September 5, 2024 • 30 mins
S301 Could you imagine facing a severe back injury that threatens not only your physical well-being but also your career? Mahesh, a software engineer from Bengaluru, India, opens up about his journey of battling three bulging discs, navigating through initial misdiagnoses, and finally finding the right path to recovery with the help of an MRI. From enduring immense pain to discovering the power of physiotherapy and yoga, Mahesh's story highlights the importance of resilience and seeking multiple medical opinions for serious health issues. He shares how the COVID-19 pandemic added layers of complexity to his recovery, yet his unwavering determination led him back to normal activities by February 2021.
Explore the unique challenges Mahesh faced as he adapted his work environment and lifestyle to aid his recovery. Discover how he transitioned to a more active routine, incorporating standing desks and regular exercise like walking, yoga, and swimming, all guided by a dedicated physiotherapist. Mahesh’s story reinforces the value of a strong support system and self-discipline in preventing future injuries. Offering a message of hope, Mahesh emphasizes that recovery from a herniated disc is achievable without surgery. His journey serves as an inspiration to anyone facing similar challenges, encouraging listeners to remain optimistic and share their own stories to inspire others.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I contacted an ortho specialist, like orthopedic
specialist, and he said likeyeah, let's see, let's wait for
another two, three weeks and hegave like pain medication and
stuff, took it and then somehowit reduced a lot and I think by
around October mid, which waslike a month since my injury, I
(00:21):
was almost all right, but then aweek later, later it became
worse again.
So I rushed to him again andthen he ordered an MRI and by, I
think, early November, sometimearound first week of November,
it was confirmed that I havethree bulging discs.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Welcome to Bed Back and Beyond, sharing positive
stories of recovery from seriousback or neck injury.
Your host is CK, a fellowchampion who draws on her own
experience with herniated discsurgery.
Join her as she talks withothers who have overcome the
physical and emotional trauma ofa painful injury and discover
(01:01):
for yourself how you can findhope and encouragement in
recovery.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Hi Mahesh.
Thank you so much for joiningme on this episode of Bed, back
and Beyond.
Before we talk about yourinjury, how about you tell us a
little bit about yourself?
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Sure, first of all, thank you so much for having me
on the podcast.
So yeah, mahesh, here I'mcurrently based out of my
hometown, bengaluru.
It's in the south of India, butbefore this I lived in Sweden
for around two and a half yearsand I work as a software
engineer.
So yeah, that's a little bitabout me.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
How long have you been doing software engineer?
It's been around six, six and ahalf years now, and in your
hobby life what kind of did youdo?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
outdoor activities, traveling, yeah, so I love
travel and that's one of themain reasons I moved as well.
I thought of like exploring allof Europe, and also I do a bit
of photography, so I usuallypost on social media and like
have some photos taken.
So, yeah, that's mostly what Ido on the side.
(02:07):
Okay, not that much of a sportsperson, but yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So then, when did you start to know that something
was wrong with your back?
Speaker 1 (02:17):
So I actually had the injury twice.
So the first time was sometimein 2020 this was right after
COVID so I was still in Indiaand here the there was like
curfew everywhere.
I couldn't even get out of homefor a long time.
So sometime around September2020 I moved a lot of furniture
(02:41):
around at home and then I felt alike a sharp pain going down my
leg on the left side.
But I was like 23.
At that time I was like it'sjust some muscle pain.
I just ignored it.
But it became very bad.
The whole leg became stiff andthen my whole back was stiff.
So I thought it's some musclething.
(03:02):
I gave it like three, four days.
I was suffering, but I wasworking from home so I didn't
really feel too much of aproblem.
So I somehow managed.
And then it was still not gone.
So I just called up my aunt.
She's a doctor, so yeahdefinitely.
She said it might be a bit morethan just a muscle thing.
(03:24):
So she told me to contact likea specialist, contacted an ortho
specialist, like orthopedicspecialist, and he said like
yeah, let's see, let's wait foranother two, three weeks and he
gave like pain medication andstuff, took it and then somehow
it reduced a lot.
Somehow it reduced a lot and Ithink by around October mid,
(03:50):
which was like a month since myinjury, I was almost all right.
But then a week later it becameworse again.
So I rushed to him again andthen he ordered an MRI and by I
think early November, sometimearound first week of November,
it was confirmed that I havethree bulging discs, three L3,
yeah, what kind of furniture?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
were you moving?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
I still don't know.
I still regret it, but ithappened.
So it was L3, l4, l4, l5, andL5, s1.
But only L4, l5,.
Sorry, l5, s1 was the worst.
It had like nerve rootcompression.
So he said surgery looks likethe only option.
But again my aunt wasn'tconvinced.
(04:36):
She was like no, don't need asurgery, let's meet a
neurosurgeon.
So I consulted a neurosurgeonand then this was almost like
end of november by then.
And then he said, yeah, at yourage, looking at your thing,
there are no deficits, nothingrequired.
Let's do physiotherapy.
It will go so around februaryof 2021.
(05:00):
I was completely fine, like Icould sit down, squat, squat, do
everything.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Because you did physical therapy.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yeah, I would say so Okay, regularly.
I used to do like he had taughtme a lot of exercises, so I
used to do it at home and thendid a bit of yoga as well.
By February I was completelyall right.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Wow, so September to February?
And was it hard for you to makethese appointments with COVID
going on?
Speaker 1 (05:29):
So there were a lot of steps I had to take
beforehand, like I had to a lotof times have like a negative
certificate.
But I think by then the curveswere lifted quite a bit.
So I was lucky enough to go tothe hospital directly.
Except for tests I didn't haveto do much all the time.
So I was really lucky in thataspect.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I can't imagine.
The fear of COVID and thenhaving to deal with such an
injury at the same time Musthave freaked you out.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Oh, definitely, I think it freaked out my family a
lot more.
I was kind of clueless.
It helped be my favorite, Iguess, but they were quite
freaked out.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
So then February, you were feeling better and you
went back to normal living.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Pretty much.
I did everything.
I even started biking again.
So I used to like bike around abit a couple of kilometers.
