Herniated disk

NOSUPERMODEL · Oct 2, 2014

Well I have a herniated disk between my L4 and L5. Shooting pain down my left leg. Anybody got any suggestions on healing up quickly? Any peptides that might help? HGH?

todkbear · Oct 2, 2014

I had herniated L4 - L5 and L5 - S1 (sharp pain down my leg, tingling in my foot, unable to move without pain). An epidural, rest, ice and walking worked. Neither Peptides or GH are not gonna help. Look up Stuart McGill and follow some of his exercises after taking some time off. Herniated discs don't heal fast. Sorry.

NOSUPERMODEL · Oct 2, 2014

Thats the kind of pain I have in my leg.

HammerT1 · Oct 2, 2014

A good physical therapist. There is a protocol for stretches relating to low back/discs that can be done at home too. I don't recall what name is. I will look later when I get a chance. I blew em out 6 years ago and its been a nightmare ever since. But, from what all the docs and therapists said I was in the unlucky minority.

Cobraman · Oct 2, 2014

I have suffered through back pain w/ degenerative disk disease and spinal stenosis for years. Most of my problems are work related(Dentist since 1991, been hunched over 10+ hours/day for 23 years) Have tried just about everything including physical therapy, diet, chiropractic, etc. Do not like the long term stats on surgery so leaving that as final option. I recently came across a website from a former engineer who has a health and a bible website called biblelife.org. He has a book about reversing heart disease w/ diet, and that said diet is the same for degenerative disk disease. It is essentially a strict low carb diet which will elininate some of the catabolic joint effects of insulin. It has helped me significantly. Although he is not a dr his science is spot on. I reviewed the studies he draws upon and they are reputable studies. As was said earlier, takes time. If you want a long term solution this has been the only thing that has worked for me. Has to be included w/ physical therapy, supplements. As a side note, be mindful of your body motions, it will eventually catch up to you. Any specific questions, feel free to pm me.

Gravyv · Oct 4, 2014

How long did it take for it to work for you? Also, how bad was your pain, did you need painkillers to function all those years? I have a spinal fusioned scheduled now, but i'm still a bit scared of it. Most of the traditional stuff (cortisone, pt, chiro) didn't work. I'm going to try stronger meds now. I'm not sure if it's best I wait until it gets severely worst or if I should just get it now.

little slice · Oct 4, 2014

damn bro sorry to hear that... how did it happen?

AshopRep · Oct 5, 2014

NOSUPERMODEL said:
Well I have a herniated disk between my L4 and L5. Shooting pain down my left leg. Anybody got any suggestions on healing up quickly? Any peptides that might help? HGH?

Get some rest buddy.

IronMiner2 · Oct 6, 2014

Before I had my back fused, I did spinal decompression therapy.
It actually helped for a while. I had been getting injections every 12 weeks, and the therapy gave me a year without shots. But running large equipment finally took its toll on me. Take care of yourself, I know what happens when you don't.
Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

kscowboy · Oct 6, 2014

If i remember correctly you are in Big D. Look up the Texas Back Institute in Denton (Probably have more locations but thats the one i went to). I had the same thing and was in pain all the time. I went in for one set of injections and it has bee life changing. i have heard of people that did them and saw no results but for me i went in on a friday morning, limping because it hurt so bad, to running around that night feeling like i was 18 years old. The best thing i have ever done and only had to do it one time. Others need to go several times but for me, one time did the trick and this was 5 or 6 years ago.

NOSUPERMODEL · Oct 6, 2014

Come to find out I have 2 herniated disk, but only the one between the L4 and L5 are giving me symptoms.

So I am over at my buddies house watching the games Saturday. He has had a herniated disk. He says I know what you need. Proceeds to dig his elbow with all his weight into my leg and back. Hurt like a motherf*cker. Didn't really give me any relief at all. So I go home and me and the wife go to the movies. I jump out of her jacked up Tahoe and I don't know what happened but the pain in my hip and legs went away. I could walk normal. Set in the movie normal. The only thing I have now is some minor pain in my knee, but it is not bad at all. I am still going to keep doing the decompression. But just to be pain free is the greatest thing. I know I need to get it fixed because the symptoms could come back. Sorry, but I forgot that I tried a session of Cryogenics about two hours before my buddy did this to me. Maybe its just coincidence or what, but I am so glad the pain is gone. Slept great the last two nights. Was able to actually dress myself in the morning without pain. I am sitting normal, walking normal, not leaning to one side.

Cobraman · Oct 6, 2014

notsane01 said:
How long did it take for it to work for you? Also, how bad was your pain, did you need painkillers to function all those years? I have a spinal fusioned scheduled now, but i'm still a bit scared of it. Most of the traditional stuff (cortisone, pt, chiro) didn't work. I'm going to try stronger meds now. I'm not sure if it's best I wait until it gets severely worst or if I should just get it now.

Avoid spinal fusion if you can. The long term prognosis is not good. Problem is if they fuse the offending segment, there will be greater stresses above and below the fused area. This can cause a subsequent blowout w/in a few years.

I have been on this diet since June. Have not been able to do it all the time, but been pretty good. When started was not able to bend backward. Now am almost able to bend back to full motion. Other nutrition advocates offer the same solution, but packaged a little differently. Bottom line, reduce carbs.

