So, asking for experiences. As mentioned in my previous posts, I'm completely crippled by an anular fissure between L4/L5. I've tried several things that didn't seem to work and have now resorted to hydrotherapy; bunch of pool noodles, and just move around in a swimming pool, completely relaxing your spine. The first 45 minutes were agony, but then it pivoted to being quite pleasant. Spent a total of an hour and a half in there. It was a heated pool at 33 degrees (that's normal units, not freedom units)

When I got out I experienced for the first time what crushing weight we put on our spines. But it felt good and during the day I flammation seems to have lessened. I spent the rest of the day tryi f to move around, but standing and walking is almost entirely out of the question now. So:

• on my back, knees raised, moving my pelvis.
• on my side, in fetal position, with a towel between my legs. (Managed to somehow get 7 hours of sleep this way last night).

Here's what I noticed and would like to ask experiences about:

I can find comfortable positions to lie in again, which has been months! My inflammation is less, but it feels like it could jump out to ruin my day at any moment. I therefore mostly crawl. I seem less able to stand up and walk, as it kind of feels like my body is trying to tell me to not do that.

So in a way, I'm doing a little worse (no more walking/standing), but I'm feeling (a bit) better.

Has anyone else experienced something like this and could it be a sign of it getting better or worse?

And to the guy who suggested pool and pool noodles; thanks! You gave me some perspective which is incredibly valuable to me at this stage.

Edit: I have also started doing cold dips for five minutes. Not sure if that is helping any advice yet, but it's also not making it worse.