Herniated disc/ slipped disc

Doc says I might have a herniated disc in my lower back, Physio booked for next.
But wondered I anyone else has had one and how long do they take to heal? It's putting me off training now because I'm scared I'll make it worse.

My lower back issue has taken 4 years to get any sort of improvement

Until you know the full extended of the issue effecting your lower back then it's hard to say how long it will take,

What ever you do and this is what I have found heat treatment and staying mobile is key

It's worse in the morning mate, I can really feel it when I lean over the sink to wash or getting dressed. I've already looked up some mobility exercises and stretches which I started this morning.
I've got a feeling the physio is gonna tell me to lay off training for a while or not train as hard.

Core, core core, core, core. Nothing involving crunching. Keep a neutral spine throughout and work the ABZ!

I have same thing, sore morning, leaning over to brush teath is just exactly in the right place to be crap. Think mine's a sprained facet joint.

Dedicated core every session at the end, just improving it bit by bit seems to keep mine in check.

initaially heat your back first before your strated to stretch especially after not moving much through the night as you sleep.

if y were you and as gingy has said focus on you core movements too.

every morning
1) Heat your back
2) Body weight mobility drills
3) stretch the hamstrings, hip flexors and glutes
4) lower back mobility drill's

the more sedentary you are the wore it will be IME with my problem and hence this last few months my back has been very stiff and tight (not like it use to be before i had a fewm medical procedures done.) combination of cold conditions and not being very active. if you can keep you back loose this will help, but make sure you do core work like planks, side planks etc.

If the area is already warm and inflamed the last thing you want to do is apply heat. We treat herniated discs with flexibility work on a stability ball and then working up to reverse hyper extensions which is the best exercise for a bulging disc IMHO.

Icing an inflamed area for around 15 mins every hour of a particularly painful episode can help too and those cold gels before training will also work.

I hurt myself in 2011 and it took me around 7 months for the pain to subside enough to train again. I hurt myself again but this time had some OT training under my belt so I followed the protocols in some peer reviewed mags and came up with a treatment plan. It took me around 2 months to properly recover and I was deadlifting 200kg within 4 months of it happening. Posterior chain and trunk work is essential... but ignore crunches. Things like pull throughs, planks and the extensions I mentioned are important. Next is hang pulls, side bends and deficit deadlifts.

I'm now smashing all of my old PBs with no re-occurrences of the disc problem. I sometimes get a little sciatic pain but this is something that can happen following a disc herniation. It's something to work around and cope with.

Throwing ego out of the door and looking at your form for all exercises is a good way to go about addressing other issues that might have caused it.

Good luck.

Dolly - have you had any further examinations yet?

I have a lower back issue (nothing to do with lifting) and avoid low bar squatting and stick to high bar, i find if i keep as upright as possible squatting it keeps my back healthy, any break down in form makes it flair up. I have been doing reverse hyper extensions and core stuff. Hope this helps mate and i'm no doctor so don't sue me!!!

Get on your knees to brush your teeth = problem sorted. Depends on the severity of the pain. Shoes and socks are impossible.

As was already stated - mobility exercises - LOTS.

Is there an underlying issue? My back went because of my knee problem. Torn meniscus leads to tight ITB, which leads to hip out of line, which leads to dodgy back. Do some foam rolling for your ITB and glutes to release any tension that could potentially lead to back problems.

Most back problems are caused by tight hamstrings and hip flexors. The back itself is extremely good at going into flexion and extension. The problems tend to come when other muscles are too tight to take up the slack. Something then has to go... and it's usually a disc.

Stretching hamstrings in the morning and before bed helps a lot. Foam rolling up and down the side of the hips (focusing on the psoas especially with a lacrosse ball) is a good way to release things which are all bunched up.

this is why in my experience with my own issues if you pre heat you back and hamstring if need thed effect of strenthing is far better hence why i said it

That's cool mate. All of our bodies work in different ways too. No 'one size fits all' message from me. I just find people take longer to recuperate if they exacerbate inflammation with further heat. The heat itself can be therapeutic and reduce pain so the temptation is to assume this this is "fixing" the problem. When, in fact, it is making it worse or prolonging the actual recovery.

Not saying this applies in your case, just my limited experience studying in this field.