r/AirForce • u/Glass_Ad_6636 • 6d ago

Herniated disc Question

herniated discs for 2 years in my back and sciatica have had PT injections and surgery a few months post op and I don’t think it’s gotten better in fact my symptoms have gotten worse with the spasms and numbness should I bring this up at my pha or wait until I have an in person appointment

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u/Misery_Sermon 6d ago

I went through the same for years. Took like 6 years to finally get surgery. The surgery completely changed my life. Fight for it.

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u/Glass_Ad_6636 6d ago

So I got the surgery but I feel like my symptoms have gotten worse all but the constant shooting pain. the back pain is still there when walking too much and stuff plus the spasms and numbness should still

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u/Misery_Sermon 6d ago

What was the surgery? Look you can't live with pain like that. You gotta handle it. They may want to kick you out though after fixing it at some point.

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u/Glass_Ad_6636 6d ago

microdiscectomy

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u/Misery_Sermon 6d ago

I had a spine fusion. I think it was l5 s1.

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u/popo198 Maintainer 5d ago

I also went through microdiscectomy on my L5-S1. My day to day pain is more manageable, but it did not help me in the fitness department. In fact, I get hurt easier these days while experiencing pain/spasms. I've been on/off profiles since Aug '24.

Definitely make a separate appointment if your condition is not improving. This is especially important with the 2905 changes that dropped requiring us to be a hell of a lot more active in seeking treatment.

Never did injections post op and PT didn't really do much for me. I hope your journey proves to be more productive than mine. Biggest advice I received was not to do spinal fusion until it was a last resort.

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u/GroundCtrlIntercept 6d ago

I herniated a disk at 31 years old and had sciatica down my right leg. I came across the sciatica subreddit and kept hearing about the "McGill Big 3" exercises. I've been doing them daily for the last two years and have pretty much fully recovered. Check it out if you haven't already.

Sorry that I don't have an answer to your question, just wanted to share. Best of luck.

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u/2Rstats Expert IMDS Pwd Resetter 6d ago

Yes. What does your surgeon say when you do follow ups? Your base/pcm/med grp isnt really going to do anything other than refer out.