So I’ve had what I would probably describe as moderate sciatica for about 11 weeks now. When I say moderate I mean its painful (about a 7 or 8) when I change positions from standing to sitting and vice versa. So getting in and out of cars, bending/squatting is terrible experience from what it was 11 weeks ago.
I had a back injury while squatting in November, was coming up and felt a very sharp pain in my lower back on the sciatica side. The pain from that injury took a few months to subside while I trained conservatively. The sciatica didn’t start until March however. Had an MRI last week and got the results yesterday which showed two mild disc protrusions. Doctor said he doesn’t recommend surgery at all and the best bet is PT with a focus on the McKenzie method. He gave me a script for meloxicam to take while doing PT.
My question is, is this worth it? I just started doing McGill’s Big 3 last week and I still go to the gym albeit with some discomfort when squatting/deadlifting (when bracing against a belt/bending). Just don’t want to spend 6 weeks doing PT for something I could just try to do myself? I probably already know the answer but need some reassurance.
The majority of acute radicular pain tends to resolve on its own with time, and I think your general exercise plan that you’re doing on your own sounds good.
Thanks Austin. Is it generally considered safe to squat and deadlift with the disc protrusion? The nerve pain I get when performing both only occurs when bending down to get the bar during deadlift and only occasionally at the bottom of the squat. I have next to 0 lower back pain when performing either movement. I’m currently running a powerlifting program but may jump off of it until the nerve pain resolves if its risky at all.
I cannot guarantee you that something is “safe” here for obvious reasons.
However, I have trained a number of people in precisely this situation and they’ve done fine.