It's a bit tough in the citywhere I live, so I used to go in
and around.
So I started doing it again,even started riding my like bike
, like you know motorcycle,everything.
So I was completely fine andthat's why I ended up moving to
(06:35):
sweden by end of 2021.
So sometime in november I movedto stockholm.
I joined a startup there.
Everything's amazing.
I traveled for two and a halfyears.
It went really well, but Ithink beginning of 2024 I
started becoming a bit lazierlike the winter there is quite
harsh, you might know so I was abit lazy and then I stopped
(06:59):
going to the gym.
Uh, I stopped exercising quitea lot and, uh, I took a vacation
to visit australia.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Uh, in august, isn't it even hotter there?
Speaker 1 (07:16):
yeah.
But uh, one of my close friendslived there.
He was like come, come, come.
So I I was like, okay, let's doit.
So I took like a 11, 12 hourjourney by flight.
Two flights did everything.
Everything was fine.
By end of August I went there.
But September I was doing a lotof road trips, and one one fine
(07:38):
day by evening I couldn't getout of the car.
So by lunch it was stiffeningup, like I could feel my back
being very stiff.
I was scared that it might bethe same thing coming again.
But I was like I can't comeagain.
It's been like three yearssince it happened.
How can it come back?
And then by evening when wereached back to our place, I
(08:00):
couldn't get out of the car.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Wow, was it just your back, or by the evening did you
have like pain down the leg aswell?
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Pain down the leg and my whole left leg was stiff
again, like completely stiff,wow, and I couldn't even like go
down an inch.
So I realized, okay, it must beback.
Not a great feeling when I wentthere to vacation, right, and I
was also in a country where Ididn't know anything right.
Thankfully my friend was superhelpful so I even visited the
(08:32):
emergency there.
They just said like I had somemuscle spasm.
It will go away, but I wasdying in pain.
I told them I have a 11 hourflight back.
Give me something.
So they gave like two or threelike pain medication, like
literally three tablets.
I had my return flight to India.
I was going to visit India andthen I was going to go back to
Stockholm.
So thankfully in a week fromthere I came to India.
(08:56):
I somehow survived the flightand again went to the
neurosurgeon.
He immediately ordered an MRI.
It was confirmed again that itwas a proper herniation, this
time in L5-S1.
And it was much worse than lasttime because it had become weak
, right Like the disc had becomeweak.
So it was worse.
(09:17):
And then he said, like you know, like quick recovery, get a
surgery done, you will be backto normal in a few weeks.
You can continue, it will healalso well because you're young.
But I was in cross minds.
He also said like if you wantto take it, really we can wait.
There is no emergency.
So I had to get back to swedenbecause of my visa.
(09:40):
So I went back to sweden in aweek's time, started the process
to get a medical appointmentthere, went to the GP, they said
let's wait six weeks.
The whole process took mealmost end of February to get an
appointment there again to meeta specialist.
So the MRI took almost twomonths since I started the
(10:01):
process there and then thespecialist appointment took
three months since I started.
So all in all it was around sixmonths since I got a specialist
opinion there.
But thankfully between all ofthis one of my colleagues
recommended me a physicaltherapist.
There was amazing, I was yeah, Iwas really, you know, like I.
(10:24):
I healed almost like 60-70%.
I would say he was really goodand then I exercised everything
again.
So by that time I met thespecialist there.
Except for the stiffness in mylower back, I was kind of fine.
Like pain was there a littlebit, but it was all blunt pain.
At certain points it was notshooting pain anymore.
(10:46):
And then, yeah, I after that Ieven decided to move back to my
hometown.
So, yeah, but now I'm, I wouldsay, like 95% all right.
Only if I sit for long hours Iget a bit of pain, but otherwise
it's fine.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
And did you try anything else like steroids or a
steroid injection?
Speaker 1 (11:07):
No, so actually I was quite scared, to be honest.
So that's when I startedresearching a lot and stumbled
across your podcast, right, so Iam super appreciative of it.
I saw a lot of people who gothealed without anything, and I
also got to know how the processlooks like, and so I was quite
(11:28):
convinced that, okay, surgery,unless I'm not able to manage
daily life, I'm not gonna get it.
When people can heal withoutsurgery, I pretty much can.
And then, secondly, gettinglike a jab to your spine, I was
super scared.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
I think I was more scared.
I had the spinal injection onetime and I think I was more
scared.
I had the spinal injection onetime and I think I was more
scared about the injection thanI was about the surgery.
Somebody just going through theback with a needle.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
I was like yeah, right, yeah, but how did it work
for you?
Like was it like it came backworse so you had to get surgery?
Like was it like it came backworse so you had to get surgery,
or what was it like?
Speaker 3 (12:10):
So I got the injection and I felt good for
two weeks and then after the twoweeks the pain just started to
come back to full, to the sameheight that it was before the
injection.
So when I followed up with theinjection doctor he said we can
do another injection or we canjust go send you to a surgeon.
(12:33):
And, like I said, I was nervousabout the injection and I
wasn't too crazy about gettingmultiple cortisone injections in
my body.
So I just said, send me to thesurgeon.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
In my body.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
So I just said send me to the surgeon.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
That scare actually put me away and then I somehow
managed to get out of it withoutthat.
But of course, like in between,I did take a lot of like muscle
relaxants for a period,Especially in Stockholm.
The GP said, like we usuallyprescribe like heavy muscle
relaxants and painkillers forlike six weeks before we end up
(13:11):
going for other options.
So I did take it for like aweek but then I started feeling
quite like grumpy and all overthe place and I used to take it.
I had to work as well, so Istopped them.
Yeah, all in all, I guess itworked out fine yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Do you do a lot of sitting with your, with your job
?
Unfortunately, yes.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
As a software engineer I used to sit like
eight, 10 hours straight a day,but after this injury second
time right I've become way toocareful.
Now I try myself the best tonot sit if I'm not needed to sit
like except for meetings andstuff.
You might realize I'm standingactually as I speak.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Oh are you.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yeah, nice yeah, so I prefer standing yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Yeah, I had to modify my work station because I would
I lean over a desk a lot atwork.
