Probable Herniated/Bulging Disc

[AMCRambler]

Alright so here's the saga. Couple of years ago I blew my back out trying to carry a heavy barbecue set up a flight of stairs the wrong way. Ever since then my back has not been the best and every couple of months it would go out on me and I'd be down for a day or two with lower back pain in the muscles.

Fast forward to August of this year. Second week of August I wake up one morning and my left glute is killing me. Felt like a bad charlie horse in my butt. Thought I slept funny and figured it'd work itself out. It just gets worse and starts spreading down my thigh to my knee. Never felt anything like this before. I was getting muscle spasms in the glute and when I tried to walk it out and unkink it, the pain would get worse and then the leg would start going numb. After three weeks of it getting slowly worse I finally went to the doctor at my fiancee's behest.

The doc diagnosed it as sciatica. Compression of the sciatic nerve causing the pain in the butt and leg. Puts me on muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatory's which helped a bit. Told me to stretch as much as possible and try and keep my weight off my left glute and if it didn't heal up in a week come back in. Well, I toughed it out for two weeks trying to stretch and work it out but really no improvement so I went back and she prescribed physical therapy.

Went in for PT and the guy eval'ed me and knew immediately what the prob was. Bulging disc pushing against the sciatic nerve. Found that doing "press ups" a push up with your pelvis still on the floor immediately relieved the pain. Started the Mckenzie method of stretching and specific excercises aimed at pushing the disc back into place and keeping it there.

The PT is helping and I've been doing the excercises religiously the only problem is I work a desk job and sitting in a chair for any length of time causes the disc to press against the nerve. I've tried lumbar supports, different chairs, etc. Only thing I can do is lay down on my office floor and do the excercises for 15-20 minutes to get the disc back in place. At this point I'm worried that no amount of PT is going to get it to the point where I work seated for any extended period of time without the disc pushing on the nerve.

Long story short, I'm wondering if anybody on here has been through this particular problem and recovered. I really don't want to get surgery and will do everything I can physically do to beat it without that. The pain is probably the worst I've ever felt and it builds up to the point where it gets pretty unbearable. I've been doing PT for about 2 weeks now. I guess I should give it longer. Do you think it's worth me calling an othropedist for a consult? I am thinking more than likely they will just recommend surgery.


Anyway, sorry to be so long winded, here are the cliffs:

- Old back injury has turned into a probable herniated/bulging disc
- Pain and muscle spasms caused by the disc pressing on sciatic nerve
- Only relief through PT excercises while laying flat, pain returns after sitting upright or standing for anything longer than 30-40min
- Any personal experience or recommendations welcome

 

[Titan]

Does your office chair adjust or tilt forward? If so, tlit it all the way forward. If you sit with good posture, like feet flat, back straight, shoulders back, your hips will be able to move and most of the weight will be distributed on your legs and butt instead of your lower back.

I haven't had that problem specifically, but lower back pain and just got a pinched nerve in the front of my left hip, but that's unrelated.

One thing to try is serrapeptase. It's been prescribed in europe and japan for years, you can get it as a supplement here. I just started taking it and feel good, tweaked my back a few weeks ago. It comes from the silkworm - it's what it uses to dissolve the cocoon. It works as a safe anti-inflammatory, with supposedly no side effects. You gotta take it on an empty stomach as it breaks down in the intestine.

Other than that, get extreme at work, get a stand-up desk!

 

[Sust]

For the love of God, do NOT get back surgery unless the pain is SO bad that you are passing out from it.
Im sure the physical therapy is tough, but try your hardest to follow through with it and your results can be as good as surgery(hopefully better).
You should see gradual progression and pain improvement over the next few months to years depending on your own perseverance.
Sorry to hear about the injury and good luck.

 

[AMCRambler]

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, I'm definitely gonna do everything I can with the physical therapy. Improvement has been slow though. It sucks that something that seemed to come out of no where has just annihilated me like this. I'm just worried that I'll never get it back in line again to where it was. I'm looking at buying a house soon and if I can get back to functional there's no way I'll be able to pack and move all our stuff. Its kinda scary how something as simple as a small disk in your back can screw your life up.

As for everyone else, please, take care of your backs. You don't want to end up like this. TRUST ME.

