Can I Exercise With a Herniated Disc? | Tierrasanta, CA

Yes, many people can continue exercising with a herniated disc. But what you can do right now may be very different from what you were doing before the injury.

This is one of the first questions active patients ask Dr. Cassidy James Boelk, DC.

“Can I still work out?”

“Should I keep walking?”

“Can I lift weights?”

“Am I making the disc worse every time I exercise?”

After more than 22 years treating disc injuries and sciatica, Dr. Boelk doesn't give every patient the same list of exercises and restrictions.

He wants to know what happens when you move.

If you go for a walk and your back loosens up and you feel better, that's one thing. If you walk for ten minutes and pain starts traveling down your leg into your calf, that's something different.

The same thing applies in the gym.

A squat isn't automatically bad because you have a herniated disc. Neither is a deadlift. But continuing to heavily load your spine while every set produces increasing leg pain, numbness or tingling probably isn't a great idea either.

There is a big difference between staying active and repeatedly aggravating an injury.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “I've Even Gotten Back to Lifting Weights!”

“Now, I’m walking regularly, standing up straight—something I couldn’t do before.”

“Last year, I spent three months constantly going back and forth between doctor’s appointments and urgent care. The pain was unbearable—I was taking medication regularly just to get through the day. Getting out of bed was excruciating, and walking or standing felt like torture. Every step filled me with dread.

In December, my doctor finally ordered an MRI. That’s when I learned I had an extruded disc pressing on my L5 nerve, which affects the leg and foot. My doctor scheduled two follow-up appointments: one for pain management (spinal injections), and another to evaluate me for surgery.

Then I discovered spinal decompression therapy. I was thrilled to find a non-invasive alternative. I never ended up needing either of those appointments.

Now, I’m walking regularly, standing up straight—something I couldn’t do before. When I first sought help, I was so hunched over that I had to use a cane just to move forward. Because of the pain, I hadn’t exercised in months. But now, I’m doing a program called 75 hard which requires not one but 2 45-minute workouts per day, and I've even gotten back to lifting weights!

I’m so thankful I found this place. It’s conveniently located near my work, which makes it easy to fit sessions into my lunch break. Dr. Boelk and the staff are incredibly friendly and polite—it’s always a pleasure to come in.

The environment is so relaxing that I look forward to each visit. I truly thank God for leading me to this alternative. It’s made such a difference in my life.”

— Amanda, San Diego, CA

Amanda's story is a good example because she went from barely being able to stand and walk to exercising again.

That doesn't mean somebody with an active disc injury should read her story and immediately go lift weights.

It means where you are today doesn't necessarily have to be where you stay.

Sometimes exercise needs to be modified significantly while a disc and irritated nerve settle down. As the patient improves, activity can be gradually built back up.

The mistake is thinking there are only two choices: stop everything or push through everything.

Not Sure What You Should Be Doing With a Herniated Disc?

If you're in Tierrasanta or the surrounding San Diego area and aren't sure whether exercise is helping or aggravating your disc, you can sit down with Dr. Boelk for a No-Charge, No-Obligation Consultation.

Bring your MRI if you have one.

Tell him what you were doing before the injury. Tell him what you've stopped doing. Tell him which movements seem okay and which ones send symptoms down your leg.

During the consultation, Dr. Boelk can:

• Go through how your injury started.

• Discuss what you're currently doing for exercise.

• Review the movements that make you better or worse.

• Find out whether symptoms stay in your back or travel into your buttock or leg.

• Discuss numbness, tingling, burning or weakness.

• Review treatments and exercises you've already tried.

• Review your actual MRI images and report, if available.

• Compare the MRI findings with what you're actually experiencing.

• Discuss whether additional examination or imaging may be appropriate.

• Determine whether Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression may be an option.

• Tell you if he doesn't believe you're a candidate.

• Answer your questions about getting back to the activities you enjoy.

You don't need an MRI to schedule.

There is no charge for the consultation, and coming in does not obligate you to begin treatment.

Dr. Boelk performs these consultations himself while also treating his existing patients, so the office can only set aside a limited number during the clinic schedule.

Call 619-298-0800 and ask for the next available No-Charge Consultation with Dr. Cassidy James Boelk, DC.

Pay Attention to Where Your Symptoms Go When You Exercise

This is something Dr. Boelk talks about with patients quite a bit.