I stand and I lean over.
So I have two differentstations.
And then the other station is afreezer that I have to reach
down into.
So I now have a raised desk atmy first station so that I can
(14:20):
stand straight up all the time.
There's not much I can do forthe second station.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, but this standing is a
lifesaver.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
I've been doing the job for 20 years and you know,
you never think, ah, anythingwill happen to me, I'm young,
and then then I turned 40.
What do you think it was aboutyour physio that worked so well?
Any ideas?
Speaker 1 (14:44):
So I think it's like the reason I reached there in
the first place is because I hada very sedentary lifestyle,
like I'm not a very outdoorsports kind of guy.
I love travel, but I used tosit a lot, not follow anything
much, right, so I ended up therebecause of that.
But I think the recent physiomade me realize how important it
(15:05):
is to like, even if yourmuscles hurt a bit, it's
important to stretch and makethem relax, right, I used to be
stiff all the time, like my backused to be stiff.
I used to be in general stiff,stressed out quite a bit and all
.
So he kind of made me realizethat I need to work out, I need
to relax my muscles, I need tobuild them up to heal.
(15:27):
Uh, I think that was the mainthing.
And then he also took me to thegym and he personally taught me
, like what equipments I can use, uh, safely, yeah, and what
reps I can do, what weights Ican do, how to take it forward.
So, yeah, this was super, supernice and this is the first time
any physio has done this right,so highly appreciate his this
(15:51):
thing, like the way he took it,and he's been in the field for
like 30 years now, so he's likevery experienced.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
So I was like super lucky to get him yeah, which, uh
, which machines did he say youcan use at the gym?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I'm not sure I remember the names, but I can
say, like things that don'treally put a weight on my lower
back, uh, especially those.
And I think some of the thingshe taught me was like especially
like exercises by lying down,so especially like lying down on
my face forward and then likelifting weights on the side on
(16:25):
the bench, okay, and when I laybackward I have to lift my hips
and my back.
This is one of the main things.
And then he also taught me,like while sitting, I can like
pull down, right, like pullingdown weights Okay, yeah, pull
down, but not lifting from thebottom, right, yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Did he give you a weight limit, like don't go over
a certain amount of weight?
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Yes, I was about to say pounds.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
It's probably kilograms right.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yes, I'm so sorry, but I'll probably keep it in kgs
.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
That's fine.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yeah.
So my neurosurgeon clearly toldme if you're going to carry
anything on your back, if you'regoing to walk long distances,
don't go anything above five toeight kgs.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
And then the physio told me if you're going to lift
weights, if you're lifting yourown body weight, totally fine,
do it.
But if you're going to liftextra weights, then start with
three to five kgs.
See how you feel.
If you're feeling a lot ofpressure on your back, reduce.
If you're completely fine, youfeel strong enough, then slowly
(17:37):
increase by like half a kg or akg.
So five to eight kgs is mylimit.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Okay, Now have you come up with a routine to make
sure you don't get lazy againand stop exercising?
Speaker 1 (17:52):
yes, the second time was super bad, so I think I've
learned my lesson.
So I and also the one otherthing both of them suggested I
forgot to mention right is yogaand walking and swimming.
So these three things theysuggested, I have tried all of
them and I can wholeheartedlyrecommend walking and swimming
(18:15):
really well, like works reallywell for me, uh and uh.
Yeah, I walk every day in themorning.
Like the first thing I do islike get myself up, go walk,
walk a few kilometers and thendo a bit of stretching, like I
do a bit of yoga, and then,without doing this in the
morning, I don't start anything,like if I get into my phone or
(18:39):
you know, like open my laptop orsomething.
It's not going to happen, so Imake sure I do that.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
That's discipline, would you say.
You've learned anything aboutyourself during this.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
That's a bit of a tough one, but I'll probably
keep it to like two, threepoints, right?
I think one thing I reallylearned was the second time it
happened I was really scared.
Like the first time I kind ofignored it.
I didn't even feel that it's soserious, I have to get it
checked, until my aunt told meto.
So the second time I was veryscared, a because I was in a
(19:13):
country where neither I wasliving nor I had anything any
idea how it's going to be rightif this ends up becoming worse,
I end up becoming like not ableto walk and stuff.
So I was really scared.
So that made me realize that, oh, like, the support system
around me matters so much.
So that was probably one of thereasons I even moved back home,
(19:36):
right, I think it's better tobe around people.
I realized it.
And then, secondly, I realizedthat, yeah, things are not gonna
work the way you have thoughtit will.
So in India it's very easy,right, like I just like book an
appointment with a specialist.
I meet them in like a week max,unless they're like super,
super, you know, occupied.
(19:57):
It's very easy, sometimes nextday, but in Sweden it took me
almost six months to meet aspecialist.
Yeah, so, yeah, I realized that, oh, things don't work the way
you think they do.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
I just spoke to.
I spoke to a woman named Aditiwho was living in Sweden and she
, you know, she got hurt in thesummer and she said all the
doctors are on vacation duringthe summer in Sweden.
And she got hurt in the summerand she said all the doctors are
on vacation during the summerin Sweden, so she had to wait
quite a long time.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Yeah yeah, that's the kind of trend and I think if
you have private healthcare it'sway faster.
Unfortunately, I didn't have aprivate insurance so my employer
didn't take one and I wasn'taware I need to take one.
So public healthcare is a bitslow, I would say.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Right.
Is it public health care inIndia or is it private in India?
Speaker 1 (20:47):
It's fully private.
I mean, we do have publichealth care, but it's usually
like we don't prefer.
We prefer to have, like,private health care.
Ok, it's much easier to affordhere and it's yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Yeah, I've talked to a few people from the UK as well
, and it's the same thing.
It's, it's the publichealthcare, but if they want to
get treated faster, they have togo private and pay for it
themselves.
Yeah, unfortunately, yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
But I I I've heard in the us it's insurance covers
everything.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Uh, insurance covers everything.
Is that what you heard?
