Recovery? Happened in 2006 to me and my life and Jiu Jitsu is still affected by it today 😄 In fact, I just woke up right now with pain in my back from sleeping at a slightly wrong angle with my spine.

But hey, a few weeks ago I squatted 10 reps with a 9 kilo medicine ball without getting nerve pain down my leg for a week. A first in 17 years after the injury! 🎉

Don’t do inverted guard and heavy deadlifts, kids.

Got my 1st one after open mat rolling and getting stucked, the 2nd one exactly like Christians experience after slept in a wrong position.
Both pushed back via Physiotherapy and Yoga.
In both cases my time completely off the mats was zero. But -to be honest- free rollin´was impossible for a few weeks each time.

I didn’t get it from sleeping in a wrong position. It’s my injury from 2006 that hurts because I slept slightly wrong last night 🙂

In total I’ve probably taken 2 years off from rolling because of the injury. It has flared up a few times. In 2011 I sat out for 10 months (was just teaching and watching class).

Didn’t wrestle for approximately 10 years after the injury. No more triangles and arm bars from guard (risk of getting stacked). Stack pass me and I’ll give you side control right away 😄

Best I’ve done is mobility, core training and crying.

Sorry, misunderstood that!
In my (2nd) case I don´t know exactly why and how it happens but it was done waking up in the morning....
My fortune to be an older guy at that time (5 years ago), the doc explained:
If You are Younger, there is more pressure in the discs and they are pushing quite harder on the nerves therefore.
For me it was enough!

Christian, I feel your pain. Recently got a full lower back MRI and I now know that I also have fairly advanced osteoarthritis to add to all the disc issues, yay! Apparently this was lumbarization of S1 related (supposedly congenital), so apparently not jiu jitsu related. A buddy of mine and I have an ongoing inside joke about how all our injuries over the last couple of decades are never because of jiu jitsu. Always find something else to blame, never the "gentle" art.

Inversion tables give relief, and stretching before and after class ... a lot of stretching.

Ive tried crying. It feels good but its not speeding up my recovery as fast as I want it to.

I'm currently making a return to the mats after this.

It was/is pretty bad: bottom four lumbar disks herniated, with the worst bulge compressing the sciatic nerve causing crippling nerve pain to shoot down my left leg. I believe my disk damage is just age and activity related wear & tear; I have probably had the disks fucked up for years (have had some kind of lower back issues since I can remember). But only the sciatica made me have to stop completely and actually have MRIs. One day, after just regular training the previous night, the nerve pain started on my buttock and thigh. Tried to walk it off but ended up having to crawl back to my apartment. I can't think of anything special that would've have it flared it up during the previous days or week.

As you perhaps know, according to studies, the first factor of a risk for a bulging/herniated disk is genetics; training, lifting and the rest come at the bottom of why people have bulging discs. (And indeed... my father had a bunch of back operations done before he passed.)

I don't know if you've had sciatica accompanying the hernia, but it fucking sucks: when it's flared up I cannot even stand long enough to pee or brush my teeth, let alone work properly. So my main goal has been minimizing the chances of it to return, while slowly working my way back to an active life.

As the sciatica made a comeback a few times, I have taken things very carefully. 5 months off the mats completely. I work with a very good physiotherapist who is experienced with the issue and prescribes me exercises, which I have deemed excellent. During the 5 months I only did these and a lot walking.

Now I've been back to BJJ for a month: I go two times a week, first take a class, then teach a class (so 6 hours a week). I do a specific warm-up for the back. I can do pretty much all of the technical drilling (have just opted out only from standing closed guard breaks and stack passing). I have been sparring 2 or 3 rounds per class, mostly with experienced people my size or smaller. After the first time I did this, it felt like somebody had kicked me in the lower back, but it's been getting gradually better since. Now the back typically feels somewhat jammed up after the classes but gets better for the morning. I have also started lifting again, although I will be skipping heavy squats and DLs for a while.

I still do the physio exercises (almost) every day and plan to add morning yoga. Multiple people have recommended me the MacKenzie method and yoga, but I have my hands full with the physio stuff as it is. Something extra I have been incorporating, however, is "Foundation Training". They have a 12-minute routine that I do daily.

https://www.youtube.com/w[...]VOnXIiPgM8

Rickson has had eight herniated disks and endorses Foundation Training, so it's cool for BJJ guys to do :D

https://www.youtube.com/w[...]OcqAR3MrjQ

PRP and stem cells. Also look at functional patterns training

I highly recommend the McKenzie method, which has a variety of exercises for the back, neck, and shoulders to both rehab and prevent injuries. Robin McKenzie’s book, 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life, has been a huge help to me. You can find videos for a lot of the McKenzie exercises online.

