Long read but here is my full story....
I have a L4/L5 herniated disc. I’ve probably felt some form of lower back pain (usually if I’m standing for long periods of time) for about 4 years, but I started feeling the tingling and down-the-leg pain probably in April 2011. I always attributed the pain to weak muscles, poor posture, or poor flexibility, but once the pain got sharper and was going down the leg, I knew something more was going on.
July 2011- I went to my regular doctor. He told me to rest from BJJ until I felt OK to train again. He attributed my lack of bending-over-flexibility and my pain to muscle spasms. He gave me some muscle relaxants and told me to buy a new mattress considering I told him I’d been using the same one since I’ve been a kid. I took one week off, felt a very little bit better, then went back to BJJ and trained for a tournament at the end of July. I continued to train until October 2011 for the no-gi Pans, the pain and flexibility problems only got worse. Sleeping was difficult, and every time I stood up I would get an extremely sharp burst in my lower right back/butt. My Mom made me promise that I’d take time off and go to the Orthopedist after the Pans.
October 2011 – Went to orthopedist. Touching my toes at this point was 100% out of the question. He attributed my pain at first to hamstring flexibility problems. He started me on PT, gave me anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxers. I continued PT until December 2011. I was out of BJJ and not lifting weights at all at this point.
December 2011 – I thought I was improving, but once I started weaning off the drugs I realized they were the only thing helping my pain. I returned to the Ortho, who told me to get an MRI since my pain had not improved. MRI showed a herniated disc L4/L5. I did not want surgery, which the doc recommended right away. Instead, he gave me a 5 day multi-use steroid pack, essentially an ultra anti-inflammatory, and told me to continue PT. All they were having me do in PT were lame stretches for my legs, so I opted out of it and did the stretches at home.
Jan 2012 – At this point I was getting tired of not doing any exercise. The steroid pack seemed like it had worked wonders. At this point I continued stretching and started a small work-out schedule. Still no BJJ. The stretch that helped me the most was lying belly down on the floor, putting my hands by my shoulders, and just pressing up while keeping my hips firm on the ground. (This is a common stretch but I forget the name.) They never had me do this in PT, but searching around online, I saw that this stretch was recommended everywhere that lower back disc problems were discussed. I also was doing super-man crunches and a decent amount of ab work.
February 2012 – Final visit to Ortho. He told me if things felt OK, then to just ease my way back into exercise. He gave me one more fill of my Naproxyn prescription, and of course said to come back if it got bad again (in which case he would have to send me to the spine specialist who would want to do surgery.) At this point I started working light squats back into my workout, and continued stretching daily. Still no BJJ.
March 2012 – I return to BJJ. Reduce my Naproxyn use to 1/day, every other day, etc. to eventually not using it at all. Things still feel OK. Touching my toes is still out of the question, but I can finally sleep perfectly OK. BJJ helps me get some strength and flexibility back. I still stay away from heavy benching and squatting, but I continue light squats, and lots of pull-ups.
Today, April 2013 – My back is still not 100%, but it is never the main thing on my mind. It still hurts after standing for long periods of time. I still stretch every single day. The one stretch that I don’t even bother trying is the standard bend over and touch the toes stretch. If I force this stretch, it hurts like it did back in October 2011. This is the only motion that bothers it at this point, and this I can easily avoid. I am back to working max benches, deads, and squats. Since getting back to heavier squatting and deadlifts, my flexibility has improved even more and my pain has gone away even more. I never do high-rep deads, as fatiguing the back causes pain. Lower reps with heavy weight is no problem. I’ve been back to full BJJ for over a year, no problems if I avoid bending straight over. I don’t know if it will ever be 100%, but if it stays how it is now, I’d have no problem living the rest of my life exactly like this. I just hope it does not get worse.
Another thing I started doing over a year ago which helps a lot is sleeping with a pillow between my knees.
I still have a bunch of Naproxyn left over. I pop one Naproxyn and 2 Advils after tournaments as a gift to myself. This is my post-tournament ritual. Other than that, I avoid any kind of pain meds at all costs, as I feel it will hurt my ability to constantly assess the state of my back. I know this was a long read but good luck to anyone with a similar injury.
