7 months with L5-S1 herniation — 2 relapses, now stuck at 1 min walking. Rock bottom.
27M. Herniated my L5-S1 doing a deadlift with bad form 7 months ago. No sciatica, no leg symptoms (or very rarely), no neurological issues — just central low back pain and deep muscle spasm (multifidus/deep erectors).
Here's my timeline:
Month 1-3: Didn't know what I was doing. Saw a chiro, did personal training, lots of things that probably made it worse. Despite that, after 3 weeks of rest I got to a point where I could walk much more. Then I moved apartments and crashed back to near zero.
Month 4-5: Stagnated. Then tried spinal decompression. First 3 sessions were amazing — went from 5 min walking to almost 30 min. But sessions 4, 5 and 6 progressively made it worse. After session 6 I couldn't even walk 1 minute. Worst flare-up yet.
Month 6-7 (now): Working with a McGill certified practitioner. Doing Big 3 (1 set, 4 reps), prone lying 3 min multiple times a day, walking 1 min 12 sec, position cycling every 20 min. On Arcoxia and muscle relaxants.
It's been exactly 1 month since the flare-up from spinal decompression and I'm still at 1 min 12 sec of walking. Progress is painfully slow.
On top of the physical side, my girlfriend left me during the worst of it. The relationship was toxic but the timing crushed me. I'm alone in the Philippines with no support system. Alone and isolated. I think that’s the hardest. Tonight everything hit at once. A stressful confrontation with her, the pain spiking, tingling showing up in my leg and arm, exhaustion so deep my vision went blurry. I lost all motivation for my business, for recovery, for everything. I feel like I've completely lost myself.
My entire day is a 20-minute cycle of lying on my side, standing, and prone. That's it. That's my whole life right now.
I'm progressing but it's extremely slow. I'm now trying +10% every other day on walking. But that might still be too much.
My questions for this community:
Has anyone had spinal decompression backfire like this? How long did it take to recover from it?
For those who were stuck at very low walking tolerance (1-5 min) — how long before you saw meaningful improvement? What was the turning point? Is staying below 1 min for over a month normal?
Should I get a new MRI to compare with my initial one? It's been 7 months and I want to know if the decompression actually worsened the herniation or if this is "just" a massive flare-up.
Any success stories from people who were in a similar situation (multiple relapses, months of pain, very low function) and came out the other side?
For those who hit rock bottom mentally with this injury — the isolation, the feeling that it will never end, losing yourself — how did you keep going?
I know the McGill method works. I have a good practitioner. I understand the biomechanics. But tonight I just need to hear from real people that this gets better. Because right now I can't see it.
Thanks.