How long to be off work for a slipped disc?

JohnG

lovesabargain123 wrote: »

Hiya,
I have slipped a disc in my back which is causing me a huge amount of pain. I'm taking the recommended pain killers from the gp, soaking in hit baths, applying hot compresses and deep heat etc.
Just looking at online advice and it says you are likely to be off work,4-6 months with this! Is this really true? I was hoping to think about going back next Friday as hoping the pain would have eased by then?.
Thank you x

I don't think you can go by that, it will depend on the severity of the injury and how well you can recover from it. The first thing is to rest up and to allow the muscles in and around the area to relax - it's these that go into spasm to protect the area from further damage that normally causes the pain and the difficulty to move freely (in my experience). It's possible you will be up and about in a couple of weeks (if you are not already?) though it will probably be a good idea to avoid doing anything that might risk the disc further, at least for another week or two, so you don't go back to square one.
I seem to remember I got back to work a month or two after my original injury some 8 years or so ago, though, as a landscape gardener, it's come back to haunt me on a number of occasions and have since been diagnosed with 'Degenerative discs' . I'm off for a first visit to a chiropractor tomorrow to see if there's anything they an do to help as it's now got to the stage where I may well have to give up my job - God knows what I will do if that proves to be the case?

snowdrop1967

Hi, about 10 years ago I had a bulging disc, very bad sciatic pain down my leg and I couldnt stand upright properly. I had physio, injections and was eventually on morphine until they decided to give me a scan. No amount of physio was going to help and within a month of the MRI I had an operation. It was successful and I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful it was to feel normal again and without pain. Like a previous poster all in all it took about 9 months off work. Hope you get things sorted and feel better soon.