Something else of note: Just came across a study extoling the benefits of vitamin K2. When taken in megadoses can reverse atherosclerosis(proven in studies). The same mechanism of action that causes atherosclerosis leads to degenerative disc disease/spinal stenosis. So I did some digging and it turns out that studies are now being undertaken to see the effects on osteoarthritis, which is essentially what degen. disc disease/spinal stenosis is. Early results show definite improvement in the group taking the vit K2.

I currently have weakness in my legs and tingling in the 3 outer toes of my left foot. The real success will be if I regain some strength, and lose the tingling. I will post any progress. Again, feel free to PM me.

tattoo449 · Oct 7, 2014

NOSUPERMODEL said:
Well I have a herniated disk between my L4 and L5. Shooting pain down my left leg. Anybody got any suggestions on healing up quickly? Any peptides that might help? HGH?

I've been living with this for 20 yrs. Herniated discs L4 and L5. Pain shooting down my left leg. Pain In my ankle and get numbness in my left foot. Over the years I've tried just about everything. Pain meds, chiropractor, ibuprofen, ice, heat, just about everything. For the past 4 years or so I've been doing inversion. I hang upside down three days a week for about 10 minutes at a time. I use those tweeter inversion boots. Over everything I have tried this has BYFAR given me the most relief. It took a while but now the pain and frequency of when the pain happens is no where near it use to be before I started this. I SWEAR BY THIS. It may sound crazy, but its helped me tremendously.

Cobraman · Oct 7, 2014

tattoo449 said:
I've been living with this for 20 yrs. Herniated discs L4 and L5. Pain shooting down my left leg. Pain In my ankle and get numbness in my left foot. Over the years I've tried just about everything. Pain meds, chiropractor, ibuprofen, ice, heat, just about everything. For the past 4 years or so I've been doing inversion. I hang upside down three days a week for about 10 minutes at a time. I use those tweeter inversion boots. Over everything I have tried this has BYFAR given me the most relief. It took a while but now the pain and frequency of when the pain happens is no where near it use to be before I started this. I SWEAR BY THIS. It may sound crazy, but its helped me tremendously.

I do this also. It has greatly decreased the pain, but not eliminated it. I also do a lot of stretching which helps. Personally, I am looking for a cure. I may be deluding myself, but I have to think there is some way around this as long as I can keep everything moving.

alter · Oct 7, 2014

tattoo449 said:
I've been living with this for 20 yrs. Herniated discs L4 and L5. Pain shooting down my left leg. Pain In my ankle and get numbness in my left foot. Over the years I've tried just about everything. Pain meds, chiropractor, ibuprofen, ice, heat, just about everything. For the past 4 years or so I've been doing inversion. I hang upside down three days a week for about 10 minutes at a time. I use those tweeter inversion boots. Over everything I have tried this has BYFAR given me the most relief. It took a while but now the pain and frequency of when the pain happens is no where near it use to be before I started this. I SWEAR BY THIS. It may sound crazy, but its helped me tremendously.

Just wanted to second this...

Inversion when done on a regular basis works wonders

Giants83 · Oct 9, 2014

I have a herniated disc. L5-S1. I use to have pretty unbearable nerve pain. I have to say that stretches, core strengthening and chiropractic work helped more than anything. It's still there some days but I can live with it. I definitely don't believe in epidural injections as the steroids used are known to weaken bone, cause scar tissue and weaken muscle. They are not even FDA approved and completely experimental even though they are widely used. I've had cortisone injections in my shoulder as well and a later MRI shows fluid and scar tissue in my ac joint. It gets better but requires work and time. But know your limits.

rharman · Oct 9, 2014

todkbear said:
I had herniated L4 - L5 and L5 - S1 (sharp pain down my leg, tingling in my foot, unable to move without pain). An epidural, rest, ice and walking worked. Neither Peptides or GH are not gonna help. Look up Stuart McGill and follow some of his exercises after taking some time off. Herniated discs don't heal fast. Sorry.

todkbear is right on all accounts from my research. I've got the same herniation you have, and have spent many days reading. McGill is the spine GOD, but even he can't help a true herniation. May heal slowly, may never truly heal completely. Either way, do LOTS of fast walking (McGill explains this in one of his books) and take it easy lifting for a LONG while. As much as I hate that I can't squat and DL heavy anymore (I do a LOT of single leg work), I've never found a way around it.

GettingBackIn · Oct 9, 2014

tattoo449 said:
I've been living with this for 20 yrs. Herniated discs L4 and L5. Pain shooting down my left leg. Pain In my ankle and get numbness in my left foot. Over the years I've tried just about everything. Pain meds, chiropractor, ibuprofen, ice, heat, just about everything. For the past 4 years or so I've been doing inversion. I hang upside down three days a week for about 10 minutes at a time. I use those tweeter inversion boots. Over everything I have tried this has BYFAR given me the most relief. It took a while but now the pain and frequency of when the pain happens is no where near it use to be before I started this. I SWEAR BY THIS. It may sound crazy, but its helped me tremendously.

When you started this did it make your pain significantly worse at first? I have a herniated disk, they say it's not operable. I tried an inversion table and the pain in my left leg was awful. When I came off of it, my left leg was completely dead for about four hours. I haven't done it since, but nothing has worked, I'm wondering if I should just keep trying inversion and see if it slowly gets better. My doctors have no answers other than sit home and take drugs.