How to Help Heal my Herniated Discs?
Back pain is the most common chronic pain condition in our modern society. Most common to society that it’s the joke of getting older in your 30s. However, what is common does not mean it is normal. Feeling old in your 30s is also not normal either. So what we are going to discuss is how you can help heal your spine actively and likely after getting your diagnosis from a physical therapist or orthopedic medicine doctor.
Get a Diagnosis
There are several different ways you can have a bad back. Commonly a herniated disc that may be as small as <0.3mm or more where it maybe a discussion to have with your doctor to have plans for surgery if conservative approaches (physical therapy) are not working. Others may have a degenerative discs, spinal fusion, osteopenia/osteoporosis, osteoarthritis or spondylolisthesis, and more. All with different approaches to care and rehabilitation but also brings awareness to where the issue is coming from.
Rehabilitation
You may experience around 3 to 6 months of physical therapy, the sooner you are able to follow protocols and home exercise programs with your physical therapist the sooner you can start figuring out what will make your feel better and what areas of movement are more an issue overall for you.
Some it is forward folding to your toes, some it is a back bending motion, others may be a combination of those with a side bend or a twist! As the spine is mobile and shock absorber for weight bearing movements (ie: walking, jogging, climbing stairs, anything out of water, etc)
What if, What’s next?
Now we all hope that you get back to 100% after committing to those 3 to 6 months of physical therapy, but what if it doesn’t work or you aren’t feeling 100% yet?
Likely you will discuss further options with an orthopedic spine doctor, maybe even a neurologist or rheumatologist. If you want to continue conservative care without surgery theres a few more options to go with us from there!
It is important to know that this is when we often are feeling a bit more depressed, fatigued and maybe even towards a inactive lifestyle due the the length of care being so long that you are doing your best not to experience increased pain again.
Our MVNT Approach
A deep dive on our approach is in my previous post here. Our MVNT method in summary focuses on all your past history, your lifestyle that maybe increasing inflammation, and your goals and movement needs day to day.
These factors in mind develop into our full MVNT practice. Involved with in person or virtual pilates based training, following client education with an at home practice to continue daily. These become the stepping stones so that once each is met in ways that pain is reduced we continue to return your body to the abilities of it’s fullest potential while preventing further pain and discomfort that may involve more corrective exercises for imbalances in your musculature. Once each step is achieve we slowly progress to the movements the spine is able to do and challenging your areas of issue so that we provide the guidance and skills so that those movements no longer become an issue!
Our goal is to get you back to moving at your best self while preventing future set backs. So if this was informative to you and may interest you in becoming a client with me. Find our studio and see us for a consultation any day.