Let's say your back is a little sore when you start exercising.

You begin moving and it stays around the lower back. Maybe you even loosen up and feel better.

Compare that with starting a workout with back pain and then noticing that the pain moves into the buttock. A few minutes later it's traveling into the thigh. Then the calf starts burning or your foot begins tingling.

Those are two very different responses.

If a particular movement repeatedly causes symptoms to travel farther down your leg, that's something Dr. Boelk wants to know about.

The same goes for numbness.

If your foot becomes numb every time you perform a certain exercise, don't ignore it simply because the exercise itself doesn't hurt very much.

Pain isn't the only thing that matters when a nerve is involved.

Do You Need to Stop Squats and Deadlifts?

Maybe temporarily. Maybe not.

It depends on the patient.

Dr. Boelk doesn't consider squats or deadlifts inherently bad exercises. He also doesn't think someone in the middle of an irritated disc injury needs to prove they can continue lifting exactly the same way they did before they got hurt.

There is a time to load the spine.

There is also a time to back off.

If you're still having significant sciatica and every heavy set increases the symptoms, reducing the weight or temporarily changing the exercise can make a lot more sense than continually testing the injury.

Active patients sometimes have a hard time with this because they feel like they're losing progress.

But Dr. Boelk sees another pattern too.

The patient feels a little better, tries the same heavy exercise again, flares the leg up, rests for several days, feels better, and then tests the exact same thing again.

Now three months have passed and they're still in essentially the same place.

Sometimes temporarily doing less of one thing allows you to get back to doing more later.

Stretching Can Aggravate Some Leg Symptoms Too

When patients stop lifting, they often start stretching.

That's not automatically safer.

A common example is the person who says their hamstring feels incredibly tight.

They stretch it every morning. They stretch after work. They use a massage gun. They roll it.

But it never really loosens up.

Then Dr. Boelk asks what happens during the stretch and the patient says, “Sometimes it tingles all the way into my foot.”

Now the conversation changes.

What the patient has been calling a tight hamstring may not be purely muscular.

If a lumbar nerve is irritated, stretching the leg can sometimes reproduce neurological symptoms.

A normal muscular stretch and a stretch that causes burning, shooting pain, tingling or numbness down the leg aren't the same thing.

If an exercise or stretch is clearly causing your symptoms to travel farther down the leg, don't assume you need to push harder.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “It Really Helps Keep Me in My Active Life”

“I will not go to anyone else for back treatment.”

“I travel from the UK to see Dr Boelk and his wonderful team . I have 3 bulging disc and one is touching the nerve. I have the spinal decompression treatment and it really helps keep me in my active life . I will not go to anyone else for back treatment, this place is number one and they genuinely care about their patients.”

— Lisa S., United Kingdom

That's what most active patients ultimately care about.

They don't just want their MRI to look different or their pain number to go down.

They want their life back.

Maybe that's lifting weights.

Maybe it's running or cycling.

Maybe it's surfing, golf or hiking.

Maybe it's being able to walk for an hour without constantly thinking about the back or leg.

Dr. Boelk wants to know what you're trying to get back to because that matters when deciding how activity should progress.

Walking Is Exercise Too

You don't have to be in a gym for movement to count.

Walking is one of the easiest ways many patients stay active while dealing with a back problem, and some people with disc injuries tolerate it very well.

Others don't.

One patient can walk for 30 minutes and feel noticeably better.

Another feels fine for the first five or ten minutes, then the buttock starts aching. A few minutes later the calf burns and the foot begins tingling.

Dr. Boelk isn't interested in telling every patient with a herniated disc to walk exactly the same distance.

He's interested in what happens when you walk.

If your tolerance is gradually increasing, that's useful information.

If the distance you can walk without leg symptoms keeps getting shorter, that's useful information too.

Numbness or Weakness Changes the Conversation

If you're exercising with a herniated disc, don't pay attention only to pain.

Dr. Boelk wants to know about changes in sensation and strength.

If part of the foot stays numb, tell him.

If one leg suddenly feels weaker during an exercise that used to feel equal on both sides, tell him.

If you're having trouble lifting the front of the foot, pushing off normally when you walk, or your foot has started slapping the ground, don't simply assume you need to strengthen the leg harder.

Those symptoms can indicate that a nerve is being affected.

