Degenerative L4 and L5 lumbar disks

[yAnn1x]

Hi everyone,

I am in desperate need of advice which I seem to be unable to get from any doctor near where I live (Thailand). I recently did an MRI of my lower back and the verdict was that I have degenerative L4 and L5 lumbar disks. I guess this is slightly different than a hernia?

I've had lower back pain on and off for 20y now, but recently things have gotten worse. I'm currently 40y old. The pain has originated from prolonged sitting due to my work plus amplified by doing heavy lifting throughout my life. Additionally I am also 193cm so I have been bending over unnecessarily a lot throughout my life when doing simple tasks like washing dishes or brushing teeth.

I have currently adjusted my work set up to mainly sitting inclined and I have been very attentive of posture however I can't really seem to find any real way to decrease my current state. I have already stopped any form of exercise since that all just made things work. These adjustments have definitely helped, but the state I am in now is far from optimal. I can walk for about 2km and that's about my limit, if I go over that my back pain will flare up and it will take almost an entire day before I am back in a slightly less painful state. So that's about all the exercise I can do.

I have tried physiotherapy for a month but with no real success. I have been taking heavy anti-inflammation medicine and resting in combination with a cortisone injection, and although this has helped somewhat I would not call it much of a success. Before I was unable to even do any action and was basically just lying down and wiggling around constantly due to massive pain, so I have moved on from that state to being able to at least do some work and a bit of walking. Sitting

I am a bit stuck on what I could/should do next, I am currently just trying to rest hoping that the inflammation will subside slowly over time,

Has anyone experienced something similar and have they found some solutions?

A doctor here suggested to do a surgery where he cuts away the inflammation, but that doesn't sound very appealing... I also heard about another treatment where they inject a substance to create a new gel-like lumbar?

I would appreciate any advice,

Thanks so much

[GuitarRox]

My thoughts. Avoid surgery. Ibuprofen helps with swelling and try other things first. Here's a list of what could help:
    Rest.
    Ice therapy.
    Heat therapy.
    Massage therapy.
    Physical therapy.
    Yoga.

I worked through lower back problems that were debilitating. I also lost a bit of weight. All of this as resulted in no pain in that area for years. Surgery is invasive and some come out of it with more issues so would do that ONLY as a last resort.

Be very careful of activities right now that have you bending forward. That aggravates those two discs.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16912-degenerative-disk-disease