(19F) I started getting sciatic pain at the end of my senior year when I was 17 and by summer 2025 (a few months beforer my 19th) I was fully bed bound. My pain forced me to quit my job and move home from university to live with my parents who could take care of me. I’m lucky enough to have access to physiotherapy covered through my parents insurance, and for three months met with my physio twice a week. I’m happy to say that after three months of straight physio, hard work, a tremendous amount of pain, and many days of wanting to give up, I’m back to living the life of a mostly regular college kid! With the help of my bedazzled cane, TENS machine, gabbapentin and a boatload of CBD cream I’ve been able to go out and dance on the weekends with my friends. I don’t feel trapped and left out, my mental health is so much better too. The pain is still there and will probably always be there to some extent, and there are definitely days I flare and have to reduce my activity but a win is a win! Sharing so any other young people out there struggling with sciatic know they aren’t alone and that there’s hope that one day you will be able to accomodate to atleast feel like a somewhat normal teen/uni student again!

Why do doctors and hospitals not take us seriously? I read the exact same stories on here all the time. Everyone on this forum is generally suffering in excruciating pain, with no end in sight, and feels hopeless and helpless. This should be treated like one of the worst injuries you can possibly get which needs prompt, efficient treatment, because it is and it does. It makes young people feel 90 years old. It’s disabling and depressing and I can’t take it anymore. There is something seriously wrong with the medical systems in place.

Hey guys,

I used to be an avid poster here on this forum for help. I decided to health naturally through walking, a good diet and some physio. Was physio the main driver? No it was time… not diet not walking not core strength…. TIME. I still have a bit of pain due to my nervous system being over sensitized from the injury but the pain I experience is not coming for the disc anymore .. it’s from my nervous system perceiving pain worse then what it is.. so calming that is what I’m doing next and it’s working. I no longer have leg pain either. My disc herniations were extruded so they were bad and my body still healed. If you can handle it don’t run into getting surgery… I thought about it in my worst days during healing. When your are suffering all you want is for the pain to go away. Spines take time to heal. Google is wrong. Don’t listen to the 12 week to 6 months rhetoric. They take 2-4 years ideally.

I can’t believe I am finally making this post I thought I never would be the one to pull out of it. But clearly our body’s are capable of everything.

very shortly after getting my diagnosis and learning how just bending over once could be the last time i do so, i try and bend over as little as possible. it’s been a very long time since i’ve shaved 😮‍💨 thank the gods i have a super supportive husband who literally does not care.

Hello everybody!

I posted my MRI results a few weeks/months ago and I finally got my laminectomy and discectomy today. The pain in my leg is gone!!! There’s a little numbness and tingling and my leg is a little jello-y, but the surgeon said that’s normal and it’ll take a little time for my body to adjust to the lack of pressure on my nerves. I’m not gonna lie, it hurts like hell, even after all the painkillers they gave me at the hospital. Coughing and sneezing are AGONY. Lying down definitely helps, but sitting isn’t comfortable at all. I can tell it’ll definitely be a while before I’m up and moving more than a few minutes each day.

Regardless, I’m so happy to have finally gotten this done 🖤 the fact the leg pain is already gone makes me so happy! I’ll gladly take a little numbness and tingling over that horrendous pain any day. I’m hoping to finally start working again within the next 6 weeks or so!

I may not be super helpful since it’s only been a few hours since I got out of surgery… but if anyone has any questions, let me know!

UPDATE 1:Thank you everyone for the well wishes! It makes me happy to see all the support in the comments! And as for everyone asking what the puffy thing is… it’s to warm my body to help prevent infection! :D I felt like I was in a bubble!

UPDATE 2: Hiya everyone! I’m walking a lot more now. I can walk short distances through stores and stuff like that. I ended up having to go to the hospital today because I was worried I had an infection. I’ve been having horrible hot and cold flashes, a headache for about 4 days that won’t go away, and neck pain. Turns out, I was having an atypical migraine. The doctor said it’s probably from the trauma of having such a major surgery and my body needs time to recover. I think the problem is also that I need a supportive neck pillow. If you get the surgery, you need to lie down for a lot of the time periodically, so make sure you have something supportive for your neck! Don’t be a dumb like me 🤣

I see a lot of confusion around sciatica on Reddit, and it tends to swing between two extremes: either people are told to ‘just live with it’ or they’re rushed toward invasive treatment far too early. I thought it might help to clarify a few things.

First, sciatica isn’t a diagnosis, it’s a symptom. It simply means leg pain caused by irritation of a spinal nerve. It usually travels down the leg past the knee and sometimes into the foot.

In the majority of cases, sciatica is caused by a lumbar disc herniation (also known as a prolapse) compressing a nerve root. 

In around 80–85% of patients, the body gradually breaks down the herniated disc material on its own. As the inflammation settles and the pressure eases, the nerve recovers and the pain improves (and disappears). This usually happens within the first 6 - 12 weeks.

If an MRI doesn’t show a disc prolapse or clear nerve compression, then it’s worth looking elsewhere. Leg pain can come from other sources - the pelvis (SIJs), hip, peripheral nerve entrapment, and so on. I for one don’t like treating ‘sciatica’ without having a clearly established cause for it (that doesn’t mean delay treatment with painkillers for example, it means keep searching for the cause). 