 

[hehatedme]

I injured a disc a couple years ago, and had leg pain here and there for a few months. After that it would come and go depending on what activities I would do. About a year ago I tried to starting exercising seriously for the first time since I hurt my back (mostly lifting). As soon as I got to my body weight on squats the pain came back. I cooled again until this summer, but this time I started slower and worked on form. I almost never have back pain now. Occasionally I get a sore lower back from the pressing, or if I do a squat incorrectly, but normal day to day its mostly gone (and hopefully it won't hinder lifting once I get to heavier weights). I think strengthening my lower back and hips relieved a lot of pressure off my spine and corrected some of my bad posture. My advice would be to keep working with your PT and see if he or she can incorporate some more exercises to get your core stronger, and remember its a slow and steady process.

 

[Koing]

I went through the EXACT pain your describing.

I did my back when I was DL 3yrs ago and my back rounded and I grinded the bar up = bad move. That was the point where my L4 prolapsed and f0cked itself. I took 6weeks off training = no good, the pain was RIDICULOUS, if I rounded my back forwards it was unberable pain down my left back but not so much back the back, but down the left glute, hamstring down to my mid calf or so. When I sneezed it hurt so much.

I basically lost a foot off my mobility. I couldn't touch the floor at all and I could touch the floor with my palms from cold.

Saw a Dr who refered me to a specialist, got an MRI, prolapsed L4, they offered surgery but my weightlifting coach has never seen anyone lift the same after back surgery so I avoided th at. I saw a Chiropractor (LOL, yeah I was DESPARATE) and the guy I saw was knowledge about the requirements of my sport weight lifting, and that it isn't bodybuilding. He was honest and frank and after each session the pain was a bit less and I was getting back my mobility. After about 10-11 sessions I get my palms flat on the floor again. But the pain still present. I saw the physio there who was SH!T imo. So I sacked her off, she was fit though but the exercises were so BS and did nothing after 4 sessions so I sacked that off as a waste of £££. I stopped seeing the Chiro as he said he couldn't improve me anymore. I saw an osteopath for 6-7 sessions and 'the one I saw' was RUBBISH so I sacked him off.

Then literally 'over one miracle' weekend my pain subsided A LOT. I then started to lift again and increased my lifts once a week. This was 9months after the injury. In this time I couldn't train properly and couldn't put any vertical pressure on my spine. All I did was pull ups and dips. I lifted PB's in the first comp I was back even though I hadn't been squating. It was about 4-5 weeks after my first comp that I could squat.

I am a lot better now. I guess I still get the pains every so often but it's a lot less or I am just able to block it out now? I still hurt the back every so often and I just rest it for a few days.

I'd recommend you find a Chiropractor and see how he is, maybe find a few that are recommended and see an Osteopath. You need to be lucky and find a decent one as I lucked out mate. I was desparate and thought, f0ck it, I can afford to spend £100 for 3 sessions to see if I'm improving or not. I had these options or surgery. Avoid surgery as I've only heard bad things about back surgery for people that compete.

I'm lifting a lot more now then ever so the back seems to be holding up but I know it isn't 100% and it'll never be 100% so I'm careful with it.

Make sure your abs and back is strong, that'll help releive the pain. I did a lot of ab and back work to strengthen my trunk.

Good luck buddy :thumbsup:

Koing

 

[Trey22]

What is it now? 2 yrs? Yeah, about 2 yrs ago, I came down flat-footed, locked-knees, after grabbing a rebound in hoops, and according to the doc and MRI, ruptured my L5. It was so bad, I couldn't sit, stand, or lie down. I couldn't sit down and watch TV, I couldn't work, couldn't even sit down to have dinner w/ my wife. A bullet to the head seemed more desirable than the pain. And I know pain, I blew out my ACL years ago, by having my knee hyperextend and bend the wrong way.

If there is any way to work standing up, it's the way to go. I work at an adjustable table, and even if I didn't have a bad back, I'd recommend it anyway. And if you sleep on your back, place at least 1 pillow under your knees.

I agree that surgery is the very last option. My doc broke it down and told me the chances are even of, 1) getting better, 2) getting worse, 3) ending up the same. Screw that, I'll take my chances with PT.

I went through PT, pain-killers (which is another problem altogether), epidurals (those hurt, alot), and chiro treatment. PT didn't seem to help, the drugs just masked the pain, the epidural didn't seem to have any effect. It could of been the bodies natural healing powers, but I believe that the chiro treatment I went through helped immensely. I went through what's called the Cox Distraction technique. While I would come out in pain, over time, I did get better. Chiro was pretty aggressive in the treatment, and the cost way high, but I'd do it again.

