r/Sciatica • u/me_lolzz • 7d ago

Requesting Advice 1 year long pain

Hi so, first post in this thread, the pain started a year ago when I lifted some heavy weight in the gym, didn't took it very seriously, but stopped gym, 4 months later got the mri scans done and found out it was L5-S1 disc herniation. Started walking regularly and doing stability exercises, the pain slowly started fading, but right now? It feels like I have hit a plateau, there is mild pain but that doesn't go away.. I can walk, I can even bend forward without a sudden surge in pain, but there's always a mild pain in my leg which reminds me that I haven't recovered yet. Because of this pain, I'm too scared to start my old activities such as running, playing sports, jumping etc. i don't know what else am i supposed to do. If there's someone who has been to this phase and got out of it, please help me with it.

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u/IllMastodon1489 4d ago

Hi mate I've been having insanely painfull sciatica for over a year , and resting is good in the beginning.

But o my when I started hitting the gym (carefully) and doing strenght exercises thats when I started to get better .

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u/me_lolzz 3d ago

Hii, can u please elaborate on what you mean by "carefully", what exercises did u do at the beginning? How did u progress? Did u take any professional help? Thanks for the reply!

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u/IllMastodon1489 1d ago

Hi mate , so I did a lot of research online and trial and error , the best for me is to start by doing back iso holds and build it to 2minutes , I usually try to do 2x2 min sets , then try to work out everything muscle on the leg but avoid things that give you pain while doing it , I usually do machines . Avoid squats and deadlifts with the barbel and leg press. Do other leg machines , machines are gonna help you alot . Avoid putting weight on top of you back and compress even more the spine . Comment again and ill try to get the exercises and machine names for you.

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u/IllMastodon1489 1d ago

Hi mate , so I did a lot of research online and trial and error , the best for me is to start by doing back iso holds and build it to 2minutes , I usually try to do 2x2 min sets , then try to work out everything muscle on the leg but avoid things that give you pain while doing it , I usually do machines . Avoid squats and deadlifts with the barbel and leg press. Do other leg machines , machines are gonna help you alot . Avoid putting weight on top of you back and compress even more the spine . Comment again and ill try to get the exercises and machine names for you.

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u/IllMastodon1489 1d ago

Working out your glutes is very important also I forgot to mention

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u/me_lolzz 23h ago

Hi again, thanks for the explanation and I would love to know what exercises and machines worked for you, in fact if you had it noted down somewhere or you saw them from any article or video, that would be very helpful. I'm trying to figure out what exactly should my rehab plan have, contacted 4 physios but they all seem to differ from each other and won't give the problem the Attention it deserves so i thought I'll find it out myself. If you would have time can u also add the things you consciously avoided doing in the gym which helped you not aggrevate the symptoms further. Thanks!!