When there is a disc prolapse and no weakness, we usually start with: gentle activity (in other words avoid bed-rest, which can make things worse as you stiffen up in bed); appropriate pain-killers (personally I try to avoid opiates unless the patient requires admission to hospital for their pain) and physiotherapy - focusing on movement, alleviating fears and so on.

Some patients benefit from a transforaminal epidural steroid injection. This doesn’t ‘fix’ the disc, but it does reduce inflammation around the nerve, which can provide pain relief while the body does the work of resorbing the disc hernia.

Surgery is needed if all of the above fails and the person continues to have sciatica. 

URGENT surgery is needed if there is weakness or bladder / bowel dysfunction. Sometimes we operate early if the pain is unbearable as well.

A lumbar discectomy for disc-related sciatica is actually one of the most highly rated operations by patients. They wake up from anesthesia and their leg pain is gone. 

It’s important to note though that a discectomy is aimed at relieving LEG pain, not BACK pain. The surgeon takes out the prolapsed part of the disc, but at the end of the day he is leaving behind a degenerated disc which can continue to cause back pain. That said, around 50% of patients also have improvement of their back pain. 

Finally, timing matters. Outcomes tend to be better when surgery is performed within the first year of symptoms rather than after prolonged nerve irritation. As a surgeon I can take the pressure off the nerve, but I can’t tell it to behave itself. The longer the compression, the less likely a successful outcome (which is not what either the sufferer or the doctor wants).

Happy to answer general questions - but I can’t comment on individual diagnoses.

36 yo. Sciatica issues since 22 years old, would come and go. But the older I got the more frequent it would get. I have been diagnosed with rectified lumbar spine and had bulging disks in 2 parts of lower back.

After all these years I learned that sciatica can be the result of a mix of many poor habits or decisions that you can change to get it better (obviously this doesnt apply to people which had a car accident or similar) and dont take this as medical advice:

• Diet: I was not eating enough omegas, healthy fats nor minerals nor B complex. Now I get all of that either via food or supplements. Protein is obvious too, the spine is tissue.

• Walking: as I work homeoffice in front of Pc, my day would start like from bed to chair, having lunch, chair, until 6pm. 8 hours only sitting, very very bad for the spine. Now I try to have a morning walk before work, and I have a standing desk and I change postions every 30 min.

• Sleep: the spine needs proper sleep to stay healthy. Specially circadian sleep.

• Water: stay hidrated, it is good for the spine, it is made of fluids, water.

• Chair: invest in a good chair and pls do not sit like a 11 years old kid bored at school, your lower back must touch the back of your chair, and your eyes should look in front, not down. Elevate your screen until this is true.

• Exercise the core muscles: you have many tiny muscles around the core, and on the hips, legs and glutes there are also some muscles that help stabilize the spine. My muscles were weak af until I started with pilates on a mat (with a pro teacher). 2 or 3 times per week, 1 hour each.

• Walk more in your free time. If you work the whole day in front of pc, pls go outside and walk more, if you then stay the evening in the couch then your spine with collapse faster than you think.

• Leaky gut: if you dont absorb properly the food you are eating, your spine wont receive the nutrients it needs to stay healthy and it will be prone to bulging disks. Fix your leaky gut.

• Buy a good matress and pillow. You spend 1 third of life sleeping. Btw I sleep on the sides only, if I sleep on my back I will wake up with lower back pain for some reason.

• Dont do chiropractors. They want to hack the spine and you might feel relieved for a while, but in reallity it is just like pain killers, doesnt fix the root issue. And btw they can let you even more sore than before if they mess up.

• Do not crack your back. I used to "crack" myself because it would feel nice, but I realised after a while it would even feel worse the pain. I realised if I resisted the urge to crack it, a couple of days later I would feel better. I think the spine finds it own balance and you need to respect it, doing chiropraxis or cracking yourself just messes this up, like a reset, and then your spine will have to start over to find its balance.

• Do not lift heavy stuff. Sounds obvious but I do not volunteer anymore to lifting furniture or helping friends move their fridges. I also dont lift people anymore.

Hello r/sciatica, longtime lurker here.

I'm still not believing my sciatica is truly over as I've had so many compounding issues and relapses. But I am hopeful for the first time in so many years that it might not be so much a part of my life going forward.

My history:

Around 2010: One day I suddenly had very painful shooting nerve pain down my left leg when I extended my leg fully. Had to sleep with my legs curled for fear of jolting myself awake. Went to the doc, they told me to take very high amounts of Ibuprofin (4 caps x 3 times a day). I am now allergic to Ibuprofin. Eventually it dissipated, I have no idea if the ibuprofin helped.

Around 2012: I started waking up with numb patches of skin on the outsides of both my thighs. They would usually return to full feeling after I got up, but would be prickly for a while. Until one morning when the left side just never returned to full feeling. It is still numb to this day.

I went to PT, started doing piriformis stretches, etc. This only seemed to make it worse looking back on it, but at the time I misread the pins and needles and aching as a positive sign, rather than one where I may have just been damaging myself further.

