u/L0kiblaz3 — reddlx

TLDR: Low back pain from extruded/herniated L5-S1 disc. Need to know if surgery is only option or if I can wait out the pain and encourage my disc to reabsorb itself with physical therapy, stretching, etc. See MRI for details

A few years back I injured my low back and gave myself DDD. I managed to mostly recover from it with chiropractic care and physical therapy, but a few weeks ago I started having serious back pain.

Before that I had what I thought was just muscle tightness and pain shooting down my left leg caused by improper sleeping (turns out it was sciatica, I was sleeping on the couch for months, that's another story) until about two weeks ago I came down with as serious cough that aggrevated my low back to the point where every time I coughed it hurt. I had an MRI and discovered my L5-S1 disc was extruded.

I showed my chiropractor the MRI and he wasn't hopeful (said out 4, it's a 3 in terms of severity). We've been doing decompression therapy for the past two weeks and I have an appointment with an orthopedic doctor tomorrow for a more expert opinion.

I've spoken to my Dad about this to get his advise (he's a health enthusiast and former gym owner who blew out three of his lumbar discs at once and managed to recover on his own without surgery. He still does weight lifting and Brazilian jujitsu, so I take his opinion very seriously). He says that it sucks, but what I went through is recoverable. Especially since the disc isn't ruptured.

He's confident that if just work on my hyperlordosis, walk, and do proper stretches and exercises like the McKenzie protocol that I can recover in a few months on my own. I did some reading online and apparently this kind of injury is recoverable. Apparently the more the disc is extruded the higher a chance it reabsorbs itself over time (don't know if that's true with my disc suffering from DDD, but I'm trying to stay positive).

I'm sleeping in a proper bed with pillow support (except for my low back, I don't want a pillow underneath it because it gets aggrevated). It's painful for me to drive (I'm looking to upgrade from a sedan to a mid-sized SUV), but the pain has gone down quite a bit longer periods where before I could barely drive myself to work. I'm using a standing desk at home and at work (I've had both for years now).

I'd appreciate any advise anyone has. Any exercises that people think might be helpful (found some other posts on here like hip flexor stretch and walking backward, definitely going to try those).

As the title suggests, I have two questions.

I suffer from ADD, Anxiety, and Asperger's Syndrome. I was clinically diagnosed at 6 and medicated until I graduated high school. My symptoms by themselves are minor, but the conditions mix together to cause me quite a few problems.

I've watched several podcasts and Q&As from people like Tucker Max who swear by the effects and helping it "cure" people of their ADD or anxiety, for lack of a better term.

I'd like to know what other peoples experiences are. I've seen the studies for things like PTSD, but I'm curious if there are other testimonials from either guides or practitioners on any benefits, as well as potential risks. What psychedelics work best, etc.

How do I convince my wife to let me try this? For context, she's Asian, and she comes from a country where the view on any drug, including psychedelics, is very poor. She's also concerned about the risks and the potential harm it could do to my career (I'm not subject to random drug tests, but this isn't something I can share with my employer). I'm based in the U.S if that helps.