No, I don't know so much, noinsurance does not cover
everything oh yeah yeah, yeah,so you know, I, I pay 800 a
month for insurance and then.
But I have something called adeductible, which I don't know,
(21:41):
if you know what that means Ihave to spend $7,000 each for me
and then my husband beforeinsurance will then take over
and start.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
That's quite expensive.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
There's a million different insurance plans.
One will pay more, one will payless.
It all depends on what you have.
But then you'll still have somespecialists will still have a a
three-month wait before you caneven get to them.
Yeah, yeah so it's hard todecide which one's better,
public or private, because theyboth have their ups and downs.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, I can imagine.
But that's a long wait.
I mean especially in that painright.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Right?
Yeah, I don't think there wasany way I could have waited.
How many months you waited andrelied on physical therapy.
I was in so much pain Icouldn't even go to work.
Yeah.
But they say a large majorityof herniations can heal without
surgery.
I think it's like 90% orsomething.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
I've heard quite similar.
Yeah, but yeah, I think being abit scared helped me.
So I avoided like but of coursethe pain was horrible, right.
Like sometimes I used to justlike come off from work in the
afternoon, Like I used to standand work the whole day, but
sometimes the pain used to getso bad by like two, three in the
(23:06):
afternoon.
I just used to come home andthen you know like, log in from
home, lie down, work.
So yeah, there were thosehorrible days, but I hope they
don't come back again.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
So where, would you say, your pain level is now, so
my pain is almost not there inday-to-day basis.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
It only flares up if I do something really stupid,
like let's say I lift something,or you know, like I do some bad
movements like twist a lot, sitlot, yeah, it kind of comes to
like a level two uh.
But by the next day, if I getgood sleep, I'm mostly fine
that's great.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
And did they tell you how big your herniation was?
Were they able to tell you?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
I, I mean, I'm so sorry I don't remember.
They did tell me like themeasurements and stuff, but I do
have one deficit, or at least Ihad one small deficit.
My big toe doesn't have anypower, so when they tested it
just goes down.
Could have healed by now, butI'm not sure.
But other than that, I havevery, very little like reflex
(24:18):
loss in my left ankle.
Other than that, yeah, it'scompressing on like the L5-S1
nerve root quite a bit.
But yeah, other than that Idon't know the exact numbers.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Yeah, that's fine.
Yeah, mine was L5-S1 also.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
That's very common right, Always happens.
Yeah, L5-S1 also.
That's very common right,Always happens.
I'm just curious, what made youthink?
Speaker 3 (24:49):
like, okay, I have to go and get it treated
immediately.
I had a little bit of a slowprogress.
I hurt my back in April, at theend of April, and it was just
back pain.
But then the pain started totravel and first it went to the
right side of my glute and theneventually it moved to the left
side of my glute.
And normally if you throw outyour back that's what we call it
(25:10):
in the US it's usually betterin three weeks.
But April May.
But April May, beginning ofJune, it still wasn't better.
And then I started havingreally sharp stabbing pain in my
left glute.
And then the end of June iswhen I rolled over to get out of
(25:33):
bed in the morning and got hitwith the herniation pain.
So it took my husband two hoursto get me from the bedroom to
the living room.
I can imagine.
Yeah, yeah, it took my husbandtwo hours to get me from the
bedroom to the living room.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
I can imagine yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Yeah, Only.
Only those who've herniatedknow that that kind of pain.
Yeah, so I tried physicaltherapy for a couple of weeks.
I almost passed out in physicaltherapy at one point.
They were having me do thisbecause I was walking crooked
like this, so they have you dothis like side to side movement.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
But I think I had a tear in the Dora and so when I
would do the side to sidemovement, the pressure in the
canal made me almost pass out.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Increase.
Yeah, that's hard, so I had tolay down yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
So then the physical therapist was like I think you
need to go back and see yourdoctor.
We tried the injection and itonly worked for two weeks.
You know, when the injectiondoctor said you should see a
surgeon, Then I was like fine,fine, I'll go see a surgeon,
because the pain was back to alevel 10.
(26:47):
So physical therapy didn't help.
I almost passed out.
The injection didn't help and Iwas missing work and I wasn't
getting paid.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
That's unnecessary pressure, right.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Yeah, yeah.
So so all those things,together.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Yeah, that's pretty hard.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
Yeah, and it's funny.
I you know, the herniation wasthe end of June.
My, my surgery was the end ofAugust.
So when I say that it soundsreally fast right, but it felt
like forever.
I like I was gonna be stuck inthis pain and never go back to
work, and how are we gonna payour bills and and all that stuff
yeah, yeah, that's pretty bad,but I I'm glad that you're all
(27:31):
right now yes, thank you.
Yes, yeah, it was a toughrecovery, but I'm I'm glad I did
the, because it turns out mydisc was glued to the spinal
cord with scar tissue so itwould never come off of there.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
They said something similar to me.
I think there's a bit ofcalcification.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
So they said like you might have recurrences because
it healing fully is not lookinglikely, but if it heals enough
that the calcification doesn'thurt you more, then you'll be
fine.
Yeah, so I guess it mighthappen again, but I don't know
(28:14):
like, maybe with like goodexercise it shouldn't right,
right, and it's so interesting.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
I don't know if you've heard this before, but
there's a large number of peoplewho were, who walk around with
a herniated disc and have noidea because they never had pain
.
Yeah, so so weird how the bodyworks.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Right Awesome.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
So what would you have to say to anyone who is
currently in pain with aherniated disc?
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Seeing from my own experience and learning from a
lot of experiences, right, Iwould say there is hope.
It's not like some of theinjuries where it won't heal at
all.
You have multiple therapyoptions, right.
Everything from it healing onits own to physical therapy,
yoga, a lot of other likenatural therapies, surgery.
(29:04):
So I think this is one suchcondition which has a lot of
hope than quite a lot of otherissues.
So I would say, like it's goodto not lose hope and case they
would do surgery.
It's going to hurt a bit for alonger time, but it should be
okay.
You will be able to come to asituation where you will be, you
(29:26):
know, manageable every day.
Yeah, that's what I can say.
Yeah, there is hope, there istreatment.
Don't lose hope.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Don't lose hope.
Thank you so much, Mahesh.
I'm so glad you reached out onmy website and I'm so glad to
hear that you're feeling so muchbetter without surgery.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Thanks again for having me and I really hope you
continue this good work.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Oh, thank you.
If you are a listener who has apositive story of recovery from
a serious back or neck injury,head over to my website
BedBackBbeyondcom and clickshare your story.
I would love to include yourvoice on the show.
Once again, mahish, thank youso much.
It was a pleasure meeting you.
Thank you.
I contacted an ortho specialist, like orthopedic
specialist, and he said likeyeah, let's see, let's wait for
another two, three weeks and hegave like pain medication and
stuff, took it and then somehowit reduced a lot and I think by
around October mid, which waslike a month since my injury, I
(00:21):
was almost all right, but then aweek later, later it became
worse again.
So I rushed to him again andthen he ordered an MRI and by, I
think, early November, sometimearound first week of November,
it was confirmed that I havethree bulging discs.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Welcome to Bed Back and Beyond, sharing positive
stories of recovery from seriousback or neck injury.
Your host is CK, a fellowchampion who draws on her own
experience with herniated discsurgery.
Join her as she talks withothers who have overcome the
physical and emotional trauma ofa painful injury and discover
(01:01):
for yourself how you can findhope and encouragement in
recovery.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Hi Mahesh.
Thank you so much for joiningme on this episode of Bed, back
and Beyond.
Before we talk about yourinjury, how about you tell us a
little bit about yourself?
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Sure, first of all, thank you so much for having me
on the podcast.
So yeah, mahesh, here I'mcurrently based out of my
hometown, bengaluru.
It's in the south of India, butbefore this I lived in Sweden
for around two and a half yearsand I work as a software
engineer.
So yeah, that's a little bitabout me.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
How long have you been doing software engineer?
It's been around six, six and ahalf years now, and in your
hobby life what kind of did youdo?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
outdoor activities, traveling, yeah, so I love
travel and that's one of themain reasons I moved as well.
I thought of like exploring allof Europe, and also I do a bit
of photography, so I usuallypost on social media and like
have some photos taken.
So, yeah, that's mostly what Ido on the side.
(02:07):
Okay, not that much of a sportsperson, but yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So then, when did you start to know that something
was wrong with your back?
Speaker 1 (02:17):
So I actually had the injury twice.
So the first time was sometimein 2020 this was right after
COVID so I was still in Indiaand here the there was like
curfew everywhere.
I couldn't even get out of homefor a long time.
So sometime around September2020 I moved a lot of furniture
(02:41):
around at home and then I felt alike a sharp pain going down my
leg on the left side.
But I was like 23.
At that time I was like it'sjust some muscle pain.
I just ignored it.
But it became very bad.
The whole leg became stiff andthen my whole back was stiff.
So I thought it's some musclething.
(03:02):
I gave it like three, four days.
I was suffering, but I wasworking from home so I didn't
really feel too much of aproblem.
So I somehow managed.
And then it was still not gone.
So I just called up my aunt.
She's a doctor, so yeahdefinitely.
She said it might be a bit morethan just a muscle thing.
(03:24):
So she told me to contact likea specialist, contacted an ortho
specialist, like orthopedicspecialist, and he said like
yeah, let's see, let's wait foranother two, three weeks and he
gave like pain medication andstuff, took it and then somehow
it reduced a lot.
Somehow it reduced a lot and Ithink by around October mid,
(03:50):
which was like a month since myinjury, I was almost all right.
But then a week later it becameworse again.
So I rushed to him again andthen he ordered an MRI and by I
think early November, sometimearound first week of November,
it was confirmed that I havethree bulging discs, three L3,
yeah, what kind of furniture?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
were you moving?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
I still don't know.
I still regret it, but ithappened.
So it was L3, l4, l4, l5, andL5, s1.
But only L4, l5,.
Sorry, l5, s1 was the worst.
It had like nerve rootcompression.
So he said surgery looks likethe only option.
But again my aunt wasn'tconvinced.
(04:36):
She was like no, don't need asurgery, let's meet a
neurosurgeon.
So I consulted a neurosurgeonand then this was almost like
end of november by then.
And then he said, yeah, at yourage, looking at your thing,
there are no deficits, nothingrequired.
Let's do physiotherapy.
It will go so around februaryof 2021.
(05:00):
I was completely fine, like Icould sit down, squat, squat, do
everything.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Because you did physical therapy.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yeah, I would say so Okay, regularly.
I used to do like he had taughtme a lot of exercises, so I
used to do it at home and thendid a bit of yoga as well.
By February I was completelyall right.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Wow, so September to February?
And was it hard for you to makethese appointments with COVID
going on?
Speaker 1 (05:29):
So there were a lot of steps I had to take
beforehand, like I had to a lotof times have like a negative
certificate.
But I think by then the curveswere lifted quite a bit.
So I was lucky enough to go tothe hospital directly.
Except for tests I didn't haveto do much all the time.
So I was really lucky in thataspect.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I can't imagine.
The fear of COVID and thenhaving to deal with such an
injury at the same time Musthave freaked you out.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Oh, definitely, I think it freaked out my family a
lot more.
I was kind of clueless.
It helped be my favorite, Iguess, but they were quite
freaked out.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
So then February, you were feeling better and you
went back to normal living.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Pretty much.
I did everything.
I even started biking again.
So I used to like bike around abit a couple of kilometers.
It's a bit tough in the citywhere I live, so I used to go in
and around.
So I started doing it again,even started riding my like bike
, like you know motorcycle,everything.
So I was completely fine andthat's why I ended up moving to
(06:35):
sweden by end of 2021.
So sometime in november I movedto stockholm.
I joined a startup there.
Everything's amazing.
I traveled for two and a halfyears.
It went really well, but Ithink beginning of 2024 I
started becoming a bit lazierlike the winter there is quite
harsh, you might know so I was abit lazy and then I stopped
(06:59):
going to the gym.