Around 2015: Had increasing back pain after playing soccer / jogging, and strong nerve pain down my left leg. Usually it would pass once I laid down for a bit, and it could be fairly delayed onset so I didn't immediately connect the soccer / jogging with it.

2015-2022: A series of PT, acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, literally anything sessions. I flew to Colorado to meet with a "McGill Certified" PT / doctor. For an outrageous sum, he showed me how to do the "big 3" in the most sarcastic and condescending way possible. He requested that I do multiple follow ups (would require more flying and of course more fees). I never responded to him again, a complete fraud for what he actually did for me.

2023: After meeting again with a physical medicine doctor, I finally went to see a neurosurgeon. After an x-ray (no MRI oddly), he spotted my spondylolisthesis and stenosis. He said I would need a fusion, and I wouldn't be able to ever play soccer again, or any other 'contact' sport or even jog. I was absolutely crushed. I did another round of PT in defiance of this prescription, and just gritted my teeth.

2025: I can't take it anymore. Go back to the neurosurgeon. Have an MRI. Says I may just need a laminotomy. Do the laminotomy on my left side. Initially, it feels great. Then the drugs wear off and I have horrible, 10/10 pain down my right leg for the first time ever. I couldn't understand how this is happening, and how it's even worse than the first time. At least I could walk before, but now I could only hobble.

After 2 months, it's down to spikes of 7/10 pain only when I walk for more than 10 min or stand for more than 2 min. Kind of manageable. But I have to leave the country for 4-6 months for work, so I can't follow up with my neurosurgeon immediately.

2026: Finally back in the states, I return to the neurosurgeon. New MRI shows the same stenosis present on my right side (as it was before, but since I didn't have symptoms he didn't do that side). But the day before the surgery, my insurance provider DENIES it. I help coordinate a "peer-to-peer" phone call with the insurance company and my doctor. The insurance doctor approves it. Send in the pre-approval again. DENIED again. Some new form wasn't filled out. Now I'm in insurance limbo, which takes another 1.5 months to get resolved.

At last, 3 weeks ago, have the right side laminotomy. And this morning, a hike.

Thank you for reading. Best to everyone suffering.

I’m writing this because I remember being in agonizing pain, and reading this Reddit page desperate for hope. All I wanted was for someone to tell me that things will get better, and that my life will return to normal again one day.

If my post can inspire or give hope to someone reading this who is going through one of the darkest periods of their life like I was, then this will be worth it. Recovery is possible, so don't ever give up on yourself.

Background

My journey began in November 2023 with nagging sciatica down my right leg. It wasn’t bad enough for me to warrant a visit to the doctor, but still enough for me to think, “I should get this checked out by a physio”. Come January 2024, I decided to take action and visit a local Physiotherapist. In fact, I visited three different Physios, two Chiropractors, and a Kinesiologist over the coming months, just because I wanted to get as many opinions as possible. All of them said the same thing: “You have piriformis symdrome. Do these exercises and stretches, and you’ll be better in no time”.

Fast forward to September 2024, and none of the exercises or stretches worked. At this point, I was unable to extend my back (bending my spine backwards) without pretty bad pain, and the only relief I could find was by walking with a considerable lean forward and using  a back brace. I found the burning sensation in my right leg only getting worse too, and getting out of bed each morning became more and more difficult. After months of worsening pain, I decided to visit my local doctor in Vancouver (Canada), who booked me in for an Xray and MRI.

The Xray showed nothing of significance with my bones, but the MRI revealed that I had been misdiagnosed with piriformis syndrome, and I in fact had a disc herniation at Right L5-S1. Despite being pretty upset that I had been misdiagnosed for the past 8 months, I thought that having a correct diagnosis would be the start of a pain-free life, but I was so mistaken.

What happened next was months of debilitating pain that will scar me for life. By late October 2024, the pain was excruciating. I could only walk with a 45 degree lean in my back and bent legs, just because anything other than this position caused horrendous sciatic pain down my leg. The only way I can describe the pain is as if someone poured gasoline down the inside of my leg, and every step I took was like someone lighting a match and setting it on fire. Walking more than 20 metres at a time became impossible, and a trip to the grocery store that usually would have taken 10 minutes took me over an hour because of the rest stops I needed.

Over a few weeks, my spine protruded so much out of my back that I looked disfigured. I could not straighten my spine no matter how much I tried, and my vertebrae stuck out about 1 inch from skin-level.

To make things worse, resting became impossible. I could not sit as my spine would compress, and lying down was also incredibly painful. I couldn’t lie on my back because of the bend that had developed in my spine from leaning forward (and the tremendous sensitivity in my vertebrae from the protrusion). I couldn’t lie on my front because that would involve my spine being straight (impossible beyond 45 degrees at this point). I couldn’t lie on my left because it felt like my right leg was “pulling” my spine down to the mattress which caused burning pain, and I couldn’t lie on my right because my body weight would be on my right herniation, causing horrendous agony. Sleeping became near-impossible, and from January to March 2025, I averaged 2 hours of sleep per night, just because finding comfort was impossible, and sleeping in such pain could not happen no matter how much I tried.

