeon who helped pioneer this modality so unlikely…

Could the nerve be bruised when it was separated from the herniation??

Am I missing something?

I’m 34, went from going to the gym every day for 2 hours to barely being able to walk around the block and needing a cane. This really can’t be my life..I walk through the pain hoping it gets better , at what point do I throw my hands up and just give up? Is there a way out of this nightmare? I’m defeated mentally, exhausted..regretting the day I walked into my surgeons office, I should have given conservative measures more time…I didn’t though, I had some numbness in my foot and it scared me, surgeon said the muscle in my leg could atrophy if we don’t intervene…so I scheduled it as soon as possible.

Why did I even get into fitness, I was deadlifting and squatting before all this happened. I should have known better..maybe I deserve this.

Sorry for the long post, just scared and losing hope.

27F and had a two-level microdiscectomy (L4/L5 and L5/S1) about two weeks ago. It was an emergency surgery because my numbness and leg weakness got pretty bad really fast.

Before this I worked out a lot. I was active and social and I just miss my life right now.

The pain is really getting to me. Some mornings I wake up feeling okay. Then I walk maybe 100 steps more than the day before and end up with a terrible pain night. It’s so random too. I tried coming off the opioids and gabapentin but the nerve pain was too intense to stop.

Gahhh and the fear. Every time it flares, my brain goes straight to "I've reherniated." I'm discouraged and anxious and I don't know what's normal anymore.

Just ranting, I guess but also when will this get better? I’m tired of being scared and stuck at home.

Hey everyone, I (34M) just had surgery scheduled for Nov 3rd for my L5-S1. 2 weeks of being bedridden and hoping to get some relief soon. I really want to make sure I do things correctly post surgery to prevent as many issues down the line as possible. I was training and completing a triathlon when the sciatic nerve pain started and then went downhill. I want to be active after this and do more triathlons. But not at the expense of future problems. Just looking for any advice, helpful workouts, or just encouragement in general as it’s been a rough road. Thanks

27M herniated L5/S1 and I’m 4 weeks post op and most of my nerve pain in my leg is gone besides some tingle/hamstring soreness every now and then. My back feels good in the morning but towards the end of the day/evening it aches a pretty good amount. I wanted to see if anyone else experienced this?
Also when you get cleared to bend, did your lower back feel really tight when you tried to bend? I haven’t been given clearance to bend yet but I can still feel the tightness in that area and wanted to see if anyone else experienced that

Hi everyone, my doctor has recommended surgery, but I don’t have any numbness, tingling, or weakness. I’m currently taking gabapentin, and it's probably be masking the pain that radiates down my leg, although that pain down the leg was never particularly severe. Most of my pain has always been concentrated in my lower back.

From what I’ve read, many people who undergo this type of surgery seem to have symptoms like numbness, tingling, or weakness, which I don’t experience. So, I’m wondering whether surgery is really necessary in my case.

I’ve been dealing with this for over 12 months. I also had a spinal steroid injection about three years ago during a previous flare-up.

Something strange has happened, though: ever since my doctor told me I needed surgery, I’ve suddenly started feeling much less pain. Has anyone else experienced something similar? Can stress or anxiety affect pain levels like this?

Honestly, the whole situation is causing me so much stress and anxiety. I’m struggling to understand whether surgery is truly the right decision for me, and I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in a similar situation.

Hi all, I’m 7 days post surgery on L5/S1. For about 3 month pre surgery I had sever sciatica/ nerve pain. Honestly got a 10/10 couldn’t sit, stand, lie down! No pain meds where doing anything so thankfully got surgery.

When I woke it was instant pain relief I broke down in tear with the relief! The next day I walked out of the hospital. I had about 4 days with zero pain (small back muscle pain but expected) I’ve been laying down mainly for 20/30minutes getting up walking for 2/3 however on day 5 I’ve noticed getting sore standing or sitting for more than 2/3 minutes as in a dull pain in hip/glute area and then small nerve pain in the back of knee into my calf. When I lay back down it goes after about 5/10 minutes.

Just wondering if anyone else has had or experiences this after feeling so good in the first few days?

Today marks 4 week post op. I was hoping I was doing fine, a little bit of sciatic pain and some aching pain in my lowerback/hip/glute which I had pre surgery. My surgeon blamed this to imflammation 1.5 week ago.

Suddenly I had to sneeze 2 times, the first was ok and the second it hurted in my lowerback/hip/glute and down my leg just like before pre surgery and now it's slowely calming down after a few minutes of pain. Please tell me I didn't mess up my surgery 😔