It is not the pain that runs your life.
It is the fear of making it worse.
I did the calculation before I left the house every day for ten months. Here is what nobody told me about why it never got better.
4-minute read · Written by Katelyn, 29, bulging disc at L5/S1
Last updated August 2026
I ran this list in my head every hour, every day, for ten months.
I could not exercise. Not because it hurt. Because I was terrified of affecting it.
I endured it for ten months and it took over every single day. I was on naproxen and high doses of amitriptyline just to manage it. I felt like a zombie. I could not function properly.
That is the part nobody warns you about. You stop trusting your own body. You start doing a calculation before you do anything at all. How far is the walk. How long will I be sitting. How much will I pay for it tonight.
Do you know how much of life involves sitting? I did not, until I could not sit.
- The cinema
- Live music
- Long car journeys
- Eating at a table
- Sitting at a bar with my friends
- Just sitting down to rest
I could not concentrate at work. I could not think about anything but the pain. My boyfriend was so understanding, and that almost made it worse — I could feel it affecting us. We wanted to try for a baby that year. It felt impossible.
I tried everything I could afford. Private physio. Acupuncture. It was so expensive. The GP was slow and I barely got an appointment with a specialist. Everyone around me felt helpless. So did I.
I did not know if what I was doing was good for it or bad for it. So I did nothing, and I got worse.
Then in March, it stopped
The pain subsided. It took months to wean off the nerve pain meds and the relief of being off them was unreal. I started moving again. Gently. Still calculating, but less. I let myself think it was over.
Two weeks later I twisted my upper back
I panicked. A few hours later I felt it — that awful nagging constant ache, and the sharp pain down my calf. I cried for ages. Not because of the pain. Because I knew exactly what was coming. Ten more months. Back on the tablets, and they wanted to increase the dose.
That was the night I stopped waiting for someone else to fix this.
Two things were going on. My doctors were treating one of them.
Your sciatic nerve does not run through empty space. It runs under and between muscle — your glutes, your piriformis, the muscles either side of your lower spine.
When you are in pain, those muscles guard. They tighten to protect you. It is automatic — you cannot decide not to do it. And when you are frightened of movement, the way I was, they never stop guarding. They stay tight for months.
Tight muscle around an already irritated nerve does not help that nerve calm down. That was my hamster wheel.
The disc
A real medical problem, managed by real doctors. Scans, medication, referrals. Mine was handled properly and I still see them. Nothing here replaces that.
The muscle guarding around the nerve
Physio helped while I was going — then I stopped, because it was $130 a session. The tension came back. Medication turned the volume down; it did nothing about the tightness underneath. Rest made me stiffer. Moving scared me.
Nothing I had was something I could use myself, at home, on the bad days, the way you actually need it. Which is often, and usually at 11pm.
I am not an engineer. I want to say that up front.
I started with a tennis ball against a wall, which is what half the internet tells you to do. I could not get the angle, could not hold the pressure, could not reach the spot that mattered. So I kept changing it. What I ended up with is Backbuddy.
It works on the muscle, not your bloodstream
Focused pressure and massage into the tissue around your lower back and along the path of the sciatic nerve. No pills. Nothing to wean off. No zombie feeling.
It is yours, at home, whenever
Not an appointment in three weeks. Not $130 each time. At 11pm on the bathroom floor, if that is when you need it.
It reaches where your hands cannot
It gently lifts and opens out the lower back while adding heat and vibration in the same session — loosening the muscle that is squeezing an already irritated nerve. That is the job.
How you actually use it
Set it down and lie back
Put it on the floor or the bed and lower yourself onto it so the curve sits under your lumbar spine.
Pick your heat and intensity
Multiple levels of varrying heat and massage strength to help ease any pain.
Give it ten minutes
Breathe and let the muscle let go. Most people use it once or twice a day, and on the bad nights.
I am going to give you the real version, because the fake version is why nobody believes anything anymore.
This is my own experience with my own back. It is not a clinical result and it is not a promise about yours.
- Days 1–3
I mostly noticed the heat. My back still hurt, but getting up felt a little easier.
- Days 4–7
The pain still came and went, but I stopped thinking about my back every minute.
- Around day 10
I drove to the grocery store without stopping halfway to stretch and walk around.
- Week 3
I sat through dinner with my boyfriend without constantly shifting or planning to leave early.
- Week 4
I cleaned my apartment without planning every movement or worrying I would set it off.
- Where I am now
I still have flare days. They no longer decide everything. The calculating has quietened down — and that is the thing I would have paid anything for. Not being pain free. Just not doing sums about my own life all day.
I added it up once. I wish I had not.
| What I tried | Typical annual cost |
|---|---|
| Private physiotherapy 12–24 sessions a year | $960 – $3,600 |
| Chiropractic Weekly or fortnightly | $1,560 – $10,400 |
| Acupuncture 12–24 sessions | $900 – $3,600 |
| Steroid injections Typical course of 1–3 | $90 – $1,000 each |
| Surgery, if it comes to that | $14,000 – $30,000+ |
| Backbuddy — once | $59.95 |
I am not going to pretend that makes it a miracle. Cheap things fail all the time. But I had spent over $7,000 on things that stopped working the week I stopped paying for them.
You have two roads, and you already know both of them.
The first is the one you are on. You get a bit better. You get hopeful. You twist something reaching for a plate. You cry in the bathroom. You go back on the tablets. Someone suggests increasing the dose. And the calculating carries on, and the list of things you have quietly stopped doing gets one line longer. The book club. The garden. Playing with your kids instead of watching them.
That is what this actually takes. Not your back. The things that make you you.
The second road is that you try something for the muscle tension nobody has addressed yet. It might not be the answer for you. It was not the whole answer for me either. But it is only $59.95, you can use it every night, and it provides a convienence and comfort that everyone needs .
BackBuddy
Heat, gentle lift and massage for the muscle around the sciatic nerve. Yours, at home, whenever you need it.
Secure checkout · Ships in 5–8 business days
The questions I would have asked
Will this fix my disc?
No, and I would not trust anyone who told you otherwise. A bulging or herniated disc is a medical problem and it needs a doctor. Backbuddy is for the muscle tension that builds up around the nerve while you are guarding against pain — the part nobody handed me a tool for.
How is this different from a tennis ball or a foam roller?
That is literally where I started. The problem is angle, pressure and reach — you cannot hold a ball in the right spot while relaxing the muscle you are trying to release, and you cannot add heat at the same time. Backbuddy holds the position for you so you can actually let go.
How long before I feel anything?
Honestly, it varies and I cannot promise you a date. For me the first thing I noticed was the heat, and the first real change was around day ten. Some people feel loosened up the same evening. Some feel nothing and send it back — that is what the 30 days are for.
Can I use it if I am on medication for nerve pain?
Ask your doctor — genuinely, not as a disclaimer. Nothing goes into your bloodstream, but they know your case and I do not.
Who should not use it?
If you are pregnant, have a pacemaker or other implanted device, have osteoporosis, a spinal fracture, an active infection, reduced sensation in the area, or you are recovering from spinal surgery, check with your doctor first.
What if it does nothing for me?
Send it back within 30 days and we cover the return postage. You do not need to explain yourself. I have wasted enough money on this problem to make anyone else argue about it.
Please read this bit
Whatever you decide, keep your doctor in the loop — especially if you have numbness, weakness, or any change in bladder or bowel control. That last one is an emergency. Do not wait on it.
Backbuddy is a personal massage and comfort device. It is not a medical device, it does not diagnose or treat any condition, and it is not a substitute for medical care.
I hope you get a break from this. I know how much you need one. — Katelyn