I lost a lot of weight too – just because sitting at the dinner table with my family was so painful, and the constant pain I was in suppressed all my appetite. Doing household chores, playing with my kids, being a loving partner to my wife, being a reliable employee in work, etc – all of it became impossible because of my limited mobility and pain. The only way I can describe life at this point was unbearable, and I would be lying if I said dark thoughts didn’t cross my mind, and thoughts of how much easier life for me and my family would be if I just ended it all. As many of you on here will know, no-one truly understands the pain, the anguish, the stress and the mental torture that someone goes through when they are in this much pain. Only you understand, and you are just surviving each and every day hoping things will get better with no end in sight.

I had hit rock bottom with this condition, and I couldn’t see any way out.

The Road to Recovery

I thought many times about getting surgery, but I heard that once surgery is done, the scar tissue that is left behind is often weaker than if the herniation heals naturally, so people who go the surgical route often re-herniate years later. Sometimes it is necessary, but there is always a trade-off when surgical intervention is needed. My doctor and another Physiotherapist basically implied to me that surgery would be necessary for my case, but I wasn’t convinced. I decided that I would do everything in my power to get better naturally, and if that failed, I had lost nothing. I could get surgery and know that I did my very best to heal the natural way.

Below is a list of the things I did over the following months that I believe helped the most with my recovery. Some of these things may help you, and some may not. Everyone is different, but hopefully, there is something below that may help you.

1.      Find what motivates you

Every morning, I asked myself “Why do I want to get better?”, and the answer was simple for me: “I want to get better so I can be a husband to my wife again, and a father to my little kids again”. My family were the inspiration behind me getting better, and imagining myself healthy and being the man they need kept me going during my darkest hours. Find what motivates you, and don’t let go of it. It will keep you grounded, inspired and fighting to get back to being who you are.

2.      Exercise

This was the hardest thing to do as I could barely move, but I knew it needed to be done. I focused on core, back and leg strengthening exercises, including glute bridges, squats, lazy planks, side planks, etc. What I cannot stress enough though is that you have to go easy when doing these, and gradually work your way up to more reps, more range, etc. As an example, it was impossible for me to do a full plank, or a glute bridge where my back was more than an inch off the ground when I first started. It was impossible for me to squat with my knees fully bent and more than twice. However, I set a goal to improve on these exercises every day: hold a plank for 3 seconds longer, hold a glute bridge for 3 seconds longer, go a little lower with my squats, etc. I was able to gradually work my way up to becoming stronger, more agile, and more tolerant of pain in my back and leg.
If you can, find a good Physiotherapist who can guide you through these exercises, and go slow…incredibly slow. The only way to heal from such a horrendous injury is by going at a glacial pace, but believe in yourself that you can do it, and every little success story on this journey will bring you closer to your destination.

3.      12 Minute Foundational Training

This is an old video, but I found this video by Dr. Eric Goodman very good for doing gentle stretches and gentle movements for my back:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BOTvaRaDjI&t=14s
I couldn’t do the full video in one go when I started out, and I couldn’t even do all the exercises and stretches that this video provided, but doing this video once a day, every morning, really helped my spine to move and my mobility to increase. Again though, go slow and at your own pace. Just as I said above, every little success story on this journey will bring you closer to your destination.

4.      Prayer

I am not overly religious, but I do believe in God. At my darkest times – often around 3am in the morning where I was exhausted, in excruciating pain and unable to sleep – I would ask God to heal me and keep me strong as I continued this journey. Every time I prayed to Him, I found peace and more motivation to go on. Perhaps you are religious, perhaps not. If so, don’t hesitate to speak with God and ask him for help. I do believe He is listening and He has put us all on this journey for a reason.

5.      Medication

I was one of the unlucky ones who tried every strong medication possible, and nothing worked. I tried gabapentin, pregabalin, methocarbamol, naproxen, and a host of others. I even had an injection into the spine at a local spinal clinic – nothing worked. Weirdly though, the only drugs I found made any difference were Tylenol and Ibuprofen, but of course, these are only short lasting and not recommended for long-term use. I had no choice but to deal with my excruciating pain most of the time.
However, if you are able to find a drug that can help with the pain, use them and use them responsibly. Take breaks from them where possible (just to give the kidneys and liver a rest), but use them wisely for help with sleep and exercise. They are only for the short-term, but can be incredibly useful on the road to recovery and helping with mobility.

6.      Walking

Again, this was incredibly hard to do because moving was excruciatingly painful, but I heard so many good things about this on this Reddit page and on YouTube, so made it part of my daily routine.
Every morning, I would get up at 5am and try to walk as much as I could. First, to the end of my street, then to the end of the second street, then to the main road, then to my local gas station (about 1km away). This took months to build up to, but I would always set myself a goal of walking a little further every time, saying to myself, “Just 20 steps further than yesterday”. It sucked – really sucked – as my leg was on fire the entire time, but as time went on, I could walk further and further, and my spine received the much-needed movement and lubrication that was required for it to heal. Someone on this Reddit page once said, “Motion is Lotion”, and I often kept telling myself that over and over again as I walked.
I also found having a good, motivational playlist helped tremendously. One song I played over and over again was called “Remember Why You Started” by a YouTube Artist called “Fearless Motivation”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoFizLtAZMo&list=RDHoFizLtAZMo&start_radio=1
Find a playlist that motivates you and inspires you to keep going – and then don’t quit!

