When Your Body Shuts Down: Lessons from a Back Injury
This is a work in progress and I will update this as I go. Please do leave comments and questions, it’s been a hugely painful but fascinating journey.
I recently gave myself a Stage III herniation in my L4/5 with extrusion. In simple terms, this means the nucleus of one of my intervertebral discs squirted out, like toothpaste squeezed from a tube. This is my first real back injury, and it’s been a humbling experience. For about a week, I couldn’t even walk, but after about a month, I feel like I’m ready to return to regular physical activity.
There’s a saying: “Never let a good injury go to waste.” I’ve been trying to take that to heart.
The Reality of Back Injuries
When you injure your back, your whole body seems to shut down. It’s like being locked in place. Tasks you took for granted—like getting out of bed or putting on socks—suddenly become monumental. It once took me 20 minutes just to get out of bed.
The pain can be excruciating—a solid 10/10—but ironically, the key to recovery for most people is movement. After an acute disc injury, your nervous system goes into overdrive, trying to protect your body. You become hypersensitive to pain, but that pain isn’t always accurate.
Pain is a message, but it’s not infallible—it can be miscalibrated. Recovery becomes a conversation with your body. You have to coax it into trusting movement again.
Recovery: Like Fixing a Rusty Hinge
Recovering from a severe back injury is a bit like working with a rusted hinge. At first, there’s almost no range of motion. You add a little lubricant, wiggle it gently, and gain a tiny bit of movement. Over time, you keep adding lubrication and working the hinge until it moves freely again.
This is how I’ve approached my recovery: starting small and slowly introducing more movement as my body allows. The key is not to fear the pain but to use it as a guide. You don’t want to push through severe pain, but you also don’t want to let the fear of discomfort paralyze you.
Back Pain: The Bigger Picture
For most people, the vast majority of back pain will resolve on its own—provided you stay active. Pain is a message, but by the time you experience a severe injury, chances are you’ve been ignoring smaller signals for a while.
My Advice for Acute Back Injuries
If I were to give advice to anyone dealing with an acute back injury, it would be this:
Don’t panic. This too shall pass. Even if you can’t walk or move much, keep breathing and try to relax.
Start small. Introduce gentle movements as you can tolerate them. Initially, this might just be subtle hip shifts or cat-camel stretches.
Map out your pain. Your body is hyper-protective after an injury. You need to reassure it that movement is safe.
Find tolerable movements. Build from there, gradually increasing range of motion (ROM) over the following days.
Avoid dependency on quick fixes. Your body is capable of healing itself. While practitioners like chiropractors can provide temporary relief, they aren’t a necessity for recovery.
For example, my injury left me with a severe lateral shift—essentially an acute scoliosis where my spine shifted 4–5 inches to one side. I couldn’t stand upright, but by staying consistent with gentle movement, my spine realigned naturally within a week.
Resources for Recovery
If you’re dealing with back pain, I’ve compiled a playlist of 20 videos that I found helpful during my recovery. These include movement suggestions and tips for easing discomfort:
