Humans of Arlington

Joshua Manthe

“I have been running track my whole life and have never been injured. Last year I got injured for the first time , I had ruptured a disc in my lower back the very bottom one. When you rupture a disc it sticks out and hits the siactic nerve that runs down your whole entire leg. You never really hurt in your back it may be a little tight but the majority of the pain is in your leg. It feels like you tore your hamstring or maybe a butt muscle. Sometimes the pain can go all the way down to your foot. I thought it was just a torn muscle so I drove to and from a cross country meet in Knoxville, which only made it worse. I kept running on it and it got to the point where I could not sleep at night or sit in the car for very long.
The orthopedic could not tell me how I had ruptured the disc. He said that I could have been healed faster had I came to the doctor sooner. I did not need surgery but I had to psychical therapy on it. It has gotten to the point now where it has healed enough where I am no longer in pain all the time and I can still workout and run. The only thing that bothers me is if I sit for too long particularly in the car. Now I can not go for more than an hour in the car without having to get out and walk around for about 15 minutes.