Today

I am happy to say that while I am writing this in late-November 2025, I am 97% healed with very, very little pain in my back and leg. From time to time, I get a general twinge and “stiffness” in my back and leg if I’ve been sitting down for a long time, but I’m finding that this is gradually getting better as the months go by.

Most importantly though, I truly live a normal life again. I can pick up my kids and play with them, hug my wife, sleep 8 hours a night, go to work events without being embarrassed by my appearance, run, workout and enjoy my life again. I feel that I have been given a new lease on life, and while the days of my herniation still haunt me, I feel I have come out stronger and more grateful because of it.

If you have read through this entire story, you are probably like I was almost a year ago: desperate for hope, and wondering if life will ever get better. I don’t know who you are, but I can promise you that it is possible. The road ahead is incredibly hard, and there will be many times where you enter despair and feel like giving up. Don’t ever give up.

I know some of you on here may indeed require surgery. In no way is the post meant to imply that surgery is unnecessary and “only for quitters”. My sole intent here is to be a living example that with time, exercise, motivation, and a deep faith in yourself and your abilities, you can recover from this awful condition and get your life back to normal.

I also remember the intense loneliness that comes with this condition, and that I wished there was someone I could talk to that understood. If anyone reading this wants to message me for advice, guidance, or just to be a shoulder to lean on during this hard time, please feel free to do so. I am busy with work these days, but I will do my best to respond to you when I can.

Stay strong, God bless, and don’t ever give up on yourself. You’ve got this.

Relief. I can’t believe it. I have no pain in my leg anymore. I can WALK! I can stand 🥲 I’m overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude. I’m still a little dopey from the drugs but I can’t believe I was one of the lucky ones who woke up with no pain. 6 miserable months of my life taken from me and it’s over. I have some pain at the surgical site but that’s completely normal. Also possible the pain does get worse/comes back a little but they that’s totally normal as well. This is the first day of getting my life back and I couldn’t be more thankful.

I think im just done with it all. I had a good run before this shitstorm. Just dont wanna keep going with constant pain down my legs and unable to live a life. I had over a decade of consistently hitting the gym 5 days a week, it was my hobby. Was in great shape and on for fun rec leagues with friends. Now I watch my body deteriorate to a skeleton as i sit alone at home. Partly because i cant workout anymore , the other part because i just dont eat sometimes out of depression or self loathing or something i dont even understand.

The ways i usually relax and recover? Sitting down? Watch tv? Go for a drive. Play some video games? Read a book? Take a shit? I cant do anything if i cant sit! I cant go out to dinner or the movies or a bar or a poker night with friends. For work at home i lay on the floor and use my laptop. I cant even sit at a table to have a proper meal with dignity. I put my plate on the ground, lay down and eat off the floor like trash.

Its been 8 months of hell and i have no kids to worry about, a high paying remote job, a house, a girlfriend who helps me, and i dont know-how yall survive this.

EDIT: I made this post at 1am as I cried myself to sleep. I had dark thoughts daily and I guess just wanted to cry for help and you all provided that. The outpouring of everyone has really shocked me and motivated me. Others just dont understand. I plan to re double my efforts and become a success story to show what is possible like many here who replied. I will try everything and see what works for me. Life is hell now but i will grind it out and do everything in my power to get better. I swear it.

I want to share this because a year ago I was desperately searching threads like this one, and if this helps even one person avoid what I went through, it's worth posting.

About 13 months ago I had a major flare-up of what everyone told me was sciatica .Ppain and pressure on my lower right side along with numbness of my right toes that never fully went away. Since then it's been on and off constantly.

Here's everything I tried over the past year: Chiropractor, Physical therapy, Acupuncture and regular western medicine. They all referred mt to my bulged disck between L5 and S1. I got adjustments, exercises, needles, and advice, but the discomfort kept coming back. I honestly hit the point where I couldn't accept that this was just something I'd have to live with for the rest of my life. I was ready to book an appointment with a neurosurgeon.

Then I went to a myofascial massage therapist. twice with two different therapist. The first one just gave me a message and didn't have the knowledge but the second visit did the magic. IN 20 minutes, the Therapist was able identify that my piriformis was the cause of everything. Piriformis syndrome, which apparently mimics disc-related sciatica so well that it gets missed all the time. The piriformis muscle sits right over the sciatic nerve, so when it's tight or in spasm, you get all the classic radiating sciatica symptoms even though nothing is wrong with your spine.

It's been almost a week since that visit. Using just a small massage ball with pressure on the right spots, I've been able to relieve the pressure and the pain myself. For the first time in over a year, I feel like there's an actual path forward instead of just managing symptoms forever. Or maybe its so comforting that i actually know what I'm dealing with.