C5/6 disc and L5 disc side lined me for a few years. Not going to lie but it's as difficult psychologically as well as physically dealing with these 'invisible' injuries. Rest, meds, rehab, strengthening are the standard measures. Use the discipline you have learnt via martial arts to this protocol for a safe and full recovery.

At my age now I have to 'limber up', work my joint mobility for a minimum 20 mins before getting on the mats for an average day class and longer warm up if I plan to roll. I never listened to my body or let ego & stupidity get in the way of a full/faster recovery in the past. I always say 'pain is a good teacher'.

The McKenzie stuff is solid

On week three of a herniated disk along my C7/T1, but wait! Theres more! Pinched nerve which makes it feel like my arm is just waking up from it falling asleep. Pins, needles..all of it. Chiro, massages, advil, medical cannabis, yoga (as uncomfortable as it is). Seems to be keeping it at bay. Believe it or not…rolling makes that pain (physical and mental) go away. I may pay for it later, but when I’m on the mats, with my bros…well it’s really the only time I don’t feel pain. Crazy I know. In fact…headed to gym right now. Stay safe out there everyone.

Had four herniations.
Two Lumbar - posterior/anterior and two cervical - posterior/anterior.
Had the surgery on the Lumbar to deal with it in 2018.
Still have plenty of pain but much better in regards to quality of life.
Cervical herniations still unresolved but only have flair ups here and there.
One time it was so bad my left arm lost muscle tone and everything.
Always have pain though and I mean always.
I'm 54 and soon to be 55 so I guess it's par for the course when doing what we do.

I had herniation at L5/S1 when I was 27. I rested and rehabbed it for a couple of years, and it felt 90% better then re-injured after my 1st week in jiu jistsu. It got pretty bad. I lost muscle mass in one of my legs and eventually had some drop foot issues. I tried every rehab work out or stretching routine under the sun, injections, and VaxD, and nothing worked particularly well. After about 5 years of starting jiu jitsu for a few months and then having to rest a few months because my back hurt, the pain went away for good and I've been pain free since 2005. If I take too much time off of jiu jitsu I get that familiar pain down my leg so I make sure I get back on the mats. I think jiu jitsu helps stretch my back in a way that is beneficial. Also, I don't armbar or triangle from guard and I don't invert.

I'm fairly sure I just jinxed myself by declaring myself pain free, but I haven't had two days in a row of back pain in 15 years or more.

I just had 2 discs replaced, c5/6 and 6/7 in November. Pain is 100% gone I'm just allowing my body to properly heal right now. DO NOT do what I did and wait too long to fix it. My nerves were pinched so long, I loss muscle mass and significant strength in my right triceps. I waited until I absolutely could not sleep anymore and every time I rolled over, it felt like I was being stabbed in the neck...

My L4-L5 herniation is why I teach 3-4 different ways to escape a triangle. I don't want our white belts to stack me to escape, lol.

My story bro…

Herniated C6-C7 in my neck in October 2019. Got cranked hard. Pain was a solid 10/10 for about 5-6 weeks. Numbness in my fingers, weakness and muscle atrophy in my tricep/pec/lat on affected side.

I did not have surgery.

Doctor said no more "judo stuff", ever again. I didn't listen. I studied the McKenzie methods and followed it like religion.

I didn’t go back to ANY form of training (gym or BJJ) for 3 months. For me, this was the hardest part, but the most necesary. Give yourself 12 weeks of pure rest. Get that inflammation down. You want to be around 80% pain free before you even think about strenuous activity.

When I got back to the gym it was low weight/high rep stuff for a while to get the muscles re-firing. I regained about 90% of the strength I lost eventually but certain muscle heads have never recovered. I changed my training from body-building style training to more functional, BJJ specific training. I dont do certain lifts anymore (no shrugs, no overhead press).

You WILL get "good days" and "bad days" in recovery. You will "feel it" after you train.

When I got back on the mats it was technique/drilling only with strictly NO hard rolling/sparring for possibly another 2-3 months if my memory serves me right.

I slowly re-introduced sparring again and gradually increased the intensity - the dicipline here is important. I think all in all, it was about 8-9 months until I felt like I could train as hard as I wanted again and I then started competing again with good success.

Let pain be your guide.

I don’t “trust” my neck anymore.

I do regular traction and stretching.

I leaned out alot, lost about 15 pounds (went from 94kg to 88kg)

I get the odd “flare up” also, but usually only takes a week or so to calm down. I also pop some NSAIDS such as Naproxen when it’s feeling a little “jacked up” which help me stay active.

As I type this I have the same injury again just on the other side (still C6-C7). The specialist said sometimes these things can “flip” sides unexpectedly (not sure how that even works but he’s the expert). All the symptoms are exactly the same.

