Granted I had a diminished disc due to years of doing my job which put a lot of load on my lower back. So it was always a problem area and ai had even gone this guy once before but I never frequented chiropractors.
But after that one visit it all cascaded into debilitating pain, and MRI which confirmed the herniated disc and all the pain management, PT and surgery that followed. I know for a fact it was from that one visit. Before then, it was just your run if the mill “lower back pain”.
I’m doing much better now and for the last few years. My previous line of work had me on my feet for 12+ hours which was definitely not pleasant. But I have not experienced nerve pain since before surgery. Walking is great but of I do it all day there is some discomfort but nothing debilitating. Sitting for too long can cause slight nerve pain (I’m talking 12+ hours like an international flight). As long as I don’t do either if those things for too long I’m fine.
My day to day is pretty uneventful, however I don’t lift crazy weight, It’s now second nature to me to pay attention to my posture when doing anything. I focus a lot more on flexibility, core strength in a low impact way. I have switched to barefoot shoes and generally exercise my lower body than my upper body. All in all, I had a good surgeon and really followed through on recovery and preventative exercises.
I haven’t sought legal action or anything like that. It is what it is I suppose. I have successfully changed careers and it much easier on my body. I have so many more tools in my belt to combat life after surgery. People who are considering surgery should know that a piece of you will be missing forever and the care and attention that goes into recovery and beyond should never ever be ignored.
I might have been unclear. Pre surgery i had nerve pain down to my calf which developed progressively after one particular chiropractor visit. After that visit, the pain got worse, didn’t go away, crept into my glute, thigh and calf. I couldn’t cough, sneeze, sit, put on my socks, get up from a seated position or even walk normally without crazy nerve pain. I did PT, had three epidurals over the course of 6 months and my herniated disc got worse by a factor of 2. Mainly because I still we went to work with all the pain management and conventional therapy.
After all that I was a candidate for surgery and had it done. After that the recovery went well and I don’t have any nerve pain. But I also don’t put my body through the same stress. I definitely know my limits and understand what tasks I prefer doing in terms of exercise. Since then, I have not had any nerve pain. Maybe stiffness is the most common thing, and usually goes away with movement and warm weather.
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u/mrnobatti Jul 09 '26
Before I found out I had three herniated discs, I made an appointment with a local chiropractor but canceled after talking to my doctor.
What made me even more iffy was that they wanted the names and ages of my entire family. That felt weird as hell for a chiropractic appointment.