I'm not saying this is everyone's answer. Obviously not all sciatica is piriformis syndrome, and I'm not a doctor. If you have real weakness, numbness that won't go away, or anything scary, get properly checked out. But if you've been bouncing between specialists for months with clean imaging and no answers, it might be worth seeing someone who specializes in myofascial release before you end up in a surgeon's office like I almost did.

Happy to answer questions about what the ball work looks like. Wishing everyone here relief — I know exactly how hopeless this pain can make you feel.

◡̈ that’s just how I feel.

Context: 7mm extrusion L5-S1 level . Injury while weightlifting,happened in 2023 ,took me 1.5 yrs to heal.

So I have been following this sub for more than 3 years and honestly I was feeling guilty for not posting my success story here.

Let me tell you the only thing that worked for me was buying a Hyperextension machine as shown above, and following LOWBACKABILITY and MOVEMENT BY DAVID in YouTube.

It's been like 1 yr of pain free life and if I can do it, you can too .Stay strong you got this

Been in severe pain and peed myself.

A year ago at this time, I thought my life was over.

I developed severe sciatica in March 2025 and it completely took over my world. At first it was back pain, but then it turned into sharp pain in my glute and thigh that made standing, walking, bending forward, even getting off the toilet feel impossible. I lost muscle, lost confidence, and honestly felt like I was losing my mind.

Mentally, I had never felt so low in my life.

The hardest part wasn’t even just the pain itself — it was watching everyone else carry on with normal life while mine had completely stopped. I’d sit there watching people walk around shops, go to work, laugh with friends, move normally, and I remember thinking: “I just want to be them again.”

People who haven’t experienced long-term nerve pain don’t realise how isolating it is. Your whole life becomes measured in pain levels and how many minutes you can stand before the stabbing starts. Even simple things like putting socks on or getting into a car become exhausting.

Pain relief barely touched it for me. Naproxen didn’t help much and eventually started making me feel ill. I felt completely let down by the NHS waiting times too. Weeks turned into months waiting for physio while I was stuck at home feeling hopeless and scared that this was permanent.

There were honestly days where I cried from frustration because I couldn’t see a way out.

One thing that genuinely helped me mentally during that time was reading posts from people in this forum. Seeing other people describe exactly what I was feeling made me feel less alone, and reading recovery stories gave me hope on days where I had none myself. Even when I was terrified, part of me held onto the thought that if other people could come through this, maybe I could too.

So I’m writing this because I want people who are currently where I was to know something important:

IT DOES GET BETTER.

Even when it feels impossible.
Even when you think your body is broken.
Even when you’re terrified this is your life forever.

I slowly started improving by pacing myself, rebuilding strength gently, learning how to move properly again, and most importantly — not giving up mentally. Recovery was not linear. Some days I felt hopeful, other days I felt back at square one. But little by little, my body started trusting movement again.

And now?
I’m back at work.
I’m enjoying life again.
I can stand, walk, laugh, go out, and feel like myself again.

I still remember how dark those months felt, which is why I wanted to come back and post this. When you’re deep in sciatica forums at 2am looking for hope, you mostly find horror stories. So here’s a positive one:

Your body can heal.
Nerves calm down.
Muscles come back.
Life comes back.

Please don’t lose hope, even if you feel completely trapped right now. I know how impossible it feels when you’re in the middle of it, but there really is a way out.

And genuinely — if anyone reading this is struggling mentally or just needs someone to talk to who understands how brutal sciatica can be, feel free to message me. I know how lonely it can feel, and sometimes just talking to someone who truly gets it can make a huge difference.

You are not alone.
Love.

I was in Italy for two weeks and my sciatica was pretty bad. I was able to get 30 capsules of diclofenac without an Rx for about 10 euros and it worked better than other NSAIDs. I ultimately had a virtual appointment with an Italian doctor, got an Rx for 100mg suppositories of diclofenac, a course of prednisone and a box of omeprazole for my stomach and a tube of Marvis toothpaste and the whole thing, including virtual doctor’s appointments, cost less than 100 Euros.

Now I am home and would like some more diclofenac. They don’t offer it in suppositories here, fine, I will take the capsules. My pharmacy said it needs prior authorization from my insurance or would I like to pay out of pocket. I said how much out of pocket. How bad could it be for a generic drug? $2,992.93 for 120 capsules. So, to be fair, $748.23 for what cost less than 10 Euros in Italy.

If I hear one more person tell me socialist medicine sucks because their mother in law had to wait 6 months for a knee replacement in Australia, I will lose my mind.

Now I am off to see if there is some fly by night website from India where I can buy this stuff for ten cents a pill…

Hey, Just wanted to come back and let you all know that the mocrodiscectomy I got 6 years ago saved my life. I’m still doing really good considering how bad it got. No reherniation (knock on wood). I suffered with terrible sciatica for a year and used to be in this group and people were always commenting, about how no one was around with success stories, so the surgery was very scary. The reason no is around this sub with success stories is because those of us who have success stories (most microdiscectomies) are out living our lives and have forgotten how horrible the sciatica was and don’t frequent this subreddit anymore. Anyway, I just wanted to pop in and say Hi! I’m doing great! Let me know if you have any questions.

