Bulging discs heal themselves after 3 to 6 months on average.
It really depends on the entity of the disc herniation, but in most cases, surgery is not required to recover from an herniated disc: herniated disc heal on their own, assuming they are being take care of.
No surgery for disc herniation recovery doesn’t mean no treatment: no surgery means adequate conservative treatment for the bulging disc to heal properly.
Conservative treatment for bulging disc recovery requires 4 things:
- Proper medication
- Physical therapy
- Patience & awareness
- Common sense
How to heal a bulging disc in lower back naturally ?
If you are looking for a 100% natural recovery, you will have to figure out a way to relieve pain without painkillers and reduce inflammation with an anti-inflammatory diet.
I haven’t tried any of them, so my opinion doesn’t matter. What matters is that inflammation must be taken care of if you want your bulging disc to heal.
Proper medication
Bulging disc healing happens slowly: until it’s healed, the bulging disc will cause pain in the lower back and the sciatic nerve will cause pain in the buttocks, in the leg or the foot.
Like it or not, you are required to take your medication, as prescribed by your doctor. The medications have to goals:
- Painkillers
Painkillers help relieve the pain caused by the part of the bulging disc compressing the sciatic nerve - Anti-inflammatory
Inflammation is key in this condition. The part of the bulging disc compressing the sciatic nerve is affected by inflammation, and as is the sciatic nerve and the whole area where this occurs. Your meds will take care of that.
You are noticed: no meds = no bulging disc recovery
Physical therapy
The worst thing you can do when you have a bulging disc is avoid moving. You need to keep moving. Mobility is good for you. Mobility will help the bulging disc heal faster.
Your physical therapist will show you proper exercises & stretches that you should also do at home, on regular bases.
Don’t try to fight the pain: bulging disc exercises should be soft and should not increase the regular pain. Be careful with all the videos out there on Youtube & trust your PT.
This is mandatory: no exercices = no bulging disc recovery
Patience & awareness
Bulging disc recovery doesn’t happen over night. It’s a long process that can make your day to day life somewhat complicated.
Always be aware. Focus on the recovery, not on the obstacles.
The obstacles are just temporary, bulging disc recovery is permanent (hopefully).
Common sense
When you have a bulging disc condition, there are things you must do, there things you can do, and there are things you can not do at all.
Don’t try to get back to your normal life ahead of time. Do not do the sports you were doing before , do not wear heavy things, do not do anything that doesn’t make sense in your condition, even if you feel your condition is improving.
Until it’s completely healed, any strain you put on the bulging disc will delay the recovery and increase the recovery time.
Herniated disc from sciatica video
This video shows how an herniated disc causes sciatic nerve pain and how eventually, the condition resolves by itself.
It’s in french, but subtitled in English. Make sure you have subtitles enabled