I still almost constantly feel a very very slight "buzz" of pain from my back to my knee, but compared to the pain I was in, the relief I have now is what I call pain-less, to me anyway.

Now that I'm back at the gym, my core is getting stronger, and while I'm 5'8" & 170lbs, the weight I squat and deadlift might not seem like nothing special, but to me, it's amazing progress. I'm squatting 250 and deadlifting 305, and yes, I'm VERY careful and conscious of as near perfect form on every lift.

Edit: Forgot to mention, sorry for your experience, and the key now is preventative maintenance (so you don't get any worse), and patience. Yeah, it's hard when it doesn't seem things are not getting any better. Hang in there.

 

[eits]

definitely see a chiropractor.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: Trey22
What is it now? 2 yrs? Yeah, about 2 yrs ago, I came down flat-footed, locked-knees, after grabbing a rebound in hoops, and according to the doc and MRI, ruptured my L5. It was so bad, I couldn't sit, stand, or lie down. I couldn't sit down and watch TV, I couldn't work, couldn't even sit down to have dinner w/ my wife. A bullet to the head seemed more desirable than the pain. And I know pain, I blew out my ACL years ago, by having my knee hyperextend and bend the wrong way.

If there is any way to work standing up, it's the way to go. I work at an adjustable table, and even if I didn't have a bad back, I'd recommend it anyway. And if you sleep on your back, place at least 1 pillow under your knees.

I agree that surgery is the very last option. My doc broke it down and told me the chances are even of, 1) getting better, 2) getting worse, 3) ending up the same. Screw that, I'll take my chances with PT.

I went through PT, pain-killers (which is another problem altogether), epidurals (those hurt, alot), and chiro treatment. PT didn't seem to help, the drugs just masked the pain, the epidural didn't seem to have any effect. It could of been the bodies natural healing powers, but I believe that the chiro treatment I went through helped immensely. I went through what's called the Cox Distraction technique. While I would come out in pain, over time, I did get better. Chiro was pretty aggressive in the treatment, and the cost way high, but I'd do it again.

I still almost constantly feel a very very slight "buzz" of pain from my back to my knee, but compared to the pain I was in, the relief I have now is what I call pain-less, to me anyway.

Now that I'm back at the gym, my core is getting stronger, and while I'm 5'8" & 170lbs, the weight I squat and deadlift might not seem like nothing special, but to me, it's amazing progress. I'm squatting 250 and deadlifting 305, and yes, I'm VERY careful and conscious of as near perfect form on every lift.

Edit: Forgot to mention, sorry for your experience, and the key now is preventative maintenance (so you don't get any worse), and patience. Yeah, it's hard when it doesn't seem things are not getting any better. Hang in there.

Same here mate. Things were looking bleak for MONTHS AND MONTHS and I had never felt so vulnerable in my entire life

Glad things are on the up for you Trey22 :thumbsup: I just felt so happy to be training again and now I'm lifting more then ever but I am still vulnerable to the back issue so I'm careful with it.

Hows it going OP?

Koing

 

[AMCRambler]

Well, for those of you wondering how it's going, I think you're right. PT is slowly helping fix it. Each day of work is a struggle, but I've gotten really serious about keeping myself loose at work. I now get up every hour or any time the pain starts getting bad in the glute and I get down on the floor of my office and stretch out. I go through the exercises they have me doing in PT and while it may look ridiculous to anybody walking by the office, it gets me through the day without me losing the posture and walking around half bent over when I stand up.

It's weird because I can almost feel when the disc is pushed back into place when I lay down on my stomach and start doing the press up excercises. The nerve is definitely aggravated by it though. The anti-inflammatory the doc has me on is a huge help. I tried going today without taking one and instead popped a couple of Advil, didn't work so good so I guess I'm not quite ready to get off those yet.

I'm going to PT three times a week now. Whatever the guy asks me to do I do. They've started putting me on the traction machine which pulls your hips and your shoulders in two different directions to stretch the back. That was interesting. Not painful or anything, just a good stretch. Up until now it's just been mostly table excercises. Pressups, bridges, single knee to chest, knee to elbow, etc. They're starting me on the machines now though and they are harder.