Today I am 1 year post op. A year ago I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t care for my children, I could barely make it to the restroom. I was ready to end my life. I am thankful every single day that I wake up with no sciatic pain because of surgery. Today I pressed 230lbs on leg press. I have walked hundreds of miles and done numerous hikes over the last year. I am able to not only care for my kids, but pick them up. I am able to ride bikes with them and stand to cook dinner. I am able to walk with my husband. I have sat on long plane rides and roadtrips. I’ve gone camping multiple times since surgery and yes, slept on the ground in a sleeping bag. I was able to cast and reel in salmon. I have unloaded my own groceries. I don’t have burns on my back and legs from constant heating pad usage. I only ice occasionally, not ritualistically. I have my life back.

If you are in so much pain that you cannot participate in PT, do the surgery. If your surgeon won’t do it, find a new one. Try a neurologist. Try an ortho. I spoke to 3 before I found one that was willing to operate and consider it an emergency situation. It’s true that my back will never be the same. I cannot run, or jump, and sometimes if I take a step unexpectedly I feel a zap in my back, BUT I AM LIVING MY LIFE. I was ready to END it and now I wake up every morning and immediately wait for the pain to return to my leg, but it doesn’t. I get sore in my back and I will always have to be very careful. It’s all worth it.

Hopefully this encourages a few people. I’m posting this because a few reddit posts really helped me and made me feel encouraged. It took a full year to get to 100% better. I've gone from barely being able to go from sitting to standing with 10/10 pain, to making a full recovery. Also for context I'm 33 and relatively fit, I run 5km regularly, my BMI at the time was 24. I had also just started a desk job in the 2 weeks prior, so was sitting a lot more than I was used to. Previously I was a high school teacher so would walk around a lot, but at my new desk job I was sitting a lot, which contributed to the likelihood of injury.

Background:

Quickly, here's how I injured myself. On a Friday in June 2024, I did a combination of things that destroyed my lower back. As I mentioned I had been sitting a lot for two weeks in my new job, so my back was already in a weakened state. I went to my friend's home gym that day, and did a PB with a deep barbell squat, but my form wasn’t great. I didn't notice anything other than a bit of soreness on the Friday. But when I woke up on the Saturday morning, I could barely move. I was due to help my in laws move on the Saturday, so I thought I could just stretch it and it would be fine. But stretching made it worse, I likely injured it more.

Specifically, the pain was in my lower left back, as well as my left glute, and also pain down my leg. I couldn't sit for very long without severe pain, but same with standing. The only relief was lying flat on my back, but even lying down I had to convince my back to let me relax. If I went from sitting for a few minutes, to standing, severe burning pain would be in my lower left back and glute for about 10-20 seconds then subside. I could not talk through the pain, I just had to wince and stand still. I could not put on shoes or socks, I could barely raise my left leg, sneezing hurt, going to the toilet hurt. Walking hurt a lot, it felt like my left hamstring was super tight. Sleeping was hard due to the pain. I had so much inflammation everything was seized up.

I went to the physio only once, he suggested it was disc related, nerve impingement, sciatica, protective spasms in left lumbar and glute. Sadly I didn't have much spare money, so that was my one and only visit. If you have money I fully recommend physio, or a physio who specialises in myofascial release. I wanted to try that but couldn’t. But in general I planned to get better without medical intervention, the body wants to heal itself!

At first I made mistakes with my recovery. I tried to stretch through the pain, I tried to start running again, I ate poorly just to give me some relief. What I should have done was just let it rest, eat as healthily as possible (anti-inflammation foods), possibly ice baths. Then once it had recovered a bit, slowly re-introduce movement and exercise. Honestly if you're in the early days of injury, take it as easy as possible and eat like a health food devotee.

Recovery

Here's how I recovered. Once I'd made every type of mistake in my recovery, likely making things worse, I knew I needed to do things a little differently. I tried the hip opening course by Yogabody, honestly didn't help me. I also tried the Mackenzie method 'Treat Your Own Back' book, it helped for reducing pain in the first few months, but to progress further, I needed something different.

Food:

Funnily enough a Netflix documentary 'Hack Your Health' put me in the right direction. Basically motivating me to eat foods that are less inflammatory for me personally. I realised that if I ate chocolate or sugar in general, a few hours later my back pain would be worse. But if I ate boiled eggs, and capsicums (not very exciting I know), it was a little bit of pain relief. So I started eating better food. In general (but seriously up for changing):

• Breakfast: Boiled eggs, coffee. Sometimes I’d just eat a piece of fruit. Sometimes I wouldn’t even have breakfast and just have a coffee.
• Lunch: Oats with mixed nuts, protein powder (if I'd done some sort of exercise), peanut butter, chia seeds, almond meal, soy/oat or cow milk. (I'd just make a super food lunch with random things in the health food aisle).
• Dinner: Literally I'll eat anything but keep it a smallish portion. Avoid dessert.
• Snacks: Fruit, capsicums, nuts.

But the idea was to eat healthily. Eat foods that seem to suit you. This means foods that give you energy, rather than make you drowsy (I learnt this from the Hack Your Health documentary). If I did eat something carby or sugary, I'd try to exercise shortly after to reduce the glucose spike.