Most disc herniations aren't emergencies. Rapidly progressing weakness, new bowel or bladder dysfunction, difficulty urinating, or numbness around the groin or saddle area requires prompt medical evaluation rather than waiting for a routine spinal decompression consultation.

Does a Herniated Disc Mean You Need Spinal Decompression?

No.

A disc herniation on an MRI does not automatically make someone a candidate for Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression.

Dr. Boelk first wants to know whether the MRI makes sense with the symptoms.

He evaluates patients with disc bulges, disc herniations, degenerative disc disease, disc-related sciatica, foraminal narrowing and selected cases of spinal stenosis.

The Spinal Decompression & Chiropractic Center of San Diego uses the DRX9000 exclusively for Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression.

But Dr. Boelk also turns patients away.

Significant osteoporosis, an unhealed fracture, unstable spondylolisthesis, abdominal aortic aneurysm, pregnancy for lumbar decompression, certain malignancies and other medical or structural conditions may make treatment inappropriate.

Previous spinal surgery also needs to be reviewed carefully, especially if there is fusion or metal hardware at the level that would need treatment.

★ Sometimes Dr. Boelk Recommends Something Else

Jeff J. traveled from Tucson to meet with Dr. Boelk about his back.

After reviewing his situation, spinal decompression wasn't what Dr. Boelk recommended.

“We both determined that surgery was my only option to correct my back issues.”

“I found this terrific practice on social media. I followed up and did my own research so I decided to pay them a visit. The place is clean, well organized and run by a very efficient receptionist. I met with the doctor and after a honest and forthright conversation, we both determined that surgery was my only option to correct my back issues. I will return as a customer when the time is right.”

— Jeff J., Tucson, AZ

That's an important part of the consultation.

The purpose isn't to convince every person with a herniated disc to start spinal decompression.

It's to determine whether Dr. Boelk believes you're an appropriate candidate in the first place.

Dr. Cassidy James Boelk, DC

Dr. Boelk has spent more than 22 years working with disc injuries, sciatica and Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression and has performed more than 100,000 spinal decompression treatments.

• Doctor of Chiropractic

• Certified Spinal Decompression Doctor

• Certified Pain-Free Performance Specialist (PPSC)

• Founder, Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression Training Academy

• Trains other doctors in spinal decompression protocols and techniques

• Founding Member, American Spinal Decompression Society

• Member, International Disc Education Association

• California X-Ray Radiation Supervisor & Operator

The exercise question is personal for Dr. Boelk too.

He suffered an L5 compression fracture at 16 and later dealt with disc injuries and sciatica himself. He continues to surf, play hockey and exercise.

So when an active patient asks, “Am I ever going to be able to do this again?” he understands why that question matters.

The answer usually isn't to become afraid of movement.

It's figuring out what your back can tolerate now and how to work your way back toward what you want to do.

Can You Exercise With a Herniated Disc? Find Out What Makes Sense for You.

If you're exercising and doing well, great.

If you've stopped everything because you're afraid of your MRI, it may be worth finding out whether that's necessary.

And if you're still working out but every session sends pain farther down your leg, makes your foot tingle or leaves you worse the following morning, it may be time to stop guessing.

You don't have to decide today whether you want spinal decompression.

You can start by getting an opinion.

Your No-Charge Consultation includes:

• One-on-one time with Dr. Cassidy James Boelk, DC

• Review of your disc injury and symptoms

• Discussion of what you're currently doing for exercise

• Review of movements that aggravate the problem

• Discussion of sciatica, numbness, tingling or weakness

• Review of treatment and exercises you've already tried

• Review of your actual MRI images and report, if available

• Comparison of the MRI findings with your symptoms

• Discussion of whether further examination or imaging may be appropriate

• An assessment of whether Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression may be an option

• An honest answer if Dr. Boelk doesn't believe you're a candidate

• Time to discuss your questions about returning to activity

There is no charge and no obligation to begin treatment.

You don't need an MRI to schedule. If you already have one, bring the actual images and report.

Dr. Boelk personally performs these consultations while also treating his existing patients, so only a limited number can be set aside during the clinic schedule.

Call 619-298-0800

Ask for the next available No-Charge Consultation with Dr. Cassidy James Boelk, DC.

The Spinal Decompression & Chiropractic Center of San Diego
5095 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 300
San Diego, CA 92123

619-298-0800
SanDiegoBackCare.com

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