Uh, I stopped exercising quitea lot and, uh, I took a vacation
to visit australia.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Uh, in august, isn't it even hotter there?
Speaker 1 (07:16):
yeah.
But uh, one of my close friendslived there.
He was like come, come, come.
So I I was like, okay, let's doit.
So I took like a 11, 12 hourjourney by flight.
Two flights did everything.
Everything was fine.
By end of August I went there.
But September I was doing a lotof road trips, and one one fine
(07:38):
day by evening I couldn't getout of the car.
So by lunch it was stiffeningup, like I could feel my back
being very stiff.
I was scared that it might bethe same thing coming again.
But I was like I can't comeagain.
It's been like three yearssince it happened.
How can it come back?
And then by evening when wereached back to our place, I
(08:00):
couldn't get out of the car.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Wow, was it just your back, or by the evening did you
have like pain down the leg aswell?
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Pain down the leg and my whole left leg was stiff
again, like completely stiff,wow, and I couldn't even like go
down an inch.
So I realized, okay, it must beback.
Not a great feeling when I wentthere to vacation, right, and I
was also in a country where Ididn't know anything right.
Thankfully my friend was superhelpful so I even visited the
(08:32):
emergency there.
They just said like I had somemuscle spasm.
It will go away, but I wasdying in pain.
I told them I have a 11 hourflight back.
Give me something.
So they gave like two or threelike pain medication, like
literally three tablets.
I had my return flight to India.
I was going to visit India andthen I was going to go back to
Stockholm.
So thankfully in a week fromthere I came to India.
(08:56):
I somehow survived the flightand again went to the
neurosurgeon.
He immediately ordered an MRI.
It was confirmed again that itwas a proper herniation, this
time in L5-S1.
And it was much worse than lasttime because it had become weak
, right Like the disc had becomeweak.
So it was worse.
(09:17):
And then he said, like you know, like quick recovery, get a
surgery done, you will be backto normal in a few weeks.
You can continue, it will healalso well because you're young.
But I was in cross minds.
He also said like if you wantto take it, really we can wait.
There is no emergency.
So I had to get back to swedenbecause of my visa.
(09:40):
So I went back to sweden in aweek's time, started the process
to get a medical appointmentthere, went to the GP, they said
let's wait six weeks.
The whole process took mealmost end of February to get an
appointment there again to meeta specialist.
So the MRI took almost twomonths since I started the
(10:01):
process there and then thespecialist appointment took
three months since I started.
So all in all it was around sixmonths since I got a specialist
opinion there.
But thankfully between all ofthis one of my colleagues
recommended me a physicaltherapist.
There was amazing, I was yeah, Iwas really, you know, like I.
(10:24):
I healed almost like 60-70%.
I would say he was really goodand then I exercised everything
again.
So by that time I met thespecialist there.
Except for the stiffness in mylower back, I was kind of fine.
Like pain was there a littlebit, but it was all blunt pain.
At certain points it was notshooting pain anymore.
(10:46):
And then, yeah, I after that Ieven decided to move back to my
hometown.
So, yeah, but now I'm, I wouldsay, like 95% all right.
Only if I sit for long hours Iget a bit of pain, but otherwise
it's fine.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
And did you try anything else like steroids or a
steroid injection?
Speaker 1 (11:07):
No, so actually I was quite scared, to be honest.
So that's when I startedresearching a lot and stumbled
across your podcast, right, so Iam super appreciative of it.
I saw a lot of people who gothealed without anything, and I
also got to know how the processlooks like, and so I was quite
(11:28):
convinced that, okay, surgery,unless I'm not able to manage
daily life, I'm not gonna get it.
When people can heal withoutsurgery, I pretty much can.
And then, secondly, gettinglike a jab to your spine, I was
super scared.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
I think I was more scared.
I had the spinal injection onetime and I think I was more
scared.
I had the spinal injection onetime and I think I was more
scared about the injection thanI was about the surgery.
Somebody just going through theback with a needle.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
I was like yeah, right, yeah, but how did it work
for you?
Like was it like it came backworse so you had to get surgery?
Like was it like it came backworse so you had to get surgery,
or what was it like?
Speaker 3 (12:10):
So I got the injection and I felt good for
two weeks and then after the twoweeks the pain just started to
come back to full, to the sameheight that it was before the
injection.
So when I followed up with theinjection doctor he said we can
do another injection or we canjust go send you to a surgeon.
(12:33):
And, like I said, I was nervousabout the injection and I
wasn't too crazy about gettingmultiple cortisone injections in
my body.
So I just said, send me to thesurgeon.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
In my body.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
So I just said send me to the surgeon.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
That scare actually put me away and then I somehow
managed to get out of it withoutthat.
But of course, like in between,I did take a lot of like muscle
relaxants for a period,Especially in Stockholm.
The GP said, like we usuallyprescribe like heavy muscle
relaxants and painkillers forlike six weeks before we end up
(13:11):
going for other options.
So I did take it for like aweek but then I started feeling
quite like grumpy and all overthe place and I used to take it.
I had to work as well, so Istopped them.
Yeah, all in all, I guess itworked out fine yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Do you do a lot of sitting with your, with your job
?
Unfortunately, yes.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
As a software engineer I used to sit like
eight, 10 hours straight a day,but after this injury second
time right I've become way toocareful.
Now I try myself the best tonot sit if I'm not needed to sit
like except for meetings andstuff.
You might realize I'm standingactually as I speak.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Oh are you.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yeah, nice yeah, so I prefer standing yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Yeah, I had to modify my work station because I would
I lean over a desk a lot atwork.
I stand and I lean over.
So I have two differentstations.
And then the other station is afreezer that I have to reach
down into.
So I now have a raised desk atmy first station so that I can
(14:20):
stand straight up all the time.
There's not much I can do forthe second station.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, but this standing is a
lifesaver.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
I've been doing the job for 20 years and you know,
you never think, ah, anythingwill happen to me, I'm young,
and then then I turned 40.
What do you think it was aboutyour physio that worked so well?
Any ideas?