Got another session tomorrow. I'll keep you guys in the loop on how it goes. Thanks for your input and support. I think my problems pale in comparison to yours Koing. If you can beat it with a chiro, PT and exercise, then it should be cake for me. Thanks again.

 

[MiniDoom]

how has this been going? i think i have the same issue. any advice on what stretches i can do?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

how has this been going? i think i have the same issue. any advice on what stretches i can do?

Hopefully eits will come in here and tell you about some stretches. However, you're gonna have to do more than stretches - you're going to have to do exercises to strengthen your back. I just wanted to mention that so you can seek advice from a health care professional on which exercises to do.

 

[AMCRambler]

It's actually been going great! My back is almost back to normal again. I'm off the prescription anti-inflammatories and I take about 8 advil's a day but I'm almost pain free. I was going to PT twice a week for like 3 months but as of right before Christmas, the therapist has me working on my own now. I go back for a review in January but everything looks cool, he'll give me a workout plan to follow and I'm good to go.

Now I should clarify that I'm nowhere near the shape I was in before I blew it out when I was younger. But with the stretches and the exercises, I'm pain free and I'm able to carry things again(30-40lbs max) using the right lifting techniques. Pain free is the important part. With a lot more work I could probably get back to doing some physical activities I used to do like paint ball, biking, etc. I'm going to keep working on it before I try any of that though.

RDubbz, I'd recommend getting a book called "Treat Your Own Back" by robin Mackenzie. This is pretty much the stretching and exercises they had me following that helped the most. Another huge part of it is your legs, particularly your hamstrings. The sciatic nerve runs right down your leg to your foot so by stretching your hamstrings, you stretch the nerve as well giving you more play allowing the nerve to be pulled away from the bulging disk. The book is going to have you concentrate on your back mostly and your abdominal region. The lower back muscles act like a girdle and when you strengthen them, they can push back against the bulging disk, pushing it back into placing and holding it. The most important thing to remember is if the exercise you're doing is causing more pain in your leg, you need to stop. The whole purpose behind the stretching and exercises is to reduce the pain. For me it slowly receded, past my knee, up my thigh, into my glute and finally stayed in my lower back. The therapist said this is how it should progress if you're making headway.

Depending on how bad yours is, you may have to with just start with Press-ups and stretching like I did. A press up is a push up, except you leave your pelvis touching the floor and you arch your back as you push up. This will push the disk back into place and should feel good. Do these whenever your leg starts hurting.

As far as stretches go, lay on your back, and pull a single knee as far as you can to your chest. Alternating legs. Depending on how fit you are it may take a couple sessions to get the knee all the way to your chest but keep stretching it. You can also take the leg while laying on your back, lift it up and cross it over your other one and pull it towards you with one hand on your knee, and one on your ankle. This should feel good too as it stretches the outer side of the leg where the sciatic nerve runs down.

Remember if it hurts stop immediately. The pain is the nerve being aggravated and forcing it will injure the nerve and could cause permanent damage. You need to move very carefully as you do the exercises at first till you get the feel for them.

The other stretch you can do is finding the corner of a wall, and putting one leg up on it to stretch the hamstring. If you've got someone that can help, have them lift the leg and slowly raise it to stretch the hamstring. Normally you should be able to get your leg about 90 degrees to your body. Most people can't though and it will take a bunch of sessions of slowly increasing the stretch to get to that.

Now for the disclaimer. I'm no physical therapist so if you are really hurting bad I would highly recommend getting to your doctor and getting a script for physical therapy. If you have a bulging disk pushing hard against that nerve and you don't get help or you do things wrong, you can cause permanent damage to the nerve and you risk paralysis in the leg. There's no substitute for a trained professional.

 

[Muse]

definitely see a chiropractor.

I've heard this kind of thing a lot, and have no reason to doubt that it can help a lot. Never done it personally. I've also heard very positive things concerning acupuncture, and don't know if it's advisable for your problems but I think you might want to consider it.

My physician brother assures me that everyone in middle age (people aren't talking about age here, but it is a factor when talking about the spine), has disk issues, basically ruptured disks. After a time, it's just unavoidable evidently. You live with thoe problems, deal with them.

As said, work on your core, strengthen your abdominals. It will improve your posture and help prevent injuries, help you maintain positions that aid your spine in doing its job.

