The Path to Healing: My Struggle with a Herniated Disc

This book is written for informational purposes only, and does not contain any calls to action. In this article, the author expresses his personal, subjective opinion, which is protected under the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Article 29, paragraphs 1 and 2. He also shares various theories on particular subjects, without presenting these theories or his opinion as absolute truth. In this article, the author asserts nothing, but merely reflects, expressing his own evaluative judgment. This article does not promote any religious confession. This article does not incite hatred or insult toward any religious confession or philosophical movement. The article under discussion here is not a medical textbook. All recommendations should be discussed with your physician.

A herniated disc poisoned my life for a long time — as a man in my line of work, constant back pain, numbness in my legs, and restricted movement all became routine. I tried a great many conventional treatment methods: I wore a brace, took painkillers, went through courses of massage and physiotherapy. Unfortunately, these methods brought only temporary relief.

At first, my lower back hurt for two weeks, and the pain went away on its own. Then the pain began lasting for months. The second-to-last time, it tormented me for almost a whole year. I got around on crutches, and later walked with a cane. It turned out that a disc herniation was pinching the sciatic nerve in my left leg. The pain was unbearable — compared to it, a toothache seemed like nothing. I nearly despaired from such pain. I spent a great deal of money on medication and was treated at the hospital, but nothing helped. The doctors recommended surgery. But after talking with other people who had already undergone that kind of operation, I learned that a hernia can come back even after removal. And those fitted with an artificial disc complained of constant pain, especially with changes in the weather.

Before I fell seriously ill, I worked in interior finishing. That job didn't suit me at all. At first I installed interior doors. Having to crouch down to fit and screw in hinges and locks on doors and door frames left my back aching badly. Then I worked laying tile — and the pain came back again. After yet another flare-up, I realized I needed to be done with finishing work, and switched to working at a computer.

I decided to try changing to a less physically demanding job, thinking that would make my back pain go away. It turned out things weren't so simple. I found work as a webmaster and site administrator, thinking it would be easy: a desk job, and from home, too. But it wasn't that simple.

One day, simply turning over in bed, I felt something crack in my lower back, followed by pain there. The illness had returned, but this time I already knew what to do. I didn't go to the hospital — my past experience with treatment hadn't inspired much confidence.

I knew a way to ease the pain myself. It turned out that a particular body position helped — I pulled my knees to my chest and slept on my stomach. In yoga, this pose is called child's pose. Gradually the pain began to subside. Within a month, it was gone entirely.
I decided I needed a more active job, and began trying myself out in different professions.

First, I became a telecommunications technician. The work was fairly active — I often had to climb cell towers.

Then I tried my hand at electrical installation. But not every task was equally active. For example, when I had to mount junction boxes on the ceiling, I had to stand still in one position for a long time, and my back would start to ache.

Most recently, I worked as an installer of engineering systems (fire, ventilation, and plumbing). That was genuinely active work. We installed systems at new factories and warehouses, often working at height using special lifts.

The job involved traveling for work assignments. To get to the job site, I tried to choose the train, because in a bus or car my back would quickly grow tired from long sitting. Once, it happened that I traveled by car. I tucked a small bag under my lower back, leaned back against the seat, and noticed the pain was gone. Since then, I always did it that way.

At first, I constantly wore a special brace with metal inserts. I was afraid to take it off, and even slept in it. If I had to lift something heavy, I'd press it close to my body, to take the load off my back. Instead of bags, I always used a backpack.

I realized I needed an active lifestyle. As soon as I started moving more, my back pain lessened.

I decided to completely overhaul my diet. I cut out all processed foods from my menu, such as sausage, cold cuts, ready-made meals, as well as sugar, refined oils, and most dairy products. I tried to eat more whole foods: lean meat, vegetables, fruit, berries.

I paid particular attention to the role of gut microflora. I learned that maintaining a balance of beneficial bacteria is very important for health. They help absorb nutrients, including vitamins and minerals. For example, vitamin K2, which is essential for strengthening bones, is synthesized by beneficial gut bacteria from vitamin K1 (parsley is rich in vitamin K1). If there aren't enough of these bacteria, calcium can end up deposited in the blood vessels instead of going into the bones.

The full English translation of this book will be available soon on Amazon. In the meantime, the continuation on Boosty is in Russian.

Continued at https://boosty.to/arives/posts/1e83ff14-57a6-49f0-bf70-a55e57bdb400+Audio

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