Speaker 1 (14:44):
So I think it's like the reason I reached there in
the first place is because I hada very sedentary lifestyle,
like I'm not a very outdoorsports kind of guy.
I love travel, but I used tosit a lot, not follow anything
much, right, so I ended up therebecause of that.
But I think the recent physiomade me realize how important it
(15:05):
is to like, even if yourmuscles hurt a bit, it's
important to stretch and makethem relax, right, I used to be
stiff all the time, like my backused to be stiff.
I used to be in general stiff,stressed out quite a bit and all
.
So he kind of made me realizethat I need to work out, I need
to relax my muscles, I need tobuild them up to heal.
(15:27):
Uh, I think that was the mainthing.
And then he also took me to thegym and he personally taught me
, like what equipments I can use, uh, safely, yeah, and what
reps I can do, what weights Ican do, how to take it forward.
So, yeah, this was super, supernice and this is the first time
any physio has done this right,so highly appreciate his this
(15:51):
thing, like the way he took it,and he's been in the field for
like 30 years now, so he's likevery experienced.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
So I was like super lucky to get him yeah, which, uh
, which machines did he say youcan use at the gym?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I'm not sure I remember the names, but I can
say, like things that don'treally put a weight on my lower
back, uh, especially those.
And I think some of the thingshe taught me was like especially
like exercises by lying down,so especially like lying down on
my face forward and then likelifting weights on the side on
(16:25):
the bench, okay, and when I laybackward I have to lift my hips
and my back.
This is one of the main things.
And then he also taught me,like while sitting, I can like
pull down, right, like pullingdown weights Okay, yeah, pull
down, but not lifting from thebottom, right, yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Did he give you a weight limit, like don't go over
a certain amount of weight?
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Yes, I was about to say pounds.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
It's probably kilograms right.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yes, I'm so sorry, but I'll probably keep it in kgs
.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
That's fine.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yeah.
So my neurosurgeon clearly toldme if you're going to carry
anything on your back, if you'regoing to walk long distances,
don't go anything above five toeight kgs.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
And then the physio told me if you're going to lift
weights, if you're lifting yourown body weight, totally fine,
do it.
But if you're going to liftextra weights, then start with
three to five kgs.
See how you feel.
If you're feeling a lot ofpressure on your back, reduce.
If you're completely fine, youfeel strong enough, then slowly
(17:37):
increase by like half a kg or akg.
So five to eight kgs is mylimit.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Okay, Now have you come up with a routine to make
sure you don't get lazy againand stop exercising?
Speaker 1 (17:52):
yes, the second time was super bad, so I think I've
learned my lesson.
So I and also the one otherthing both of them suggested I
forgot to mention right is yogaand walking and swimming.
So these three things theysuggested, I have tried all of
them and I can wholeheartedlyrecommend walking and swimming
(18:15):
really well, like works reallywell for me, uh and uh.
Yeah, I walk every day in themorning.
Like the first thing I do islike get myself up, go walk,
walk a few kilometers and thendo a bit of stretching, like I
do a bit of yoga, and then,without doing this in the
morning, I don't start anything,like if I get into my phone or
(18:39):
you know, like open my laptop orsomething.
It's not going to happen, so Imake sure I do that.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
That's discipline, would you say.
You've learned anything aboutyourself during this.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
That's a bit of a tough one, but I'll probably
keep it to like two, threepoints, right?
I think one thing I reallylearned was the second time it
happened I was really scared.
Like the first time I kind ofignored it.
I didn't even feel that it's soserious, I have to get it
checked, until my aunt told meto.
So the second time I was veryscared, a because I was in a
(19:13):
country where neither I wasliving nor I had anything any
idea how it's going to be rightif this ends up becoming worse,
I end up becoming like not ableto walk and stuff.
So I was really scared.
So that made me realize that, oh, like, the support system
around me matters so much.
So that was probably one of thereasons I even moved back home,
(19:36):
right, I think it's better tobe around people.
I realized it.
And then, secondly, I realizedthat, yeah, things are not gonna
work the way you have thoughtit will.
So in India it's very easy,right, like I just like book an
appointment with a specialist.
I meet them in like a week max,unless they're like super,
super, you know, occupied.
(19:57):
It's very easy, sometimes nextday, but in Sweden it took me
almost six months to meet aspecialist.
Yeah, so, yeah, I realized that, oh, things don't work the way
you think they do.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
I just spoke to.
I spoke to a woman named Aditiwho was living in Sweden and she
, you know, she got hurt in thesummer and she said all the
doctors are on vacation duringthe summer in Sweden.
And she got hurt in the summerand she said all the doctors are
on vacation during the summerin Sweden, so she had to wait
quite a long time.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Yeah yeah, that's the kind of trend and I think if
you have private healthcare it'sway faster.
Unfortunately, I didn't have aprivate insurance so my employer
didn't take one and I wasn'taware I need to take one.
So public healthcare is a bitslow, I would say.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Right.
Is it public health care inIndia or is it private in India?
Speaker 1 (20:47):
It's fully private.
I mean, we do have publichealth care, but it's usually
like we don't prefer.
We prefer to have, like,private health care.
Ok, it's much easier to affordhere and it's yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Yeah, I've talked to a few people from the UK as well
, and it's the same thing.
It's, it's the publichealthcare, but if they want to
get treated faster, they have togo private and pay for it
themselves.
Yeah, unfortunately, yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
But I I I've heard in the us it's insurance covers
everything.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Uh, insurance covers everything.
Is that what you heard?
No, I don't know so much, noinsurance does not cover
everything oh yeah yeah, yeah,so you know, I, I pay 800 a
month for insurance and then.
But I have something called adeductible, which I don't know,
(21:41):
if you know what that means Ihave to spend $7,000 each for me
and then my husband beforeinsurance will then take over
and start.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
That's quite expensive.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
There's a million different insurance plans.
One will pay more, one will payless.
It all depends on what you have.
But then you'll still have somespecialists will still have a a
three-month wait before you caneven get to them.
Yeah, yeah so it's hard todecide which one's better,
public or private, because theyboth have their ups and downs.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, I can imagine.