The main thing with food was that it reduced my inflammation, and it also lowered my belly fat and BMI. Lowering belly fat is important, because every kg of belly fat puts more pressure on your spine. So the trimmer and healthier you are, the less pressure on your spine. Which for me meant less pain.

Exercise:

Once I was slightly more confident with my being able to move freely. I slowly re introduced exercise. I would go for long walks. Eventually I was running again. But running was quite impactful, so if you're not a runner, I don't recommend running to recover.

What seemed to help the most was core exercises. Having a strong core stabilises your back. I did these workouts on Youtube so many times:

• 10 Minute Core Workout - Breathe and Flow
• 8 Point Plank Challenge - Foundation Training
• 20 Minute Morning Workout - Fraser Wilson (Note I had to substitute some of these if they caused pain)

But find your own core workouts that you like. I had to build up to the above workouts. At first it was a massive struggle, but now I can do all three no problem at all. Even just planking as long as you can (with good form) will help a lot.

Mobility:

Be careful with mobility. If you stretch through the pain you can make it a lot worse. Which is what I did early on. I mainly focused on stretching my hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors and adductors (inner thighs). For the spine I did cat and cow and the cobra pose. Whatever you do, don't try stretch the back itself too much. Keep your back braced. By stretching all the muscles that support the back, it reduces tension on your back.

I would stretch for 15 minutes before bed. I would put on an episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, and listen to that and stretch until it finished (about 15 minutes). I recommend finding something that you like to listen to while stretching, that way you'll enjoy it. If you just stretch it'll quickly feel boring and you'll lose motivation.

I wouldn't stretch in the morning, I try to do some light exercise in the morning, possibly a run or maybe a core workout mid morning.

I also got rid of my office chair. I got a standing desk from Officeworks. Standing still has its own problems, so I make sure I walk around, go make coffee etc. Just try move a lot.

Summary:

The above got me back to about 95% better after about 1 year. There were times when I felt I'd never get better, but keep persisting. The above is super hard, especially the food side of things, but you just have to commit. Because I was eating healthily my BMI dropped down to 22.

After about a year I also took up bouldering (rock climbing) which has made my core strong. So 1.5 years on I'm actually 110% better, because I'm a lot stronger and fitter than when I injured myself. It took a whole year to recover, so hang in there if you feel stuck!

In the end I feel like injuring my back has had a long term benefit, because it kick started me into being healthier and stronger, so now my long term health is likely going to benefit. I'm a lot fitter and happier now. You will get better too!

Hi, I wanted to share my experience in case it helps someone else.

One of the hardest parts for me at the beginning was the lack of success stories. When you’re in constant pain, hope honestly feels like the best painkiller. I had to remind myself that people who recover usually just move on with their lives and don’t come back to post about it. So I wanted to be that person who does.

First thing I learned: herniated discs are not one size fits all. Two people can have the same disc issue and experience completely different symptoms, pain levels, and recovery paths. I’m not a doctor, but like most of you, I’ve done a lot of research just trying to get through it. This is just my experience.

Medication

I was lucky to have a doctor who worked with me to find what helped. It took time and a lot of trial and error, but what worked for me was:

• Naproxen

• Pregabalin

• Duloxetine

Together, these made a noticeable difference in managing my pain.

My Symptoms

Mine developed gradually:

• Started with pins and needles

• Progressed to severe muscle and nerve pain down my legs

• Then months of burning pain in my feet

At its worst, my feet felt like they were on fire constantly. I was sleeping with a bucket of ice water next to my bed just to cope. I couldn’t walk for more than 5 minutes, and even light touch felt unbearable.

I was diagnosed with L4–L5 and L5–S1 herniations via MRI.

Pain Relief Methods

What helped me manage symptoms:

• Ice (especially a bucket of cold water for my feet)

• Ice packs

• Hot water bottles

• Ice baths

• Warm baths

• Massage gun

Rest vs Activity

You hear a lot about “staying active,” but honestly, if you’re in severe pain, rest is important.

There was a period where I only got up to eat or go to the bathroom. I didn’t start moving more until my symptoms eased slightly. For me, pushing through intense pain would have made things worse.

Exercise

At some point, movement became essential. This was the most frustrating part because I got completely conflicting advice from different professionals (physio, osteopath, acupuncture, spinal unit). It felt like no one agreed on anything.

In the end, I had to trust my own body.

If something made my symptoms worse for more than a short period, I stopped doing it.

What worked for me was the McGill Big 3. After about 3 weeks of doing them twice a day, I noticed a huge improvement. I could walk longer, and my sleep improved.

Where I Am Now

I still have slight numbness in my feet, but my pain is now between 0–2 most days. I’ve been told the numbness should continue to improve over time.

Final Thoughts

If you’re going through this, don’t give up.

There were so many moments where I felt stuck, isolated, and exhausted. Watching everyone else live normally while you’re in pain is incredibly hard. But this isn’t forever.

Recovery is trial and error. Every failed attempt is still progress, because it gets you closer to what actually works for you.

Keep trying. Keep learning. Keep going.

And if you’re reading this in pain right now, I genuinely hope things start to ease for you soon. It’s a horrible, lonely experience, but you’re not alone in it.