L5-S1 Disc Protrusion recovery story so far (no surgery)

36M who incurred sciatica via dead lifting and squatting for 10+ years. I followed the starting strength program and took the creator's (mark rippetoe) advice to just keep deadlifting if you have back pain and to get in a weight lifting belt. Well.....that didn't go so well. I think me increasing the frequency of deadlifting from 1 set per week to 2 sets per week didn't help either since I didn't understand that the nervous system needs time to reset. Brian Carroll (McGill certified PT) also talks about the endplates needing time to recover.

My symptoms were -> unable to walk with a normal gait, pain on left-side, no extension whatsoever, burning calf pain when walking, leg guarding behind knee, constant pin-needle feeling ontop of my foot, 30% calf strength on left, numbness on outer 3 toes and foot.

I usually would tweak my back and lay off the weights for a few weeks to recover. I first injured my back in 2014 or so. April 1 2026 is when I felt the numbness and the whole game changed. I tried stretching and pushing through the pain which made it worse.

Dr Appts I went to 5 MD in total - all of which failed me.

1. The first chiro did an X-Ray and said I didn't have a buldging disc and actually I just had a tilted pelvis causing the pain.
2. Ortho Spine surgeon suggested surgery at month 2 if I wanted to. Never went over MRI. Just said I had a herniation. Referred out for ESI and PT.
3. 2nd chiro said I had to do decompression chair and dry needling and that "disc herniations don't heal on their own". He was very upset I said that they should heal on their own.
4. 1st PT had me doing nerve glides and crap which made it worse
5. 2nd McKenzie certified PT had me doing extensions which also made it worse. I told him I could feel pain when he was pushing into my back and my toes were lighting up like a Christmas tree. He said that its expected. Wtf. Its called peripheralization and its NOT a good sign (opposite of centralization).

If I actually did follow my Dr's advice I would be in a much much worse state and probably would have had the recommended surgery. I had to go to the MRI place and request my radiologist report and disk so I could look at it myself.

Progression

Here is how my journey has been thus far

1. Week 0: Able to walk pretty decent still. Pushed it way too far with PT and walking and regressed massively.
2. Weeks 1-3: In constant pain to some degree. Using muscle relaxers to sleep and ibuprofen throughout the day. Barely walking with one foot in front of the other. Pain localized to behind knee when walking (guarding)
3. Week 4: I decided to just grit it out and not take the pain meds so that I could know when my body is telling me to stop doing something. I allowed the bodys inflammation to start doing its work on the disc.
4. Week 5-6: Very slow progression in terms of walking distance. Pain went from behind the knee to the calf.
5. Week 6: McGill certified PT appointment. Went very well. Learned a whole lot. Still taking it easy and have new exercises.
6. Week 7-9: Massive improvements week over week. Able to walk a bit further and further without as much pain. Longer gait. Pain moved up to the lower hamstring and glute. Pain went from acute burning to an ache feeling
7. Week 10: I hardly think about sciatica in my day to day. I still feel it when transitioning from sitting to walking or something.
8. Week 11 (current): Feeling pretty good. I am doing very light workouts and I think I'm still a few months out before I will dare intense workouts. I walk everyday just fine for the most part.

Solution Pretty similar to this guy https://www.reddit.com/r/Sciatica/comments/1typdj5/my_disc_herniation_recovery_story_no_surgery_no/. I would say seeing a McGill-certified PT is a huge help. No one else in the medical community really knows it like they do. It will be the most expensive appt you make. Everyone else just reads from a script. I learned that my pain is flexion-biased which means leaning forward on a mountain bike brings relief. Extension based stuff like Cobra poses are terrible. This makes sense given my stenosis. I started riding my bike everyday for 45mins on week 5 to get the blood flowing. I walked as well, but generally I'd say REST is the king here.

There is an MD on youtube that does a great job explaining this disease. I learned a shit ton from him and hes got videos explaining various MRI and ideas on what to do, however I cannot link to his account due to sub rules.

I kept an AI journal of everything and helped me get through it more emotionally than anything.

I took a bunch of vitamins and collagen. Who knows if it helped.

I plan on following the LBA program in a few months and staying vigilant with my lower back. My McGill-cetified PT is jacked himself and does NOT recommend doing deadlifts and thus I won't ever be doing them again. I know some people jump back into it, but if you want to find a really depressing group of people on the internet go on the backpain and spinalfusion subs as that is the next step after pissing of your back again for life.

Funny Note: My spine surgeon and McGill PT BOTH had an MD surgery performed! The PT even had it done TWICE. So many others including my dentist, plumber, and other PT had herniated disc themselves. It is extremely common.

MRI findings

The conus is normal in appearance and terminates at an appropriate level. The vertebral body heights are well-maintained. There is straightening of normal lordotic curvature. 3 mm retrolisthesis of L5 on S1. There is likely very mild dextrocurvature of the lumbar spine. No evidence of pars defects are identified. No surgical fusion hardware is noted. There are mild type I Modic changes noted at L5-S1. There are no significant type II Modic changes. No worrisome osseous lesion. Soft tissue structures and intra-abdominal structures are within normal limits

L5-S1: There is moderate degenerative disc disease. There is a 5 to 6 mm left subarticular and paracentral protrusion. There is mild-to-moderate facet arthropathy. Significant left lateral recess stenosis with compression of the left S1 nerve root is noted. No significant neural foraminal stenosis.

Lumbar spondylosis with significant disc protrusion at L5-S1 contributing to significant left lateral recess stenosis and compression of left S1 nerve root. Minimal type I Modic changes are also noted at this level.