What are the long term issues with this? My whole S1-L5 myotome is messed up, especially below the knee. My glute has a numb patch but seems to have lost less muscle strength than the calf and ankle....

I agree. Stoop work with a pulaski and shovel is the sort of repetitive motion wear and tear that will probably lead to recurrent problems and a life of chronic pain. Shovelling dirt or snow, either...

"The flame that burns twice as bright, burns half as long" - Lao Tzu

Surgery is not indicated for pain alone. Most episodes of pain resolve themselves. Numbness and tingling, however, are a warning that neural deficit could be next. So, pain plus significant numbness...

Chiros are ok for muscle problems. If you actually have an open hernia and the chiro "adjusts" you hard enough to tear open that disc, you'll be shit out of luck when the quack tries to act like it...

Too true. I nursed my last hernia for 3 years of riding, hiking, fishing and firewood only to have a catastrophic blowout pitching horseshoes, of all things. I went from feeling solid to total agony...

It takes an average of 2-4 months for these things to heal up without surgery so going skiing (or heavy lifting) now is a bit premature. Steroids don't heal you but they can mask the inflamation...

Skiing through the pain is not a good idea. You can easily turn a PT manageable hernia into something serious where it hurts so bad that you can't stand without a cane and there is no resting...

Too much experience. I've had two decompression surgeries. You will have to get an MRI to determine what happened. Tingling and numbness could be a sign that a hernia is causing nerve damage...