But that's a long wait.
I mean especially in that painright.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Right?
Yeah, I don't think there wasany way I could have waited.
How many months you waited andrelied on physical therapy.
I was in so much pain Icouldn't even go to work.
Yeah.
But they say a large majorityof herniations can heal without
surgery.
I think it's like 90% orsomething.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
I've heard quite similar.
Yeah, but yeah, I think being abit scared helped me.
So I avoided like but of coursethe pain was horrible, right.
Like sometimes I used to justlike come off from work in the
afternoon, Like I used to standand work the whole day, but
sometimes the pain used to getso bad by like two, three in the
(23:06):
afternoon.
I just used to come home andthen you know like, log in from
home, lie down, work.
So yeah, there were thosehorrible days, but I hope they
don't come back again.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
So where, would you say, your pain level is now, so
my pain is almost not there inday-to-day basis.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
It only flares up if I do something really stupid,
like let's say I lift something,or you know, like I do some bad
movements like twist a lot, sitlot, yeah, it kind of comes to
like a level two uh.
But by the next day, if I getgood sleep, I'm mostly fine
that's great.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
And did they tell you how big your herniation was?
Were they able to tell you?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
I, I mean, I'm so sorry I don't remember.
They did tell me like themeasurements and stuff, but I do
have one deficit, or at least Ihad one small deficit.
My big toe doesn't have anypower, so when they tested it
just goes down.
Could have healed by now, butI'm not sure.
But other than that, I havevery, very little like reflex
(24:18):
loss in my left ankle.
Other than that, yeah, it'scompressing on like the L5-S1
nerve root quite a bit.
But yeah, other than that Idon't know the exact numbers.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Yeah, that's fine.
Yeah, mine was L5-S1 also.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
That's very common right, Always happens.
Yeah, L5-S1 also.
That's very common right,Always happens.
I'm just curious, what made youthink?
Speaker 3 (24:49):
like, okay, I have to go and get it treated
immediately.
I had a little bit of a slowprogress.
I hurt my back in April, at theend of April, and it was just
back pain.
But then the pain started totravel and first it went to the
right side of my glute and theneventually it moved to the left
side of my glute.
And normally if you throw outyour back that's what we call it
(25:10):
in the US it's usually betterin three weeks.
But April May.
But April May, beginning ofJune, it still wasn't better.
And then I started havingreally sharp stabbing pain in my
left glute.
And then the end of June iswhen I rolled over to get out of
(25:33):
bed in the morning and got hitwith the herniation pain.
So it took my husband two hoursto get me from the bedroom to
the living room.
I can imagine.
Yeah, yeah, it took my husbandtwo hours to get me from the
bedroom to the living room.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
I can imagine yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Yeah, Only.
Only those who've herniatedknow that that kind of pain.
Yeah, so I tried physicaltherapy for a couple of weeks.
I almost passed out in physicaltherapy at one point.
They were having me do thisbecause I was walking crooked
like this, so they have you dothis like side to side movement.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
But I think I had a tear in the Dora and so when I
would do the side to sidemovement, the pressure in the
canal made me almost pass out.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Increase.
Yeah, that's hard, so I had tolay down yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
So then the physical therapist was like I think you
need to go back and see yourdoctor.
We tried the injection and itonly worked for two weeks.
You know, when the injectiondoctor said you should see a
surgeon, Then I was like fine,fine, I'll go see a surgeon,
because the pain was back to alevel 10.
(26:47):
So physical therapy didn't help.
I almost passed out.
The injection didn't help and Iwas missing work and I wasn't
getting paid.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
That's unnecessary pressure, right.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Yeah, yeah.
So so all those things,together.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Yeah, that's pretty hard.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
Yeah, and it's funny.
I you know, the herniation wasthe end of June.
My, my surgery was the end ofAugust.
So when I say that it soundsreally fast right, but it felt
like forever.
I like I was gonna be stuck inthis pain and never go back to
work, and how are we gonna payour bills and and all that stuff
yeah, yeah, that's pretty bad,but I I'm glad that you're all
(27:31):
right now yes, thank you.
Yes, yeah, it was a toughrecovery, but I'm I'm glad I did
the, because it turns out mydisc was glued to the spinal
cord with scar tissue so itwould never come off of there.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
They said something similar to me.
I think there's a bit ofcalcification.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
So they said like you might have recurrences because
it healing fully is not lookinglikely, but if it heals enough
that the calcification doesn'thurt you more, then you'll be
fine.
Yeah, so I guess it mighthappen again, but I don't know
(28:14):
like, maybe with like goodexercise it shouldn't right,
right, and it's so interesting.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
I don't know if you've heard this before, but
there's a large number of peoplewho were, who walk around with
a herniated disc and have noidea because they never had pain
.
Yeah, so so weird how the bodyworks.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Right Awesome.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
So what would you have to say to anyone who is
currently in pain with aherniated disc?
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Seeing from my own experience and learning from a
lot of experiences, right, Iwould say there is hope.
It's not like some of theinjuries where it won't heal at
all.
You have multiple therapyoptions, right.
Everything from it healing onits own to physical therapy,
yoga, a lot of other likenatural therapies, surgery.
(29:04):
So I think this is one suchcondition which has a lot of
hope than quite a lot of otherissues.
So I would say, like it's goodto not lose hope and case they
would do surgery.
It's going to hurt a bit for alonger time, but it should be
okay.
You will be able to come to asituation where you will be, you
(29:26):
know, manageable every day.
Yeah, that's what I can say.
Yeah, there is hope, there istreatment.
Don't lose hope.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Don't lose hope.
Thank you so much, Mahesh.
I'm so glad you reached out onmy website and I'm so glad to
hear that you're feeling so muchbetter without surgery.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Thanks again for having me and I really hope you
continue this good work.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Oh, thank you.
If you are a listener who has apositive story of recovery from
a serious back or neck injury,head over to my website
BedBackBbeyondcom and clickshare your story.
I would love to include yourvoice on the show.
Once again, mahish, thank youso much.
It was a pleasure meeting you.
Thank you.
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