I feel for you brotha, I was hit by a semi truck on the interstate twice, into the cement median, then pushed on top amd drug 378ft with a light pole every 100 ft. Anyways I had a bone spur pressing on a nerve prior to that , and that was excruciating at times, my arm would go numb it felt like the pain was under my shoulder blade and I did deep tissue massage for a while to help but they didn't last long so I went to injections which for me didn't much at all, my cousin would get one and be good for 6 .oaths +, anyways after accident I had to have a cervical surgery because I herniated a few disc, but I also herniated several disc down the rest of my spine. Physical therapy and injections worked pretty well. I have o e now thats bothering me , ill be fine then bend down and can't stand back up and once I do I'm in non stop pain. It's literally hard to walk at all, but luckily once I'm moving a bit it eases up. I had so many injections in my spine in a short period they told me I needed at least a year off or they would cause more damage than good. I also habe all sorts of other issues with my back besides the herniated disc's, bulging disc's, and a bunch of other shit I can't think of. I tried muscle relaxers for a while but they started to give me an ulcer. I found that real, tested, full spectrum cbd oil helped some, and I even started eating edibles at night to sleep. I have since stopped. But they are legal in my state rec and medical.
I also tried Amy red strain kratom for when pain is at its absolute worst and you can't stand it but I believe they ate addicting the sane as opiates, well maybe not as much, I had a buddy who lost his leg above his knee and his prosthetic was always causing problems with bone chips etc so his doc had him taking over 20 x 10mg percocet a day and he was buying them. I gave him a bottle of kratom out of concern for his life and he has never touched another prescription pain med. He does still take the red strain kratom very day but in much smaller doses and he doesn't seem to build any tolerance to th, this is just what I see, he could be taking twice as many when I'm not right there but honestly he thanked me for giving him a bottle, he says it saved his life. You can buy it cheap at some shops and try different brands I believe he takes a brand called Krave, it's a red Bali or red something. Now I'm not recommending it because I haven't done enough research to know if it's addictive but I know I keep a bottle around and only take 3 caps when I can't stand the pain. The bottle says to take 5, make sue if you get it, either get caps or make you own because the taste is awful like nothing I've ever tasted before. You can buy a kilo for cheap and just cap them.
Anyway my buddy who had his leg amputated is still a competitive bdy builder and does well.
But this is about herniated disc's. I've found that once I went thru Physical therapy, which was mostly lifting weights and some other things I started to feel great again. So I make sure to keep my back strong but I had to lower the weight and increase the reps and sets, and form is so important in this situation, if your form is bad you will likely injur yourself more. I had to cut out dead lifts, I can still squat but I use a bit lighter wight and I actually just tore my achilles tendon twice , not a full rupture, and one other in my foot, was jn a boot all last summer and then Physical therapy again. I still can't run normal and I have pain in my heels that feels like I'm walking on sharp rocks all day, but that's tendons. I guess mg point is once you go thru the processes with your Dr, decide if you need surgery or if it can be healed by PT, sounds like you messed it up pretty bad to be on crutches. I know my posture improved 100% which helps me, but working out after PT has kept me going and in shape enough to feel comfortable, I didn't have to give up lifting. I used sone peptides, test, deca., gh and I feel better all the time but I did something at work to make this one disc hurt like no other. So I'm going to go back to the doc get a referal, get an mri and see where I stand. I had some nerve damage in the spine as well and I read somewhere that the combination action of test and gh can help regrow those nerves, I can't prove its doing anything but I know I can't keep going like I am with this disc that's causing all my problems now, I'm not sure which one it is but it's in my lower spine and I can feel bone on both sides off it. It's actually not to far from my ass Crack to be blunt. But I feel for you brotha. Find a good back Dr who doesn't immediately just say surgery or if he does just get a second opinion to be sure. The Dr who did my cervical surgery is a well know neurosurgeon in my area he has a 5 story building that's just his, but Includes PT, pain management, a super nice gym with a pool. I spent a lot of time doing PT in the pool at the end of my therapy. It's great, it releves the pressure from your body weight. My wife also bought me this machine that I thought was a $300 pice of junk I can't remember the name of it but it basically moves in different patterns, your legs go on top and it lifts your lower back slightly off the ground and that thing is great. It's helped my back a lot. I'll try to get the nand and repost it here, but I believe it s for lower back issues. Best of luck to you, don't give up on lifting, it's going to be your savior but right now I'd get with drs and see if you have to have surgery or PT and after you can start to see what you can do just be careful. I hope to hear everything goes well for you and I'm wishing you the best, I have a tens unit I never used, I have a couple back braces that were more uncomfortable than anything. PT, I junctions, possibly surgery are going to be your best route, and I'd get some Krave red vein kratom from a smoke shop for when you can't stand the pain. Just be careful with them and only take 3 caps the first time even though it says 5, it took all my pain away but it also Madd me feel high like pain meds. So be very careful if you try that. Good cbd oil. An get expensive, like $80 for a couple oz bottle and that just helps relax some it definitely won't take the pain away. It sounds like your taking the right steps but I only read your original post so I hope things are getting better tor you but trust me they will one way or another. Guys who lift commonly get these injuries but so do those outside the gym the majority of the time. Keep pushing and you will get their brotha, if I dig out my mri paperwork I'll list all the problems with my back and I'm only in my 40's but I have degenerative disc disease and all kinds of shit. I put it out of my head and I am able to get in and work out but this new injury has had me out of the gym on and off for almost a month I thought I coulfix it but I'm going back to the Dr's on this one. Take care man.