Herniated Disc/Help needed

I'm not sure what a nerve block is, but here is my story:

Here's my story.

For the past 12 years (36 yr old now), I'd "pull" my lower back once or twice a year. This would have me in pain for about 3 days, then I'd recover quickly. Last September (about 3 weeks before my first HIM), I had what I thought was a minor pull in my lower back during normal life (ie no trauma).

The next day, I could barely walk. For the next couple of weeks, I was miserable moreso because i couldn't sleep much (1-2 hour blocks). In this time, I was taking Lyrica (didn't do much), a steroid pack, and anti-inflamatory meds. I got an MRI which revealed a ruptured disk (extrusion), but the Doc (pain mgmt doc, not ortho) thought I could beat it without surgury.

In addition of the lumbar disk issues, I had a decent case of sciatica. My right side was in pain, mostly the butt and calf, but I felt it down the back of my upper leg and my foot would fall asleep periodically. As much as I wanted to avoid it, I was secretly hoping I'd be recommended for surgery. During the day, I was mostly managable. I realized what my limits were and didn't do anything that caused severe pain. Nights just plain sucked. I'd find a position my back liked and my calf would be screaming. I did try some swimming and did end up completing the swim leg of the HIM (the hotel & race was already paid for). My Doc was a triathlete (doing IMAZ this year) and encouraged me to exercise as I was able (ie not causing more pain). I'm not sure how I really feel about this now, though.

After this, I got a series of 3 steroid epidurals over the next 5 weeks. The first shot did wonders and I was instantly able to sleep through the night. The second one didn't give much relief and I even waived the 3'rd shot initially, but then got it as a last ditch effort (a week later). I'm now glad I did. Since the 3'rd injection, I still had pain and was quite limited in range of motion (still couldn't ride my bike). At this time, the Doc offered surgery, but also advised that I'd probably get better without surgery, but it would take time. Surgery would just get me "better" quicker. Since then, the improvement has been very slow, but very consistent. I'm to the point now where I feel I can do anything, but I do still get some pain in the butt and less so in the calf, but found Aleve will take care of that. I am to the point now where I go more days without any pills, though.

Here is a Timeline of what I've been able to do:
9/23 - Herniated disk
10/23 - Elliptical & walking
11/27 - Swimming
12/19 - Bike Trainer
2/20 - Run
 

I've decided that I'm going to only enter Sprint tris and aqua-bikes for this year. I'm hoping keeping my run to short, easy runs will help my back fully recover. I've got NO goals for this season and while I've come up with a race schedule, I've not registered for any races. There is no way I want to relive those 3 months again.

Ditto x2. I herniated L4-L5 in January 2007. I'm pretty much back to normal. Still have some discomfort but I can live with it. I'm back to lifting weights again, too. You need to be patient. As you can see, it took over a year to heal along with 2 steroid injections and I don't know how many bottles of ibuprofen but so far I'm generally happy with the results of just letting the thing heal.

L4-L5 and L5-S1 herniations, with some compressed discs above that, lucky me.

 First, everyone's back is different with regards to injuries.  Don't be afraid to get a 2nd (or 3rd) opinion with regards to treatment, and I'd recommend that anyway if you're considering surgery.  Everytime I've gotten fed up and asked about the surgery, the answer comes back something like "sure, we can do it, but the success rate isn't all that great" (meaning, I'm told, 50/50 in some cases).

2nd, heal, all the way.   This part sucks, cause you might not be able to do any kind of normal working out for weeks while it heals up.  But from personal experience I can tell you that if you rush it, it will just drag on even longer.  Once you do start working out again, find exercise that doesn't aggravate it.  In my case, running = bad when it's acting up, but I can bike all day and things like ellipticals, etca are ok.

 The thing I've found most effective for me (your mileage will vary) is lots of stretching before and after working out.  It still gets stiff, but my episodes of extreme pain (where the wife threatens to lock me in my office till I can be nice) have become much more rare with regular exercise and lots of work on my flexibilty.  Don't forget to stretch areas like hip flexors that can contribute to back pain if they get tight and/or need to be lengthened (again, I'm the poster child.)  Addtionally, once you're healthy, make core work a regular part of your workout.  Having a strong core will help stabilize your back and reduce the likelihood of injury.   Having said that, I seem to tweak mine doing the oddest things, like getting out of bed or bending down to pick up the TV remote.  Go figure.

 Good luck!

Everyone's different. Bulging l5 s1 here.

It first happened in Jan. last year. I took about a week off and was on pain killers. Two different doctors recommended core exercises. Once the pain was gone I started training and ran a 10k PB the next month.

In mid-March this year. It happened again. Like last time, it was during the "seated row" exercise (strength training). Didn't visit doctors this time, as symptoms were identical. Took 3 days off and got back into easy training. I'm OK now.

In my case, it just seems to heal itself, but I do have to spend a day and a half in bed, not able to move when it happens.