 

[eits]

I've heard this kind of thing a lot, and have no reason to doubt that it can help a lot. Never done it personally. I've also heard very positive things concerning acupuncture, and don't know if it's advisable for your problems but I think you might want to consider it.

My physician brother assures me that everyone in middle age (people aren't talking about age here, but it is a factor when talking about the spine), has disk issues, basically ruptured disks. After a time, it's just unavoidable evidently. You live with thoe problems, deal with them.

As said, work on your core, strengthen your abdominals. It will improve your posture and help prevent injuries, help you maintain positions that aid your spine in doing its job.

that's true to some extent. everyone gets degeneration, but chiropractic care slows it down and decreases the symptoms of degeneration a lot more than anything else out there, including exercise. not everyone has ruptured discs... that's 100% false. almost everyone, however, has minor, asymptomatic disc bulges. that's completely different.

the fact that so many people in their middle ages have back issues is exactly why we try and get people to be chiropractic patients at a younger age and continue maintaining their spinal healthy with regular chiropractic treatments, regardless of whether you feel good or bad. i guarantee that the op felt just fine right up until he blew his disc. more than likely, the disc bulge was due to poor spinal health. carrying something heavy is the spark that starts the fire. and, no, when you have a back problem, it's not like you just have to suck it up and deal with it the rest of your life... most of the time, you can get a lot of relief by getting chiropractic treatments rather than getting ulcers from all the anti-inflammatories you think you need to take for the aches and pains. gastrointestinal ulcers due to nsaids is the leading cause of hospital visits in people ages 40 to 65... it's because they've been so used to taking things for pain that they don't realize that it's easier altogether to just treat what's causing the pain in the first place rather than take something to mask the pain everyday.

in someone who has a healthy, well-maintained spine, carrying something heavy will more than likely result in a muscle spasm or a sprain/strain. that's because your disc is made of ~13-22 concentric fibrocartilage rings that encase something called a nucleus pulposis. it's kinda like the jelly in a jelly donut. well, after a while, without the proper nutrients and motion (through fast, specific adjustments) that the disc needs for proper health, the fibrocartilage rings weaken and crack. over time, these circumferential tears will align all the way to the outer rings and cause a radial tear, which is what causes the big disc bulges, which causes the pressure on the nerve roots, which causes the pain. it's kinda like pushing down on a jelly donut... the jelly squirts out of the hole where it was inserted because it's the path of least resistance. there are more tears on the back side of the disc rather than the front side because there's less reinforcement at the back end... most of the reinforcement of the disc is at the front of the disc to help with loading.

i like the mackenzie protocol for disc issues, but i also love cox flexion-distraction... it basically uses distraction and lower extremity flexion in a supine position to vacuum the nucleus back into the disc space. strengthening your core is 100% vital to maintaining a healthy spine and preventing further disc issues. it is my opinion that this is exactly why we see so many disc issues and back problems these days as opposed to "way back when". it's also why chiropractic treatments alone don't help people as much as chiropractic as well as physiotherapy together. back in the day, people were far less sedentary in everything they did, which develops a relatively strong core and abdominal girdle. once technology took over and made it easier for people to be lazy and with so many people having desk jobs, cores weaken and chiropractic adjustments don't "stick" like they should. giving therapeutic exercises to patients helps bigtime in allowing the adjustments to "stick".

 

[MiniDoom]

glad you're doing better and thanks for the advise and suggestions. I purchased the book and have been doing many core workouts as well as about 5k walk a day. I'm slowly regaining use of my leg without excruciating pain. I can see progress and think at this pace i will be better by the spring before cycling racing season.

 

[eits]

i'd advise against doing that much walking. it might aggravate your issue. it'd be better if you swam instead.

 

[MiniDoom]

Just got my MRI results. I have a minor bulge in L4-L5 and a moderate bulge in L5-S1. Going to try the steroid epidurals first, if that doesn't help may have to go under the knife. :-(

 

[eits]

Just got my MRI results. I have a minor bulge in L4-L5 and a moderate bulge in L5-S1. Going to try the steroid epidurals first, if that doesn't help may have to go under the knife. :-(

lol wtf? why would you do that?

seriously, a chiropractor will fix that for you without any expensive procedures, no surgery, or recovery time... and it'll save you money in the long run.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

lol wtf? why would you do that?

seriously, a chiropractor will fix that for you without any expensive procedures, no surgery, or recovery time... and it'll save you money in the long run.