I’m 9 weeks into the new injury now and hope to have the same recovery regiment as before. I refuse to have surgery (at least, right now), as I am living proof you can recover from this, and still remain competitive.

Dealing with an L5/S1 herniation, with left leg sciatica, presently. I've had to take about 6 weeks off the mats completely. I can play top without much issue, but guard work can be tricky. I've been following the McKenzie method and Stuart McGill's stuff. I recommend both. There are good days and bad days.

I know this is an old thread, but it's inspiring to me to read about everyone who's had lower back issues and has returned to the mats. I've got a recurring L5/S1 problem caused by wrestling that has kept me off the mat for ~1 year now and essentially too worried to return, but after reading all of these responses, I think I can gradually re-enter the sport with some modifications to how I roll. I am seeing a physio / exercise physiologist and have taken up Yoga, so I'm hoping between these + modifications, I can still take part in BJJ and hopefully attain black belt.

I've had back problems for about 25 years, but nobody could ever find anything wrong with my back other than normal aging and a little arthritis. About two years ago my hips started bothering me and about a year ago I went to have them looked at. Both needed replaced, one was done two months ago and the other is scheduled to happen in two weeks, and the surgeon found some hip misalignment that he said he could correct during surgery. Since I had the first surgery done my back has felt better than it has in years and he only got part of the correction done on the first hip. The moral of the story is that if you have back issues and can't find a smoking gun in the spinal column, get the things below it checked out. I'm still skeptical that this is going to go away after the second hip is replaced, and I also have to acknowledge that I've not been as active since surgery and the rest might have something to do with it, but so far the improvement is enormous.

My wife doesn't train Jiu-Jitsu, but just had to cervical discs replaced. I know of a few others who have as well. Of course surgery shouldn't be the first thing anyone should consider, but it's amazing to me that we now have the medical technology to REPLACE herniated discs.

Good luck to all those who are suffering.

I have a herniated disc since December 2024 from Judo! But I never stopped training either BJJ or Judo but, I work with Physiotherapie on that and Strength Training for my Lower back but it will take a lot of time! What I can say and figure out for now, to get thrown is not a problem for me the only problem for me where I have now always to tap because of pain is when someone blocks my hip or doing knee on belly or is way heavier then me or he will try to stretch me and blocks my hip in this time by back take for example! If this will get better I don't know so I decide to try to change my game completely to top game then I can avoid this problems!

I ruptured my l5-s1 twice in one year. The second time was so severe I couldn't get dressed, go to the bathroom, or take showers without my wife's help. After my second surgery I was out for 12 weeks from training. I've completely changed my game, I don't submit off of my back ever. I sweep to top position then I go for my isolations to get a submission. Before every roll I remind my partner that they can not stack pass me, if they get me in that position I give up the pass to them.

When I return, I'm essentially planning the same - no more getting stack passed, no more subs from guard and so on. I'm hoping to get the green light from my physio to sign back up in the coming weeks. My plan is to do some privates with an instructor first to get a feel for it before jumping into classes.

Good luck!

Man, I am in the „herniated disc“ club now, too with 48 years of age, after heavy deadlifts…. Man, I do sports and fitness for a long time, I am a professional pt instructor in law enforcement, I lifted 1000s of times and never had any back / lower spine injury so far…
Now I have a hernia and I think the whole time, I shouldn’t have deadlifted….

So no rolling and only teaching at the moment for me and recovery…..

But when I read about your experiences with that issue and that you guys are still able to train, you really give me hope!

Just got diagnosed last month with MRI, but happened 2 months ago for not tapping to a triangle. I got out and wrist locked him but he won the war. Since then my training was and is limited. The MRI says I had cervical radicuapathy, right side at c6 c7. Pain was unbearable for weeks with sleepless nights. After doing research, it's quite common in combat arts. I personally know of a 3rd degree black belt from Aussy who has the same thing and got surgery, successful for him. Yet Bas Rutten surgery as well and it did not turn out well for him. With this I looked for ways to help and from my rehabilitation coworker, he said "decompress then rehab".

Since then I found a machine that helped with cervical decompression, I want to export this item because since using it correctly, I'm nearly 90 percent better. First week I used it wrong and progress was minimal. Then after reading the instructions, my progress was rapid, within 3 weeks I'm back to training and pain is just nerves than physical stinging pain. No more sleepless nights, no more pain killers. This machine helped me well! Also got a blind massage guy who can do push the herniated disc into place which also helped with healing (nerves started to work well after this and man... The feeling was f'n great).

Keep hope hope up guys. Do enough research and see a rehabilitation specialists and you can find out a right path.

I had 4 lower back surgeries and I can assure you that this had a huge impact on my BJJ and all other Martial Arts that I practice...the only advice I can give is... please train smart and always choose for your health, otherwise the price you will pay will be too much...