Just curious - how do chiropractors fix something like that? It seems like a surgical issue. I wouldn't really want a chiro doing level 5 joint mobilizations near a bulging disk.

 

[MiniDoom]

lol wtf? why would you do that?

seriously, a chiropractor will fix that for you without any expensive procedures, no surgery, or recovery time... and it'll save you money in the long run.

I've been to two chiropractor's already. they couldn't help. I've been doing yoga and palates. Helps some with pain management, but I still can hardly use my leg. I'm down to my last two options.

 

[gramboh]

In late December I did something to my left hip while either deadlifting or squatting. Didn't notice any immediate pain (a bit but nothing crippling). Ever since then it's been about the same, saw a physiotherapist last week who figures it is some minor nerve damage (not sure if impingement or what) but he did not think it was disc damage.

The easiest way for me to test the injury is to sit straight up on a chair/edge of a bed or whatever, put my hands behind my back, look down (to lengthen/stretch spine at cervical end) and then extend my left leg/knee straight infront of me. When I do this I feel pulling behind my knee and in my glute.

Strangely, I can squat, deadlift, clean at normal weight without any pain. I can also do oher activities (running, skiing etc) without pain, but I do not have full range of motion in that hip. I'm not super worried but it's in the back of my mind.

I'm planning on continuing to do the physio stretches I was shown, self myofasical release etc.

I've never been to a chiro but I'm thinking of trying it out.

 

[eits]

Just curious - how do chiropractors fix something like that? It seems like a surgical issue. I wouldn't really want a chiro doing level 5 joint mobilizations near a bulging disk.

you can adjust the vertebral motion segments to, basically, vacuum the nucleus pulposis back into the annulus. if i remember correctly, he said it was a minor disc bulge... you know how many people in the general public have minor disc bulges? it's when the bulging annular fibers cause pressure on the nerve root that it becomes symptomatic. doing that, strengthening the core, and doing mckenzie protocols should be an easy fix. i'm stunned two chiropractors couldn't help.

I've been to two chiropractor's already. they couldn't help. I've been doing yoga and palates. Helps some with pain management, but I still can hardly use my leg. I'm down to my last two options.

where do you live? who did you see? i'll try and find someone out by you to help you keep away from surgery.

once you have your spine operated on surgically, it degenerates at a much faster rate. i'd hate for that to happen to you all because you went to the wrong people. give me a chance to help.

 

[eits]

In late December I did something to my left hip while either deadlifting or squatting. Didn't notice any immediate pain (a bit but nothing crippling). Ever since then it's been about the same, saw a physiotherapist last week who figures it is some minor nerve damage (not sure if impingement or what) but he did not think it was disc damage.

The easiest way for me to test the injury is to sit straight up on a chair/edge of a bed or whatever, put my hands behind my back, look down (to lengthen/stretch spine at cervical end) and then extend my left leg/knee straight infront of me. When I do this I feel pulling behind my knee and in my glute.

Strangely, I can squat, deadlift, clean at normal weight without any pain. I can also do oher activities (running, skiing etc) without pain, but I do not have full range of motion in that hip. I'm not super worried but it's in the back of my mind.

I'm planning on continuing to do the physio stretches I was shown, self myofasical release etc.

I've never been to a chiro but I'm thinking of trying it out.

are you canadian? typically, canadian chiropractors are pretty good and very educated. just make sure that you go to someone with a great reputation. there are chiropractors out there who are all brain, but suck balls when it comes to adjusting. you don't want one of them.

 

[gramboh]

are you canadian? typically, canadian chiropractors are pretty good and very educated. just make sure that you go to someone with a great reputation. there are chiropractors out there who are all brain, but suck balls when it comes to adjusting. you don't want one of them.

Yep I am, and chiro is covered by my supplemental health plan. I'll be asking the physio I went to (who appears to know a lot about sports/fitness) for a recommendation and try it out.

Given that the symptoms have not really improved in 7 weeks (haven't gotten worse either) I must have some structural damage. I've been decent at my physio/stretching but I can always do more.

Is it possible to have disc related damage and feel zero pain in your lower back? I literally only feel it at the hamstring insertion behind my knee and in my left glute toward the outside, and only when I try to extend my knee/hip while at the same time raising my leg (noticibly less range of motion than other leg). Zero pain squatting/cleaning 80-85% of max as well, zero pain ass to grass air squat.